DOA:
DEAD OR ALIVE REVIEW
The
ViewLondon Review
Review by Matthew Turner
13/09/2006
Four out of Five stars
Running time: 90 mins
Director: Cory Yuen
Starring: Devon Aoki, Holly Valance, Jaime Pressly, Brian White
Part Charlie's Angels, part Enter the Dragon, this is a hugely
enjoyable action flick with appealing performances and
terrific fight sequences.
What's it all about?
Based on the popular video game DOA stars Jaime Pressly
(from My Name Is Earl) as pro-wrestling superstar Tina),
Devon
Aoki (from
Sin City) as ninja princess Kasumi and Holly Valance
as sexy master thief Christie, three beautiful women who are
recruited
to fight
in the ultimate secret martial arts tournament, Dead
Or
Alive.
At least two of the women have ulterior motives
(Kasumi's investigating the disappearance of her brother (Collin
Chou) and Christie
plans to steal the prize money with her accomplice
Max, played by Matthew
Marsden) but differences aside, all three of them have
to team up to uncover the tournament's sinister secret,
masterminded
by Dr Victor
Donovan (Eric Roberts).
The Good
The fight scenes are terrific fun thanks to exciting
and frequently inventive direction by fight choreographer
Corey
Yuen (who
made The Transporter). They're also staged in unusual
locations, such
as a
hotel suite, a raft or a rain-swept beach.
The film
is sharply edited and Yuen is careful to ensure that there's
always more than one thing happening at
once, even
if it means intercutting
a plot-related fight scene with a beach volleyball
game between the female leads.
The Great
The three leads make a fantastic team and there's also
great support from a host of colourful characters,
including rollerblading
Helena
(Sarah Carter) and purple-haired assassin Ayane (Natassia
Malthe).
DOA delivers beautifully on its obvious hook
of beautiful women kicking ass (heightened by the fact that
the actresses are
clearly doing
the fighting themselves, thanks to exhaustive training),
but it's also surprisingly faithful to the game
itself, which should
please
gaming fans.
Worth seeing?
If you're a 15 year old boy, this stands every chance
of becoming your favourite film in the entire world.
At the
very least
it's the best movie adaptation of a video game so
far. Recommended.
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