DoA: A Review

Release year: 2006.
Original title: DOA: Dead or Alive.
Rating: Rated PG-13 for pervasive martial arts, action violence and (plenty of) sexuality.
Tagline: You're invited.
Genre: Action, adventure.


I've noticed that a lot of kung-fu (a term I use for general martial arts even though I know it isn't the most accurate) movies were coming out in 2006. When I first saw the trailer, given my fan-boy attraction to the game, I wanted to check it out but forgot about the movie completely until just a few days ago.


Synopsis


The movie focuses around three chicks, primarily. Kasumi, who is some kind of ninja princess; Tina, who is a pro-wrestling super-star and the daughter of much the same; and Christie, who is some kind of assassin and master thief. There are other characters, male and female alike, but the focus for the movie until the competition starts is around these girls and, later, around one more girl, named Helena and who is the daughter of the man that started  the DoA tournament, who joins their posse.


The fighters are pooled into a plane, which they have to jump out of mid-flight and make their way to a temple before sunset or risk being disqualified. I thought this was kind of silly after going out of your way to assess fighters and charter a private jet, but since I'm not a playboy billionaire I won't ever know the mindset behind this.


At the end of the tournament, or heroes and heroines have to band together against a single enemy.


This film is fan-service galore. They get as close as they can to nudity without actually going the full Monte, simultaneously leaving much and leaving little to the imagination.


Pros: The fan service. All of the womenfolk are easy on the eyes and are constantly put into scenarios that let them show off all of the hard work they put into the gym in the off-season. The moves were made more explosive than you get in an honest-to-goodness fight and even in the usual brand of pumped up kung fu, something you'll notice it when they get a hard hit off you hear a booming sound and the screen shakes. To some? Gaudy. To me? Made things seem a bit more fun, even if less serious.


Cons:  Some of the wire-work was pretty obvious and ruined the mood. A particular bad scene is one near the end where Helena gets into a sword fight. It was "eh" at its finest. Sloppy, inconsistent, and just not that good.


Best Moment: Tina's fight against Jack? I don't remember his name, but it was the only black guy in the whole film. The fight was one of the longer ones, one of the better balanced, and it had some pretty sweet moves.


Rating:  6.7 / 10.


In closing I just want to say that though this doesn't really compare to some of the other hard-hitting kung fu films (Iron Monkey and Ip Man are classic examples of this for me), it is a more 'fun' film. The motions are more dynamic and fitting to a game environment, and you don't have to be an aficionado to enjoy the film.