What Dead or Alive does best requires no skill at all. With a cast containing Sara Carter, Devon Aoki, Jaime Pressly, and Holly Valance in skin tight and/or skimpy clothes it’s not hard to find some sex appeal. Based on a video game of the same name, at least this is one game-based mess that tries to stay true to the source material, regardless of whether or not it works.
This is a bad movie. In fact, it might end up as the new definition of bad movie. Your expectations need to reach record lows in order to enjoy this on any level. Dead or Alive has no sense of flow or focus, and aside from hot girls fighting, you'll be lucky to make it all the way through.
Opening scenes are played dramatically as the set up begins, even with the wooden and completely unbelievable performances from the actors. The film then rapidly switches tone to comedy, then into over-the-top action. If anything, the film is kinetic and fast paced. Characters are introduced and dropped as soon as kicks start to fly in the fighting tournament they have all been invited to.
The focus is, of course, on the women of Dead or Alive, while fans of the game will catch fleeting glimpses of their favorite characters. TNA pro wrestler Kevin Nash plays Bass, a hulking brute that couldn't have been cast better. He's the only one on payroll that seems to "get it," camping it up for his limited screen time.
Painful dialogue, atrocious special effects and knock-off fights do nothing to keep this film engrossing. There are some excellent concepts for the fight scenes, and the choreography is spot-on. These moments are the only memorable ones, and even then, the excess wire work and overused slow motion are tiring.
There are slight attempts at working in other aspects of the video game series, including an extraneous volleyball game and one vs. all action romp that recalls the Ninja Gaiden series from which Dead or Alive was spun off. Style choices here again cause problems, as the entire effort feels forced. Sure, the women are great to look at, but in the middle of a fight scene, it kills any flow the action had when a slow motion zoom to a specific body part interrupts.
Article comments
1 - ZOLA PATEL
What a TRUE AUSSIE ANGEL, Gifted by GOD BODY from OZ HOLLY VALANCE, What a BONZER. WE WANT MORE!!! WE WANT MORE!!! Of SUPER SEXY HOLLY VALANCE. DOA was GREAT. HOLLYWOOD Produces MUST sign her up for more movies, she is still young.
2 - ZOLA PATEL
What a TRUE ANGEL, Gifted by GOD BODY from OZ HOLLY VALANCE doing a Zinadine Zidane HEADBUTT and a GREAT SEXY BRA TRICK.
3 - T. Rigney
Were you really expecting something substantial from DOA? Corey Yuen's filmography is littered with similiar titles, most of which are good for a thrill or two, and this one's no exception. Tournament fight films rarely have deep characterization or involving plotlines, and as long as this fact is first and foremost in your mind, DOA isn't actually all that bad.
4 - Foywonder
Corey Yuen's biography is littered with silly movies that are still vastly superior to DOA, which is just pointless, boring, and unimpressive on any level. DEAD OR ALIVE is not even a well made dumb popcorn flick.