Action

MOVIE REVIEW [He-Said, She-Said] . DoA: Dead or Alive

by Chris and Kris   ⋅   June 18, 2007   ⋅   Comment now   ⋅    RSS

HE SAID:
Finally, a summer film that entertains throughout! Seriously, I’m not joking. Dead or Alive was the most fun I’ve had at a summer movie this year. It may be a videogame adaptation, but its ribald mix of kinetic action, sexy females, and tongue in cheek humor provided a consistent level of entertainment — something the big budget event films have repeatly failed to deliver. Coming out of it, I was totally jazzed.

Some of you may still be in shock. Well, I’ll do my best to help you see the light. Directed by Cory Yuen (Hero, Fong Sai Yuk II), Dead or Alive is based on the series of successful Tecmo fighting games featuring a roster of busty babes, multi-tiered combat arenas, and amazing breast physics. The only thing deep about these games is the fighting system (geek alert: I find DOA’s Virtua Figher based system far superior to Tekken’s button-mashing-rewarding system) — there’s little to no story to be found, other than the usual “win the tournament,” “seek revenge” staple mantras of other fighting games. With that in mind, scriptwriters J.F. Lawton and Adam Gross have managed to come up with a tale that’s a bit Enter the Dragon, with a healthy of Charlie’s Angels. It’s fun and fresh, with a good dose of silly (but thankfully, not lame) dialog which provides just enough story to link the action, but not so much that the film loses its hyper-active pace. In fact, the tone is not unlike Yuen’s own So Close, or Jackie Chan’s City Hunter, another awesomely tongue-in-cheek video-game adaptation.

The whole film is comic book glossy, its brightly bubble-gum colored visuals sporting an ultra sparkly sheen. Near everyone seems to have a glowing aura about them. Acting is nothing to write home about (I mean, it does have Eric Roberts as its main baddie), but within the context of the film fits perfectly. The girls all come across as confident and good natured, with Jaime Pressly, Holly Vance, and Sarah Carter stealing the show. Even Devon Aoki, playing Kasumi (not exactly the first choice for my favorite character), does a pretty decent job. Their fight sequences are all amazing, on par with Corey Yuen’s usual stunners, and definitely worthy of repeat viewings. Case in point: the rain fight, the bamboo forest fight, the Tina/Zack “sound-effect” fight, and the end tower/pagoda fight. Very very cool.

Dead or Alive is not a film to be dissected, there are no subtleties to any of the performances, no higher meanings to be pondered. It’s just a fun, fun flick. If you’re going in to nitpick, you’ll find plenty to work yourself up with (Odd how most of you “haters” have a boner for Death Proof). However, if you go with an open mind, a love of low-budget camp, and an intent to be entertained, you’ll have a blast. Say what you will, but I can’t wait to buy the DVD.

SHE SAID:
I wasn’t expecting much from DoA: Dead or Alive, but because the video game is so fun, I was totally willing to see it, despite the off-kilter Kasumi casting. At least they chose someone Japanese, right? So I let it go. Did it work? Yes and no, since Kasumi is a bad ass, but also very coquettish which Aoki admirably attempted. So I let it go. Did Dennis Rodman play Zack? No, even though the character must have been inspired by the unconventional former Laker, Brian White (Brick’s bully Brad Bramish) captured the boisterous lasciviousness and “sexy dancing” to a tee. Did they choreograph each character’s individual fighting styles and signature moves/throws? To some degree, for example, Tina’s “wrestling” style was gruff and included her between-the-legs neck-twister move. Did they include the duo-level arena drops? Yes! Awesome! They even added the famed DoA bikini volleyball game! Did they intertwine the fore-created video game back-stories to form cohesive pairing? Yes! Except I’m now reading the bios and they failed to mention that Ayane and Hayate are actually half-siblings. Yikes!

DoA: Dead of Alive is much more than a summer blockbuster, it actually possesses a credible plot thread. Of course it’s not based on reality, and so it graciously pumps up the camp and the absurdity. That makes it totally acceptable to guffaw at sequences where the evil Donovan “absorbs” players’ abilities just by wearing a pair of special sunglasses. It’s okay to laugh out loud when he loses the sunglasses and mutters “oh nooo”. I mean, it’s Eric Roberts with feathered hair in a silken tunic, for goodness sakes.

DoA: Dead or Alive is very vaudeville and makes fun of itself as it goes along, which is interestingly a thoughtful, effective approach. The soap operatic dialogue and overextending gestures clown it up; even the lipstick lesbian innuendoes are hilarious. The cheesecake shots have zero body-fat. The action scenes are jampacked with momentum and zero-gravity catapults, forbidding the audience to even blink. The actors and actresses are definitely giving their all, indicative in slo-motion shots of their falls (faces smacking the pavement and puddles look awfully painful) and contortonist leaps and kicks. I don’t know about you, but that earns some respect and let me join Chris by admitting that DoA: Dead or Alive has earned mine.

About the Authors

Chris Nelson and Kris Kobayashi-Nelson are the proud co-founders of dreamlogic.net. The adventurous soulmates occasionally take a break from ghost hunting, spelunking, programming, to view some killer flicks.