ScreenWize

Sexy, snappy and blending the improbable, the impossible and the indestructible, Corey Yuen, the well known Hong Kong action director, brings this popular video game to the screen in a deliberately overly-dramatic and sometimes repetitive way.

In Charlie’s Angels style, we meet three female fighters – Kasumi (Devon Aoki), Tina (Jaime Pressly) and Christy (Australian Holly Valance) – each of whom is invited, courtesy of their legendary abilities, to an island resort where this year’s DOA tournament is to be held. Also invited is a collection of other, mostly beefed-up male competitors whom the three babes have to deal with if they want to win the contest and get the ten million dollars in prize money. The final competitor is Helena (Sarah Carter) whose dead father set up DOA. She has put her trust in new DOA head honcho Donovan (Eric Roberts) and his geeky sidekick Weatherby (Steve Howey). With the introductions out of the way in slick music-video and computer-game style, the contest begins.

Essentially a vehicle to stage some martial arts fight scenes (that’s what the video game is all about), the story bounces between the competition and sub-plots involving a heist, Kasumi’s desire to find out what happened to her brother who went missing in the previous year’s event, and the motives of the increasingly suspicious Donovan. The pace never let’s up and we head to a James Bond style ending with all storylines, characters and conflicts converging in cataclysm.

Whilst initially appearing to be a girl power film, the lack of personality of the four female leads turns it into an extreme bikini contest, although Valance manages to stand out when comedy is needed. Aoki has to deal with the weakest part of the story and doesn’t have the depth to overcome some dreadful dialogue of the “I cant go back and protect the clan; I must find my brother” variety. Pressly, although impressive when fighting, errs on the side of the stereotypical for her female wrestler character, and Carter mostly gets to move around in micro-shorts. The fight scenes are, as you’d expect from Yuen, slick and well staged, but do get repetitive after a while. Stylistically, its intentionally well over the top, especially the ending, and directed with tongue firmly in cheek and to some seriously upbeat music. Definitely one for the boys.

Rating:

Filed Under: Reviews by Simon