Movie Review - DOA: Dead Or Alive

I recently had the bright idea to watch the infamous Street Fighter movie and provide an appropriate review. The problem was that it was so bad that my brain actually shut down and there are substantial parts of the film that I have no memory of. Given this circumstance I thought it was only fitting that I watch a fighting game movie that is still bad but is actually entertaining. Enter DOA: Dead Or Alive (or for the sake of completeness, Dead Or Alive: Dead Or Alive).

DOA takes a refreshing approach to making a movie based on a fighting game by not setting in a post apocalyptic future (Double Dragon or Tekken) or a civil war (Street Fighter).  Instead we have the best fighters in the world being invited by the mysterious Donovan (Eric Roberts) to a fighting tournament. Seems like an obvious premise really.  The story mainly follows Tina (Jaime Pressley), Christie (Holly Valance) and Princess Kasumi (Devon Aoki) who each have their own motives for wanting to compete however Aoki's plotline is the most relevant to the main plot.

If you know the game then you should have a good idea what to expect. Fighting in revealing outfits for the girls and very little attention paid to the male fighters except for plot or comical reasons. There is even a sequence paying homage to the horrendously voyeuristic DOA Xtreme Beach Volleyball game.

Not much can be said about the performances that range from workable to just plain bad. The good part is that everyone seems to be enjoying themselves and no one is taking the proceedings too seriously.  There are a couple of well known faces as well to add just a smidge of legitimacy to proceedings.

This is a good movie to sit back with some friends who are also in the mood for a bad movie.  Keep the beer and munchies rolling and you are in for a fun night that you will feel uncomfortable talking about afterwards.

Alternate Title:  T and A: Dodgy Game Movie