DOA: DEAD OR ALIVE (2007)

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"Why you can't just sleep in the nude like me I'll never know."

Alright. So today I was at F.Y.E. in a town nearby to where I live, and that particular branch of the franchise (To put it into Movie-like terms) was going out of business. I had a Gift Card to there that my Mom got me for Christmas, and so I went there to check out their wares again (I've been there a lot). However, when I arrived there, I discovered that a lot of the stuff, due to the close-out sale, was gone. The store was having a huge deal, EVERYTHING in the entire store was 50% off! So I said, "HELL YEAH!" and went buying. lolz. Anyway, as I was searching, I came across THIS movie, and knew instantly that I had to get it. It's based off of one of my favorite games, "Dead or Alive," which is one similar to the styles of games like "Street Fighter," "Mortal Kombat," and "Tekken." I bought the DVD, expecting anything. On one hand I knew that many Videogame to Movie adaptations were complete and utter bullshit, while on the other hand I knew that there were SOME videogames, like "Resident Evil," "Mortal Kombat," and (This one is in MY opinion only, it seems) "DOOM," which did a pretty good job of adapting into a movie. Well, I started the movie, and INSTANTLY I was sucked into it. It was a great fighting/martial arts movie, and I really loved it. I know the reviews say otherwise, but I hope you'll give this review I'm writing a chance, and give it a try at least.

The director of this movie is a man named Corey Yuen, who has been in a ton of Japanese Movies as an actor that I'm sure you've never seen, unless you ARE Japanese. Yuen is also the director of the first movie in "The Transporter" series. I personally haven't watched "The Transporter," since I'm not a Jason Statham fan, AT ALL, but if the directing for that one was done NEARLY the same as this one, I'd like it a lot (Save the fact that Statham is in it). All of the different slow motion shots for this movie were done VERY well, and the Director's choices of where to have them were very well picked out, unlike "Wanted," where the Slow Motion shots seemed to be a little out of hand, and TOO repetitive at times (Don't get me wrong, though, I LOVED "Wanted."). The director of this one really knew his stuff when it came to making a really good film out of a really good video game. I liked the angles that he chose to use as well, and the lighting that was picked. It added a great sense to the entire tropical island where the Tournament was held. The writers of this movie did a good job at adapting the story from the different games into one that was workable with the movie. The writer of this movie's story is J.F. Lawton who, with the help of Adam Gross and Seth Gross, wrote the screenplay, which was BASED OFF of his movie story. The writers all did a very good job of making the game into a movie, like I said, and it really added some spice to all the fighting, to see all of the different back stories surrounding the different characters. The Director and The Writers all worked together very well on this movie, and did great at making a great game, into what is, in my opinion, a great MOVIE! And Paul W.S. Anderson (My second favorite Director of all time!) is a producer for this movie! :O lolz!

This movie had great visuals to it as well, like I touched a bit on in my last paragraph. First of all, I'd like to say how close a lot of the characters were to their Video Game originators. Ayane for one, was one that was played, cast, and dressed VERY well. Her purple hair tied back was JUST as it was in the game, and her black suit, with purple undergarments was ALSO done VERY well. Zack was another one, whose green hair, mustache, and goatee were nearly EXACTLY like HIS video game counterpart. I also liked Christie's look, though her hair wasn't white like her game counterpart's, her attitude and fighting style matched that of the same videogame character. Another thing I liked about the visuals, was all of the scenery that was shown on the island, and the different places where the people fought. I'd say "Arenas," but they CHOSE where they fought, and it could be ANYWHERE, so I'll just stick with "Places." lolz! Everything visually was done MASTERFULLY, and really made a great impact on the film.

The storyline of this movie may not be original, or it may. I'm not ENTIRELY clear on the storylines for the original game, but I know it was kind of complex. I usually just played it for the fighting, and the back stories were bonuses. Anyway, the storyline of this one was very well done, and a lot of the things about the characters matched what the characters were like in the game. Christie and her thief lifestyle, Tina and her Pro Wrestling Superstar status, as well as her overenthusiastic father, and even Hayabusa and his neverending loyalty to Kasumi. This is a story that takes place in China, of course, and it's a good one. A tournament, called D.O.A. is being held by a gracious host. $10,000,000 awaits the champion of this tournament. The tournament is one of Martial Arts, and it pits all of the different masters of separate Martial Arts styles. Many people clash in this tournament, and their back stories remain even secretive to those who they consider friends. I loved the stories that went with the entire movie. It was great to see everyone's background clashing in with the tournament, and all of those people clashing against each other. DEFINITELY worked out great for the film.

Starring in this movie as the Pro-Wrestling super star, Tina Armstrong, is Jaime Pressly, best known for her role on the hit television series, "My Name is Earl." Tina Armstrong is a strong and beautiful woman, who doesn't take crap from anyone, except, it seems, from her father, Bass Armstrong. She has quit her life as a Pro-Wrestler because she is sick of all of the fake fighting, and everyone KNOWING she's not really fighting. She has set out on a, sort of permanent, vacation, searching for something to prove that she is REALLY an excellent fighter. After fighting off a bunch of Pirates on the Red Chinese sea, Tina gets an invite to a huge tournament called "D.O.A." she accepts the challenge knowing that it's the chance to prove herself to the world that she has been looking for. Upon arriving at the island, she meets two other women, Christie Allen and Kasumi. They all be come friends, after trying to race eachother and acting like they were enemies, except at THAT time they WERE actually enemies. lolz. she finds out that she's going to be with a man named Zack (Played by Brian White), whom she cannot stand. He is of the mind that her and her father (Who was ALSO invited to the island, go figure) are going to go out fast in the tournament because Wrestling isn't a REAL fighting style. He is also constantly hitting on her, and trying to seduce her, and she CONSTANTLY turns him away, disgusted, only to have him lash back. Her chance arrives to finally shut her father up, and get him off of the Pro-Wrestling train, when she is picked to fight him. She kicks his ass, and he finally sees her as a true martial artist. However, Zack STILL is on her case, and she looks forward to the chance to shut him up. Jaime Pressly, though I haven't really seen her in anything (I don't really watch "My Name is Earl" at all), is an actress that I might add to my FAVORITES list! lolz. She portrays Tina Armstrong VERY well. She really gets down Tina's laid back, I've-got-to-prove-myself attitude really well, and portrays it expertly. She really goes all out with it, and makes it as if the character popped out of the game. She really makes it a believable, convincing, and realistic character. She's even sort of relateable, since she wants to prove that she's something in life, and most people are the same way. Plus, you kind of feel for her, since she's getting all of this crap from Zack, and yet she keeps on trucking. Jaime Pressly was definitely a great casting choice for this role.

Devon Aoki, known for her viciously famous role as Miho in "Sin City," stars in this movie as Princess Kasumi. Princess Kasumi is exactly THAT. A princess. When she is told for the millionth time that her brother, Hayate, is dead, and that she is to take over his spot and rule their people, she has had enough, and decides to leave the temple and find her brother. However, if she leaves her temple and her people, she will become a Shinobi, and the Shinobi are enemies to her people. This will mean that her guards will become the very people who will try to kill her on her way out, and who will kill her on the next sighting if she escapes. She doesn't care, however, and flees the palace in search of her brother. On her way, she dispatches of quite a few of her guards, and procures an invite to the D.O.A. tournament, which is exactly where she wants to go, since that is where Hayate had disappeared. As she is on the plane, she discovers that her personal body guard, very good friend, and the one that constantly tells her that she needs to assume the throne and take her responsibilities, as well as the man that tried to talk her out of leaving, Hayabusa, has gotten an invite to the D.O.A. tournament, and accepted, causing him to become a Shinobi as well. This surprises her, and she is incredibly mad, but soon welcomes his presence. Kasumi meets two women as she tries to make it to the D.O.A. complex before sundown, and they are Christie Allen and Tina Armstrong. At first, Kasumi makes them her enemies, but as it becomes apparent that they need each other's help, she assists them, and they all become good friends. Kasumi immediately begins her search of the complex, trying to find her brother. She talks, soon, to Donovan, the man who runs the D.O.A. tournament. He tells her of the man who killed her brother, a big man named Leon, and how her brother died. She listens and is soon paired up for a fight, by Donovan's hands, with Leon. She defeats him and knows instantly that this man did NOT kill her brother, and that Donovan is lying. She now sets her sights on making sure that she finds her brother, and learns of either his death, or his survival. At the same time as all of this, Kasumi is being hunted down by her best friend, Ayane because it is Ayane's belief that she must kill Kasumi now that she is a Shinobi. Devon Aoki, from what I've seen of her, is a great actress, and she really pulls of this character well. While I do not remember the character, Kasumi, too well, I know that Devon Aoki does great in making all of Kasumi's emotions work, and her worries, as well as her fierce determination to find her brother very clear and very well formed. She definitely is the character, I'm sure, that she means to portray. She delivers a completely convincing, completely believable, and completely realistic performance. You also can relate to Kasumi if you have had a brother or sister, or ANY family member at that, disappear, and yet there bodies aren't found, so you do not rest easy, and yearn to take it into your own hands. You do feel for the character, too, since she has to bear all this, and find the patience to fight tons of allies who seem much bigger and badder, to use the corny phrase, than her. Devon Aoki was definitely another great casting choice for this movie.

Christie Allen, my second favorite character from the videogame, is played by Holly Vallance, whom you may not know. That is because this is her first, and so far ONLY, movie. Christie Allen is an assassin/professional thief. At the beginning of this movie she is seen in her hotel room, and as she exits her shower, she is met up with a task force of many policemen. She knows immediately that Max (Played by Matthew Marsden) has set her up so that she can take the blame for everything, and leave him a hero. She escapes, however, and gets free. At the same time, shre receives an invite to the D.O.A. tournament, and agrees to go. On the plane to the tournament, she finds out that Max is on the plane as well, having somehow, and very sneakily, gotten into the tournament. She's completely lost as to HOW he got into the tournament, since he's such a wimp, but she doesn't let it bother her, and she gives him the cold shoulder for the rest of the ride. Soon, though, Max tells her that he HAD to sell her out. If he hadn't she wouldn't have gotten into this tournament, and they wouldn't be able to pull of their next big "Job." Max's plan is to not just settle on $10,000,000, but rather, settle on $100,000,000. He and Christie are going to break into the D.O.A. Island's vault, and take all of their money and escape with it, but Christie has to fight in the tournament as well, and try and win an extra $10,000,000 and make their total earnings from the tournament, $110,000,000. She is a great fighter, and when the tournament started, she made friends with Tina Armstrong and Kasumi, and they've been helping each other out for the whole time. As she fights her way through the hordes of opponents in the tournament, Christie searches very sneakily for the answer to opening the vault. Holly Valance, for a first-time actress, does a great job as Christie. Though her hair isn't snow white, like it is in the game, she bears a striking resemblance to the game character, even in her clothing styles. She really gets Christie's fierce determination, and very tough features down VERY well, and makes it a great character. She delivers a VERY convincing, VERY believable, and VERY realistic performance. She's not one you can really relate to or feel for, but her character ISN'T supposed to be one you're supposed to relate to or feel for. She's one of those, good villains throughout the movie, you know? Holly Valance was yet another great casting choice for this movie.

Starring in this film as my FAVORITE character from the games, is Sarah Carter, whom you may know from "Final Destination 2," where she played Shaina. She was also in "Skinwalkers," where she played Katherine. Her character (My favorite from the videogames) is Helena Douglass. Helena Douglass is the daughter of Fame Douglass, who founded D.O.A., with the help of Donovan, and ran it until the day that he died. Helena has finally turned twenty-one and can now enter the D.O.A. tournament and compete with all of the other fighters. Since she is now twenty-one, she also is hosting the D.O.A. tournament in a way. She tells the people on the plane where they are going, and what to do. From there on, she's a competer, and fights evenly with all of the others. Helena is a bit different from the rest of the movie's characters, since she doesn't really have a lot going on, except for the fact that it seems everyone is talking her down so much because she is such a pretty girl, but she beats them down one by one with each victory, and soon they shut up. It doesn't, however, stop anyone from hitting on her all of the time. lolz. Helena is admired from afar by a man named Weatherby (Played by Stan Howey), who is a lab technician on the D.O.A. Island, and he soon confronts her. As they talk, Helena is silently wooed by him. While Sarah Carter does a great job playing the character, Helena wasn't exactly portrayed like she was in the game. In the game she was a high class opera singer, with a huge career, and she wasn't a girly girl. At least that's the way it was in the games I'VE played, I don't know how she started out like in the first movie. In the movie, she is a girly girl, who likes to lie on the beach and such. Sarah Carter does a great job in portraying the character the way the storywriters wanted her to be portrayed like, though. She really gets Helena's worries and emotions, as well as her tough nature and I'll-fight-you-if-you-cross-me attitude down VERY well, and runs off with the character, making it a great performance. Her performance is completely convincing, completely believable, and completely realistic. You can also feel for Helena, sort of, since she's new to all of this, yet so much is expected of her, and she does a great job at playing along with everything, and being tough. She is also one that can be related to sort of, since I know some, if not most, people have started something new, or after having waited for so long, and feel completely overshadowed by others, and get nervous. Sarah Carter was DEFINITELY ANOTHER great casting choice for this movie.

Natassia Malthe known for roles as Sonja in "Skinwalkers" and Rayne in "BloodRayne II: Deliverance, two movies that I really liked, stars in this movie as the character, Ayane. Ayane is a purple haired assassin. She is very stealthy, very lethal, and very efficient with her work. At the beginning of the movie, Ayane is the one person who stands in the way of Kasumi as she tries to leave the temple. Ayane is a VERY good friend to Kasumi, and does not want to have to hunt her down and kill her if she becomes a Shinobi, but as Kasumi tries to escape, Ayane makes it clear that she WILL do it because she will be honorbound to. She allows Kasumi to leave because she is momentarily stunned that Kasumi escaped in such a flash. Ayane then pursues Kasumi like she promised to, tracking Kasumi to a tropical island where Kasumi is competing in the D.O.A. tournament. Ayane is a woman who has many ideals, but one of these is the fact that was in love with Hayate, the brother of Kasumi, and it pains her to have to track Kasumi down and kill her, but she does it because, as she points out in the movie, she is honor bound to do so. She is very stealthy, as I have already said, and finds Kasumi quite often, challenging her and then having to flee as Kasumi's new friends, Tina Armstrong and Christie Allen, keep showing up. Ayane still pursues Kasumi, though, and knows that if she continues to hunt down Kasumi to bring her new Shinobi name to death, then she will be rewarded by attaining what she has sought after so hard. Natassia Malthe makes Ayane a PERFECT match to her game character. Her costume and hair match that of the character completely, and the same can be said about her facial features. She really gets down Ayane's honor bound life style, as well as her fierce determination to reach her goals, and kill the traitor who was once her friend, no matter how much it pains her. She delivers a performance that is completely convincing, completely believable, and completely realistic. Her performance is one that you really feel for, since she's not inherently bad, she's just made to SEEM like a bad guy. In her mind, what she's doing is the right thing. You feel for her because she's been driven to have to killer her best friend, and it's tearing her apart inside, even though she feels, and KNOWS, that she HAS to do it. You can sort of relate to that, too. Maybe you haven't been driven to KILL someone that you're close to, but peerhaps you have felt compelled to have to do something that may harm someone, physically OR mentally, but do it for their own good. Natassia Malthe was DEFINITELY YET ANOTHER great casting choice for this movie.

Kane Kosugi, who played Ryu in the movie "Street Fighter Zero" (Also based off of a videogame), stars in this movie as the humble servant, and loyal bodyguard to Kasumi, Ryu Hayabusa. Ryu Hyabusa, is, as I said, Princess Kasumi's personal bodyguard, and loyal servant. He constantly clings to Princess Kasumi's side, and makes sure that she is safe, and that she carries on her duties. At the beginning of the movie, he is seen telling Princess Kasumi that she has to take over Hayate's, her dead brother, position as the leader of their village. However, Kasumi refuses, saying that until she sees her brother's dead body, he is not dead. She finally decides to leave the city to search for answers as to where her brother is. Hayabusa goes ballistic, reminding Kasumi that she will become the enemy, a Shinobi, if she does. She doesn't listen, and much to his annoyance, she escapes the city. Hayabusa is also so defensive because secretly he is in love with Kasumi, though he can never tell this because he is her loyal servant and body guard, and it wouldn't proper to let her know of his feelings, and it ALSO wouldn't be proper for them to be seen together as a couple. He goes after her though, and soon is invited to the D.O.A. Tournament, where he is happy to be, able to watch over Kasumi, but she soon tells him of her talk with Donovan, and how he was lying to her. Now Hayabusa is on her side, helping her search for answers to Hayate's whereabouts, since Hayate was also like a brother, and DEFINITELY a BEST FRIEND, to him. Kane Kosugi may not be known to me as an actor, but he does a great job as Ryu Hayabusa, and really makes the character like what he was in the "Dead or Alive" games. He makes Hayabusa's loyal and defensive nature very realistic, and makes sure everything about the character, like his loyalness, which I've already pointed out, and his fierceness, as well as his friendliness, AND his quiet, usually pacifistic nature, is down and performed very well. Ken Kosugi does a great job as this character, and delivers a performance that is completely convincing, completely believable, and completely realistic. You can also really feel for Ryu Hayabusa because the one person he loves and obeys, is also the one person that he can never have. You can also sort of relate to that because I'm sure that many people have wanted a woman, or man in the woman's case, that they absolutely could not have, and it was driving them to do things that they wouldn't have normally done in the first place. Ken Kosugi was DEFINITELY YET ANOTHER great casting choice for this movie.

Starring in this movie as the villain of everything, is Eric Roberts, known for his recent role as Salvatore Maroni in the hit movie "The Dark Knight." His character's name is Donovan, of course. Donovan, at the beginning seems like a very good guy, but I knew the series, so I also know that wasn't to be. lolz. Donovan is the man running the D.O.A. Tournament. He plays gracious host to everything, playing off what they need to do to be in the right in the tournament, and running everything from behind the scenes in a laboratory, coming out only when he needs to. We soon find out, though, that he's more than he seems. He's injected the contestants with nanobytes that will transfer complete images of the persons body and how they work, while at the same time recording everything to gain a full knowledge of everyone's fighting styles. It's not clear WHAT exactly he's doing with all of this information. Soon he is confronted by Kasumi as she searches for answers about her missing brother, Hayate. She asks what happened to him, and Donovan explains that he fought and lost to Leon, in the fight, Ryu fell off of a balcony on the side of a mountain, and plummeted to his death. They never found his body. You can tell, though, that Donovan is lying about this, and that Kasumi can tell the same thing as she talks to him. Donovan isn't stupid, though, and he knows that his lies aren't being believed, and that she isn't going to give up on this. Donovan also has unsuspecting assistant in Weatherby, the man who designed the nanobytes system, as well as runs the whole program. He believes he's doing it to monitor the Fighters and see how they're doing physically and such. Eric Roberts does great as the bad guy in this one, and though I'm not sure what Donovan was like in the video games, since I don't really remember his presence in them, and it's been quite a while since I last played them, but he really gets down the movie character's traits very well. He portrays Donovan's vile nature, his fierce pursuit of attaining what he wants, and his downright sly and sneaky behavior. just perfectly, and really makes it a great bad guy. His portrayal of Donovan was completely convincing, completely believable, and completely realistic. Eric Roberts was DEFINITELY ANOTHER great casting choice for this movie. They seemed to have done a good job with that, haven't they? LOLZ!

All in all this was a great action movie, and a really good videogame-to-movie film adaptations. The characters, for the most part, match all of their counterparts in the games, and do great with costumes, hair, and attitudes, from what I remember. The director of this movie does a great job with everything, and really gives us a movie that we can really love, and get pumped over. He does great with all his decisions concerning the movie, like lighting and camera angle. The writers of the movie also do great, developing a story out of some great fighting videogames, and capturing the audience with it. The visuals of the movie are what might be considered over-the-top, and are done VERY well. You really are drawn into the fighting scenes as the unfold, and you can't look away. The storyline of this movie is one that definitely does a great job from transferring from a videogame intoa movie, and making it interesting. The actors of this movie tie up everything, and made it great. The actors involved deliver completely convincing, completely believable, and completely realistic performances, and deliver performances as characters that you can really FEEL FOR, and even RELATE TO, on variously different levels. If you love movies about Martial Arts, and fighting and all of the such, then you'll love this, and if you liked the game a lot, like I did, you'll love this. So take my word for it, and give the movie a try at least. You won't be sorry, that I promise! LOLZ!