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In Dead Or Alive, Princes
Kasumi (Devon Aoki), against all odds, leaves her kingdom in search of her dear brother Hayate (Collin Chou) who is believed to have died at the martial arts tournament called
"DOA" (Dead or Alive) held in secret in a tropical island. She will not believe her brother is dead until she sees his corpse. Armed with sheer determination and her
ninja fighting skills, she jumps, leaps, dives and zooms to join the other competitors in the island-bound plane. On the island Kasumi makes two other girls—pro-wrestling
star Tina (Jaime Pressly) and sexy Christie (Holly Valance)—realize that they have to work together to physically reach the level where they would be initiated into the
tournament. While engaged in combat on the island, they discover the sinister motives of the tournament master, Dr. Donovan (Eric Roberts).
Based on a popular video game, Dead Or Alive is a delectable salad of Crouching Tiger
Hidden Dragon, Charlie's Angels, Kill Bill 2, Enter the Dragon, Matrix and an FHM pictorial. Thanks to their extensive training, Aoki, Pressly and Valance do their own fight sequences, resulting in a highly entertaining movie where there's always more than one thing happening at any given moment. Smooth choreography, razor-sharp editing, great sets, eye-filling costumes, extraordinary locations of fights (between male hunter and femme fatale hunted in a hotel suite, between two women on a rain-swept white sand beach, between father and daughter on a raft)—all these are held together by the skillful, well-thought out cinematography and presented as a dish you'll savor to the last mouthful, or rather, eyeful. Because
Dead Or Alive
is such a mesmerizing eye-candy, you're willing to drop the issue of the flimsy plot: it's just a video game come alive after all, a fantastic tale so implausible despite its good intentions, so what's the big deal? The big plus in the movie is: every ingredient of this salad comes just in the right amount, no exaggerations that would make it more cartoon-y than it deserves to be. And--surprise!--it's bloodless, and that is rare indeed for a violent film.
So long as you do not forget the fact that Dead Or Alive
is designed to visually entertain, it will be enjoyable and refreshing. When you know that it is not meant to impact the viewer profoundly, you will not feel insulted by its whimsical storytelling; when you remember that computer technology must have enhanced the action shots, you will not be awed beyond reason by its superhuman feats. When you begin to ask things like "Can bird boned girls with Playboy Bunny looks and proportions really outsmart hulks with a perfectly timed karate chop or an impeccably aimed nut-cracking kick?", you'll know you're getting carried away. Boys and men with a mental age of 12-15 will enjoy this flick immensely, and girls and women who has ever felt pride in their gender will watch it with glee for its girl power. After all is that is unsaid and undone, its message is still: good conquers evil.
(Date Reviewed: 29 September 2006)
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