Jackson Booth-Millard When I set about seeing this film, I had no idea it was based on a video game series, but it does make sense, especially when I read about what it was about, I just fancied something simple to watch really, directed by Corey Yuen (The Transporter). Basically "Dead or Alive" (DOA) is a martial arts tournament on an isolated island within an advanced complex where the world's best fighters participate in a contest, the loser who gets knocked-out will be forced to leave the island and return home, the winner will receive the ultimate prize of $10 million. Three female fighters are chosen to take part, they are Ninja princess Kasumi (Sin City's Devon Aoki), professional wrestler Tina Armstrong (My Name Is Earl's Jaime Pressly), and master thief and assassin Christie Allen ("Kiss Kiss" singer Holly Valance). Arriving on the island by aeroplane and parachute, Christie, Tina and Kasumi find out they are not just fighting for the championship, they are going against tournament master Donovan (Eric Roberts), the late tournament founder's teenage daughter Helena Douglas (Final Destination 2's Sarah Carter). Kasumi left her kingdom in search of her brother Hayate (Collin Chou) who disappeared a year ago at the tournament, Tina is taking part to prove she is not a fake when fighting, and Christie and her lover and treacherous partner Maximillian 'Max' Marsh (Resident Evil: Extinction's Matthew Marsden) plan to break into a vault on the island, of course Donovan has his own agenda and other plans of exploitation for the female fighters. Also starring Kane Kosugi as Hayabusa, Natassia Malthe as Ayane and Derek Boyer as Bayman. The cast all do their parts fine, there is an alright sort of story going on, and some fight scenes are well edited, but it felt like a big mash- up of Charlie's Angels and Mortal Kombat taking place on a Tracy Island, and I was much more distracted by the beautiful women kicking ass and semi-naked with fabulous figures in bikinis almost the whole way through, overall it is an average martial arts action adventure. Okay!

Benjamin Cox Of all the genres of video games adapted for the silver screen, by far the most disastrous has to be to the beat-em-up (assuming that we forget the mess that was "Super Mario Bros."). Movies are supposed to have plot and character development, rather than a bunch of different arenas and costumes. The Dead Or Alive games occupy a strange place within the genre, speaking as someone who doesn't really get beat-em-ups. Street Fighter had the vast list of cast and special moves to master, Mortal Kombat had the digitised avatars and bloody finishing moves. DOA, meanwhile, boasted that the graphics engine could "realistically" show boobs moving about and boy, did they move about! The movie adaptation is under no illusion that it only has to appeal to young boys on the cusp of discovering girls and frankly, if you don't match that description then this will depress, underwhelm or entertain you with its crude laughs or a combination of all three.DOA itself is your standard fighting tournament, organised on a mysterious tropical island with a variety of oddball combatants and a $10 million prize fund for the winner. Each contestant is invited by tournament organiser Donovan (Eric Roberts) to attend, having been judged to be masters of their particular fighting style. For Princess Kasumi (Devon Aoki), it is a chance to find her apparently dead brother and fellow warrior Hayate (Collin Chou). Master thief Christie (Holly Valance) has her eyes on a bigger prize with her on-off partner Max (Matthew Marsden) while retired professional wrestler Tina (Jaime Pressly) sees the DOA as a chance to prove that wrestling isn't fake. As the tournament progresses, it becomes clear that our three heroines must work together to overcome a much greater threat than any of their opponents thus far.Assuming that you're still interested by this point, "DOA: Dead Or Alive" does nothing to remedy the woeful track record of video game adaptations. It isn't as bad as a Uwe Boll effort - there is almost an excess of spit-and-polish as characters carry out "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon"-style moves with alarming regularity. I can't comment on how close to the originals their movie counterparts are but most characters fit into one of four categories: bikini babe, muscle-bound meat-head, generic ninja and other. Retaining the rampantly sexist element, the film has almost as much gratuitous shots of Valance, Aoki, Pressly and Sarah Carter as it does fight scenes but neither the teasing nudity or the overly-familiar carnage has the slightest bit of context. There isn't a single shot in this movie you haven't already seen elsewhere with the possible exception of Roberts throwing away the rest of his career. His ridiculous performance is probably the worst of the lot although Aoki pushes him close, being a charisma-void in the middle of the picture. Carter does OK compared to the rest of the cast but isn't given nearly enough to do besides a couple of fight scenes and oh yes... wear a bikini.I imagine that fans of the game might enjoy this as will the afore-mentioned pre-pubescent boys that "DOA: Dead Or Alive" strives to appeal to but personally, I found this film about as clever as smashing my own face in with a frying pan. Why is the code to Donovan's secret vault tattooed onto the back of the neck of one of the contestants? Why does bamboo slice perfectly when a sword goes through it but during a fight, becomes as tough as scaffolding (and sounds like it too)? Why did the computer nerd and comedic device Weatherby (Steve Howey) stick around after discovering the evil scheme at the heart of the tournament? Why was nothing explained about the purple-haired warrior Ayane (Natassia Malthe) trailing Kasumi and what exactly did she do in the film? Why did all the tournament contestants have to parachute onto the island instead of taking a boat? Because director Corey Yuen thinks it looks cool and that's the end of it. "DOA: Dead Or Alive" feels cheap, nasty, repetitive and frankly, a little seedy. If you're looking for brainless thrills or a bad movie that you could easily provide your own commentary on then this will do the trick. Everyone else should keep well away - this is about as much fun as rebooting your Xbox.

ArT_of_InSaNiTy Well it is a terrible film, but there has been and will continue to be a lot worse than this. It is at least watchable; barely, but still watchable. It is however just another addition to the ever growing list of disappointing films inspired by video games; Mortal Kombat, Tomb Raider, Street Fighter and more recently Max Payne and Tekken. All have been poor. This is the worst of the bunch though; choosing to cast for looks rather than martial art ability. But that couldn't even save this film from digging itself 6 feet under. The plot is preposterous; it is uninteresting and it's almost impossible to get interested. It relies on half naked woman to invoke that interest more than anything else. In a film full of nonsense there are some horrors that stand out; apparently trained ninjas with swords are scared of rose petals and shiny pink wristbands. And you know that saying romance is never dead;well it would commit suicide if it seen some of the stuff in this. Prepare for inevitable cringing and rolling of the eyes. There are worse films but i would recommend watching something else. 1.5/10

murmursound It was absolutely unbearable to watch this. Everything was bad all around the board- from costume design to script to the actors (who I actually feel sorry for). It appears that the director or the writer- whoever- simply saw a cover for this game. I loved the game! This is just so beyond everything. Hayabusa, Hayate- all your favorites are totally slandered in this ridiculous attempt at a "movie." I watch it just to feel my heart break at how it ruins all of the characters. However, I must say that the only gleaming star in the pile of trash! is Tina played by Jaime Pressly. She looked the role and gave it her 100%. Great job Jaime- i'm so sorry you had to deal with the people who produced this pile of junk. The scenes lack any depth. As a matter of fact, so do the characters. The plot lines, all of the back stories, everything that we know and love are barely touched and often misconstrued and ambiguous. The fitness of the overall characters can be summed up by what my friend said "Looks like they just got off the couch" pertaining to the physique of these characters. Hayabusa was so small and puny I would not feel threatened by his presence whatsoever. Kasumi was a joke as was Ayane. Watch for the laughs but be prepared to pee yourself silly. It's bad.