DOA: Dead or Alive (2006)

Delivering exactly what it promises is director Corey Yuen’s juvenile babes and butt-kicking brawler DOA: DEAD OR ALIVE. Based on Techmo and Team Ninja’s popular fighting video game series, DOA proudly flaunts its paper-thin plot, B-grade acting, exaggerated fighting moves, and pin-up shots of the film’s attractive and scantily-clad female stars. Whatever one may think of the film’s base formula, it actually works thanks in part to a fast-moving script that doesn’t take itself seriously and Yuen’s dependable action choreography.

Like the MORTAL KOMBAT movies, DOA is an attempt to build a cinematic experience around a tournament-style fighting game with only minimal “lore” and character development to support it. Thankfully, writers J.F. Lawton, Adam Gross and Seth Gross didn’t waste much time trying to build on an already shaky foundation. Half the fighters are nothing but extras and the rest are only stereotypes robotically spitting out bland dialogue in between copious amounts of ultra-stylized fighting and skin-baring action.

A buffed up Jaime Pressly, who is probably hoping people don’t remember her from her co-starring role in THE KARATE DOG, is out to prove her character is not just a fake professional wrestler.

SIN CITY star Devon Aoki is a runaway from a ninja clan in search of her missing brother (Collin Chou). She’s supported by fellow ninja Kane Kosugi and pursued by ELEKTRA co-star Natassia Malthe.

Aussie actress Holly Valance and her non-fighting screen boyfriend (Matthew Marsden) are planning to steal the tournament’s prize money.

Playing the deceased tournament founder’s daughter, Sarah Carter is out to honor his memory by winning the event herself.

That leaves THE DARK KNIGHT’s Eric Roberts as the tournament’s corrupt host, Steve Howey as his geeky IT specialist with a crush on Carter, Brian J. White in a token black role, WWE star Kevin Nash as Pressly’s fighting father, and MORTAL KOMBAT star Robin Shou in a cameo as a pirate leader who tangles with Pressly.

Lawton is no stranger to the martial arts genre. He had his greatest success writing Steven Seagal’s UNDER SIEGE (1992), its lesser sequel and the East-meets-West ninja thriller THE HUNTED (1995), starring Christopher Lambert. He didn’t have much to work with in this script but had the right idea by keeping it light and fast-moving. This plays to Corey Yuen’s strengths as an action director, thus allowing the Hong Kong veteran to focus on channeling the slick and dynamic visuals he created in mainstream actioners TRANSPORTOR 2 and SO CLOSE.

Corey Yuen’s experience directing unofficial TEKKEN screen adaptation THE AVENGING FIST no doubt came in handy for this film. The end result is certainly more entertaining given the sizable backing of German-based Constantin Film (RESIDENT EVIL: APOCALYPSE). A $21 million budget for what amounts to a B-movie is a lot for someone used to producing even more impressive action with far less money in Hong Kong hits like RIGHTING WRONGS (aka ABOVE THE LAW) and FONG SAI YUK (aka THE LEGEND).

Although he’s spent much of his time in recent years working alongside Jet Li on his international films, Yuen is also accustomed to working with less-trained stars and managing to make them look good. Looking at films like TWINS EFFECT 2, BULLETPROOF MONK and X-MEN, it’s safe to say that DOA is one of Corey’s best efforts yet in turning non-fighting stars into lean and mean heroes, or in this case heroines. With SEVEN SWORDS DP Keung Kwok-man and SILVERHAWK cinematographer Chan Chi-ying backing him up, Yuen lends his cast world-class treatment when it comes to making them look like confident and capable fighters. Lots of tricks are employed to get the job done, from choice camera angles and editing to elaborate wirework and subtle doubling. It’s not fooling anyone but the effort is appreciated.

I’m guessing wushu-trained Hollywood veteran Qiu Ming doubled Devon Aoki for her more intense fighting moves. Ming is one of the top martial arts-trained stuntwomen in Hollywood right now. On top of being a skilled stunt double, she also does a lot of coordinating as well. She is credited as assistant stunt coordinator on this film, as well as ULTRAVIOLET. She likely doubled Isabella Leong in MUMMY: TOMB OF THE DRAGON EMPEROR and chances are she’ll be doubling Jamie Chung in the live-action DRAGONBALL movie.

Beyond one particularly gratuitous bum shot, the film’s ultimate guilty pleasure comes from watching Holly Valance square off against Sarah Carter, each wearing bikinis while fighting in the rain. Despite their lack of attire and lack of safety padding, Corey Yuen manages to make the two look like they’re still really putting the hurt into each other.

While all of the non-fighting stars should be happy with how they appear given the nature of this movie, none stand out as Jason Statham did in the TRANSPORTER films. Unfortunately, even the experienced stars look only adequate. Kane Kosugi, who should be surpassing his father Sho Kosugi right about now as star of NINJA ASSASSIN (instead of Korean pop idol Rain), gives a lukewarm performance both as an actor and a screen fighter. After seeing his impressive fighting in BLOOD HEAT I’m really disappointed with his first role under Corey Yuen’s direction. Even in this small role I expected more from him but perhaps Yuen didn’t want him to overshadow the ladies.

Collin Chou is impressive as always, when he’s onscreen which isn’t very much. it doesn’t even come remotely close to the fantastic fight work he displayed in FLASH POINT against Donnie Yen but then we’re talking about two completely different martial arts movies. Chou has a weird fight with Roberts that is partially obscured by computer effects which are linked to a mild sci-fi element in the plot.

Roberts is an interesting choice of fighting villain. He’s better known for his varied dramatic acting roles today but to martial arts movie fans he’s also known as star of karate B-movie BEST OF THE BEST (1989) and its sequel. While clearly past his physical prime, I cannot say he performed any worse than Shih Kien did against Bruce Lee in the similar tournament film ENTER THE DRAGON.

The real indicator of where emphasis was placed in regards to the action is in looking at the credits. Although Corey brought in dozens of Chinese stuntmen to bulk up the live-action fighting, they’re all dwarfed by the number of digital effects artists assigned to the film. A good chunk of the budget was undoubtedly blown on cheesball effects and sets that blend seamlessly with the artless production design of Choo Sung-pong (ULTRAVIOLET, THE AVENGING FIST). It’s also a possible indicator of the creative influence of producer Paul Anderson, previous director of strictly mediocre genre films like MORTAL KOMBAT and EVENT HORIZON.

Sound in the movie, from foley effects to music is amped up and over-the-top but complimentary to the rest of the movie. A gun cocking sound was used several times in conjunction with a fighter’s movements and worked surprisingly well.

It’s actually a shame DOA didn’t get proper theatrical distribution in the U.S. Aside from being the kind of witless material I would expect a society obsessed with Paris Hilton and Britney Spears to enjoy, the market has been inundated with higher profile and far worse genre actioners starring women. Films like ELEKTRA, ULTRAVIOLET, CATWOMAN, and UNDERWORLD: EVOLUTION contain dreadfully dull action completely lacking in the kind of organic and colorful performances that once made fighting actresses like Cheng Pei-pei and Michelle Yeoh so much fun to watch. DOA isn’t that much better but it doesn’t pretend to be. Anyone familiar with the fighting game franchise knows how shallow it is and shouldn’t be surprised to find the movie is a mirror image. What’s important is that Corey Yuen makes the movie fun to watch despite its shortcomings. Could he have done better? It’s doubtful with the script and actors he had available to him. I’d say Corey turned a potential stinker into a modest success because without his action direction this movie wouldn’t be worth 90 minutes of anyone’s time with or without the female eye candy.

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