Very well executed

Save your money for something good and enjoyable

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

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.

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

I like action movies, but I know the score with movies based on games. They tend to be low budget crap, that offend every sensibility you might have towards good film making.However I was pleasantly surprised by this movie. It has a nice clean style, doesn't take itself too seriously, and it was fun and entertaining to watch. Most importantly I didn't feel it suffered too much from the bad acting, casting and costumes that plagued similar movies like Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat. The notable exception being Ayane, who suffers from the dreaded 'white girl in an anime costume' playing Asian. Thankfully she is not in it too much.If I could liken it to other movies. I would say it is on a par with films like Fast and the Furious (or any Vin Diesel film really), Charlie's Angels, or Men in Black. If you were able to sit though those, and be entertained, then you should be happy with this too.I don't usually like watching trailers because they often spoil films. But in this case, there isn't a great deal to spoil. So I would advise watching the trailer and go with your impulse. If you find yourself thinking "this might be fun" then you will probably enjoy it. On the other hand: If you think "this looks like inane tripe" then I doubt watching the whole thing will change your mind.I would give this film a 6, it has good fight scenes, hot girls, non- stop action, and nothing too serious or annoying to spoil the fun.

Oh boy.... Not quite sure where to start on this movie. It's one of those movies that idiots think is great because it has hot chicks and sweet action scenes. However, for us movie watchers who enjoy plot, character development, drama, emotions, and good acting it is a PIECE OF S#@&. There are people that will say they watched this movie because it has hot girls in it, and I say to those people "have you ever heard of the internet?". There are good movies out there with hot girls, but this is not one of them. If you want hot girls and awesome action, I recommend you see and of the Underworld movies. Overall this movie had nothing that would make it a decent film. I would NEVER pay to see this movie!!