DOA: Dead or Alive
We went to see DOA: Dead or Alive this past Sunday. Don’t bother seeing this in the theater (if it even lasts past this first weekend). If you really want to see it, wait until it’s on video and go rent it. In fact, wait until it’s been on video a while and wait for it to get the bargain bin rates. I used to love playing one of the early versions of the game, so I had to go see it. Video Game based movies rarely (if ever) turn out any good and this one was beyond bad. Acting was generally bad (although it really depends on which actor, there were a few that were okay). The directing was very amateurish. I’m surprised it’s from Cory Yuen. Even low budget Hong Kong films done in 2 or 3 weeks have better camera angles, editing, and scene composition. Maybe he was under orders to construct scenes to replicate the video game and had to spend all his time there. The fight scenes were probably the best part. Except for a few corny things, they were passable. The dialog was beyond bad. To the point that the few decent actors really had to work to make the lines remotely believable. It was so bad, they could have even tried to be Austin Powers campy about it, but no, it’s almost like they tried to be serious. Anyway, thumbs down.
