Whereas Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino’s Grindhouse tries to pay tribute to their favorite trash, director and fight choreographer Yuen doesn’t need to pay tribute to anything; he was there. He reportedly appeared in an early Bruce Lee film, worked with Jackie Chan and Jet Li and helmed The Transporter. He’s probably not the most talented filmmaker ever to emerge from Hong Kong, but that still puts him several notches above the average Hollywood action director. Based on the video game of the same name, Yuen’s DOA: Dead or Alive, starts fast, moves fast and ends before you know it.
Like a cross between Charlie’s Angels and Enter the Dragon, the action revolves around an annual fight tournament on a remote island. The best fighters in the world, each with a different style, are invited to join. Among this year’s combatants, we have the daughter of a professional wrestler, Tina (Pressly), a British master thief, Christie (Valance), and a Japanese princess, Kasumi (Aoki), whose brother attended the tournament the previous year and never returned. Behind the scenes, the evil Donovan (Roberts) has a preposterous scheme brewing involving nanotechnology and—for some reason—a pair of sunglasses.
Like Grindhouse, the film shies away from eroticism but contains plenty of skimpy outfits and perfectly sculpted bodies. Yuen’s computer-assisted action sequences move with speed and precision, slowing down to catch a particularly impressive move or speeding up to pump the adrenaline. (One great fight scene takes place in a forest of bamboo trees.)
Occasionally the film tries to explain its plot, and that’s where it runs into trouble. The script, co-written by J.F. Lawton (Under Siege), is riddled with annoying exposition. For example, by leaving her temple and her people, the princess has become a “shinobi,” or “outcast.” Characters bring this up at least four times, using both terms each time, as if translating back and forth makes it sound more impressive. Likewise, don’t expect any brilliant performances; there’s very little room for emoting between butt-kickings. DOA: Dead or Alive is unquestionably brain-dead, but also a great example of unpretentious, second-gear celluloid, generated quickly, cheaply—and for the fun of it.