Being based on a video game certainly doesn't suggest a film to be of any sort of quality, does it? Let's look at the track record of game to film adaptations, before we get started, shall we?
- Super Mario Brothers (1993)
- Double Dragon (1994)
- Street Fighter (1994)
- Mortal Kombat (1995)
- Wing Commander (1999)
- Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001)
- Resident Evil (2002)
- House of the Dead (2003)
- Doom (2005)
- Silent Hill (2006)
That's obviously just a partial list; I have neglected further works by Uwe Boll, sequels, and anything post 2005. This list does however, serve to illustrate a point which I intend to make. Looking at the list, there may be one or two films which hold a certain place in your movie-loving heart (I'm still partial to Super Mario, as well as Mortal Kombat and House of the Dead), but none could really be considered good, in the traditional sense.
DOA follows the same tradition as the above mentioned films, as it is very low on plot but unfortunately not very high on action. The film's concept is nearly identical to Mortal Kombat (and before that, obviously Enter the Dragon) but the action, while there is an abundance of it, just can't compare. The action is often ridiculous, and humorously over the top. While this occasionally makes for an entertaining sequence, it gets old pretty quick.
Now for a little math - It seems that, because no one will ever expect an elaborate story behind any video game adaptation. So, as the quality of story is expectedly going to be low, the action must be inversely proportional to accommodate. So, the weaker the story, the better the action... right? Well, as that would be the ideal formula for success, DOA fails in this respect as well. The fact that the character introductions are higher quality action sequences than those on display during the film's ridiculous conclusion says a lot.
There you go, while DOA has a few enjoyably over the top action sequences, it's just not enough to carry the film. At best, the film is an 80-minute distraction that will be easily forgotten shortly after viewing. At worst, DOA is disastrous mess of a picture, with few redeeming qualities. A few entertaining fight sequences, and the lovely Holly Valance are really all you have to look forward to here.
Yeah… I understand it's not much of a review. It's not much of a film either, though.
