DOA: Dead or Alive

Charlie’s Angels meets Enter the Dragon in filmmaker Corey Yuen’s (The Transporter) slick, sexy and silly take on the best-selling videogame of the same name, which revolves around a martial arts tournament wherein the world’s best fighters face off against each other on a mysterious island. Among the combatants are three shapely female fighters: a pro-wrestler (Jaime Pressly), a jewel thief (Holly Valance) and a Ninja princess (Devon Aoki), who ultimately find themselves battling a far larger menace than each other. Shot and edited for the maximum PG-13 level of violence and titillation, the movie doesn’t try to be anything more than the idea behind its pitch, and there’s something real in that.

Shelf Talk: With its mid-September street date, DOA is set to become the buzz title among high school boys (particularly gamers) who are looking to kick off the semester with a bang. The leading ladies—My Name is Earl’s Pressly, popular Aussie actress/singer Valance and Aoki of D.E.B.S. and Sin City fame—have each developed followings over the years, and this is the kind of project their fans clamor to see them undertaking.