Without ever having heard of the source material, it's pretty easy to tell that this movie was adapted from a video game. This basically consists of fighting matchups done tournament style. The costumes look as silly as Batman Forever, and the characters are more like cartoons than people. That said, I enjoyed the mindless action. If you don't care that adults who are supposedly disciplined enough to be the most skilled fighters in the world talk like 15-year olds, than you might be able to handle this. Visually, it evokes a shiny, candy-colored playground of fighting venues and employs some of the quickest editing I think you could ever find. It is very difficult to tell what you are watching much of the time because of how fast it moves, and even in slow motion, you can barely fill in the details. But it looks nice and takes no effort to digest. I actually wanted to see more from certain characters, particularly Kevin Nash, who only gets enough spoken lines to leave you wondering if he is playing a mentally challenged fighter. It shows a bit too much skin to recommend for teens, but that seems to be the intended audience. It would be hard for anyone else to take these people and their world seriously.
Review of DOA: Dead or Alive
