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Reviews
DOA: Dead or Alive (2006)
For a video game-to-movie adaptation, it's not bad!
...I didn't have high expectations to begin with, but this is a pure cheesy popcorn flick with some laughs and lots and lots of eye-candy.
With that said, there are a few things that I absolutely hated in the movie (I might be nitpicking): ***Minor Spoilers*** 1) You got Helena, Christie, Kasumi, Tina, and Ayane. Why isn't Lei-Fang part of the DOA girl squad? Lei-Fang is one of my favorite characters in the game, and she was there for a full three minutes of the movie. Got eliminated in the first round. To top it off...the actress who played Lei-Fang looked like she was 40 years old! WHY?! Sure, Zhang Ziyi probably wasn't available...but...WHAT A WASTE! 2) Although the fighting was decent, I expected more from Corey Yuen. Sure, he's no Yuen Woo Ping in my opinion, but I think he could've done better, especially for the scenes with Hayabusa. Anyone who's played "Ninja Gaiden" would understand. Hayabusa's fight scenes were alright, but nothing spectacular. The same can go for Hayate (Collin Chou, who plays Seraph in the Matrix Trilogy), who's underused in DOA.
3) And finally, last but not least, Devon Aoki. Wow, if anything she's the worst actor/actress in the movie. NO facial expressions whatsoever. And she's not that great looking either...
...On the other hand Holly Valance is incredibly HOT HOT HOT as Christie. But my favorite DOA: Movie girl is hands-down Natassia Malthe as Ayane. Holly maybe be hot, but Natassia is absolutely beautiful in this movie. It's a pity her character Ayane got about ten minutes of screen time and five whole lines.
I give it a 6/10.
Shinobi (2005)
Deserves better...
I'll be honest - I did not have much expectations for this film. After sitting through movies such as Azumi, Azumi 2, and Princess Blade...I somewhat lost hope for Japanese ninja movies. However I was pleasantly surprised by "Shinobi". Sure, there is the cheese factor in the film, but hey, you can't help it with this types of movies. I found "Shinobi" to be far superior to "Azumi" and "Azumi 2" in all aspects. Acting is much more bearable. Plot is existent. Character design is interesting. Action is far, far more exciting.
I give it 8 out of 10 stars. I'd definitely recommend to give this movie a chance.
Actually, 8.5 - a extra for the hotness factor of Yukie Nakama (Oboro) and Tomoka Kurotani (Kagero). ^_^