I had to rewatch cause I didn't understand it the first time, I saw it, and honestly, even after the rewatch, I don't like it like that, this is one of those movies I kept trying to give a fair chance to, but by the end, I was just left feeling like something was missing the whole way through.
The movie follows this entire martial arts tournament called DOA, in which participants from all over are invited to take part, This aristocratic warrior Kasumi, being trained by martial arts masters, is put into such a situation after she is being told her that brother Hayate died, but Kasumi isn't about to take that word just like that, so she leaves her temple to go search him out herself, That's her decision that gets her into the whole affair all along.
On her journey, she meets a few other female fighters, who are all competing against one another for the top prize, but who discover that there is a greater and darker plot brewing behind the tournament itself, Fighting each other for victory becomes more of a collaboration for them to discover what the organizer, this shady character played by Eric Roberts, is actually hiding.
This is the part of the movie that I had trouble with, The story itself was so thin, it was like there was a reason for one fight after another, I get that it is because this is a fighting video game prefernce, and I know that the gimmick is supposed to be the fighting, but even with that expectation in place, I didn't really care that much about what was going on, I was waiting for something to draw me in further, but it never really did.
The choreography for the fights, I'll be honest, some of it was pretty funny, it was quick and flashy and of that bygone 2000's action film style, after some time, though, the fights began to sound like a film that's just relying on the action for suspense and stakes, and it seems as though the film is just about to lose its bearings, I was just going through one fight after another, neither getting involved with the outcome of one or the other, which is really the point of an action movie that's based on a fighting tournament.
I also didn't feel that the characters were much more distinct, i wanted to see Kasumi's inner feelings, her search for her brother and the truth about everything, but there was none, yhe pacing was too fast to really develop any ‘character’ and was more about the action than anything else.
That is honestly probably why I struggled to understand it the first time around, there was so much jumping from fight to fight, plot point to plot point, without giving me enough time to actually process the story or connect with anyone in it, Even after rewatching it, hoping that a second viewing would help things click better, I still walked away feeling like the story just was not strong enough to hold everything together.
I think this movie really is one of those cases where style completely overshadowed substance, If you go in expecting a deep story or characters you actually care about, you are going to be disappointed, because that is clearly not what this movie prioritized.
Honestly, I don't know if I will recommend this movie to anyone, except 5hey stumble on it themselves, so If you just want mindless action and do not care much about plot or character depth, maybe it will work for you, but for me, it just did not hit the way I hoped it would, even after giving it a second chance.
Rating: 50/100
