TEKKEN the Movie

The cool Japanese poster.

Despite of the fact that I am going to be disappointed, I did watch the movie holding on to the fact that they might do it right this time. So far the only movies that I actually enjoyed which was based on a video game was Prince of Persia and the Van Damme version of Street Fighter after watching Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li.

Of course I did my usual conditioning before watching such a movie, I lowered my standards to a level where I have no idea what Tekken is. Its the same thing I did when I saw "Dragonball Evolution". Its quite effective if you want to enjoy a movie.

I don't really have much to say on the casting of the movie, although I do have small comments on some of them. Jon Foo is a pretty good martial artist. However I really wish they used Jin's moves from the game a bit more. Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa would pass as Heihachi on this on this. Although Ian Anthony Dale, the guy they got for Kazuya was a bit off, especially the mustache. Nina Williams looks like she had a rad dose of Botox. Christie Montero was hot in this movie, she does not use Capoeira on this one though. Raven was spot on, but he was not very ninja like. Steve Fox looks older than his mother "Nina" which was not the case in the movie. Yoshimitsu was very good with the katana blade, but didn't use it much. Marshall Law was not using Jeet Kune Do from the way he punches and kicks, he was supposed to be noisy like Bruce Lee with his "WHATTTAAAAA!" trademark scream everytime he punches. And the rest, well I don't have much to say.

Its the hair that made the character.

So how was the story? In the year of 2039, after World Wars destroy much of civilization as we know it, territories are no longer run by governments, but by corporations; the mightiest of which is the Tekken Corporation, which controls North America. In order to placate the seething masses of this dystopia, the corporation's Chairman/CEO, Heihachi Mishima, sponsors the King of Iron Fist Tournament, or Iron Fist - in which fighters battle until one is left standing, who in turn will receive a lifetime of stardom and wealth.

Jin Kazama, a rebellious teenage street fighter and contraband runner, witnesses the death of his mother, Jun, during Tekken's crackdown on insurgents in Tekken City's slum area referred to as the Anvil. In the ruins of his former home, he finds a Tekken Fighter I.D. among his late mother's belongings. Intrigued, as his mother was a staunch anti-Tekken activist who warned him to stay away from the tournament, he sets off to the Open Call, which allow the masses in the Anvil to pick a fighter for the tournament. After defeating the disgraced fighter Marshall Law, Jin gains sponsorship from former boxer Steve Fox and is hailed by the masses as "The People's Choice". (Taken from Wikipedia)

The fight scenes were OK.

From that part alone, it was already far from the story of the game. From a gamers point of view you'll start to go "What the hell?!" But for me, I'm still going "You can't judge it if you haven't seen it to the end". I saw the whole movie till the end, and the verdict? It was a pretty good martial arts flick, but it was serious as heck. It was ok for me to see Kazuya use a gun, but a pair of axes? They could have used electric gloves or something to that extent. Tekken was known for the special effects explosive hits and elemental properties of each fighter, they should have at least shown something like that. They should have added humor like "Street Fighter" cheesy lines could have worked. Someone should have done a ten-string combo once, Tekken is widely known for that. Where da heck is "Paul Phoenix"?

So how did I find the movie? Slightly entertaining. But its not Tekken. If they named the movie differently like "Iron Fist City" or "JIN", I might have found the movie more entertaining. But knowing where it was based was kinda odd to me. Despite lowering my standards, it wasn't as good as I thought it would be. But the poster from the Japanese release was well made. It could convince the Tekken fan out of you to watch the movie.

What's this? Heihachi and Kazuya talking like father and son??

Additional Fact:
Jon Foo also played Ryu in "Street Fighter Legacy" a short fan film. It was pretty good, but its missing something. I just can't seem to get my finger on it. Spinning Piledriver??.....Nope.