Tekken (2010)

If nothing else, TEKKEN gets in my good graces just for being what it is: a flashy and ultimately decent tournament-based martial arts movie bearing an impressive cast list. The film's eventual falling point, however, is that it's based on a video game series that's so much better than decent that I can't help but lament that it isn't as awesome as what I've been able to create on arcade screens. If judged solely on these latter disadvantages, my rating for this film would be lower, but in light of my genuine appreciation for the remaining content, I'm going to consider it from a rounder perspective and name it as one of the better adaptations out there.

Like in most video game flicks, the story suffers. It's played straight and high-tech, excluding all supernatural elements from the games and seriously watering down the triangle of contempt that serves as the canon plot line between the three main characters, Jin Kazama (Jon Foo), Kazuya Mishima (Ian Anthony Dale), and Heihachi Mishima (Cary Tagawa). The film takes place in a dystopian future where the Mishima-run Tekken corporation reigns supreme over a scarred earth and sponsors a regular fighting tournament to keep the masses entertained. After the death of his mother at the hands of the organization, Jin enters the tournament to avenge her while Kazuya plots the overthrow of his father.

The backgrounds of most of the characters have been addled a bit as well, which is disappointing but I'll argue that their better-than-average casting makes up for some of this: Luke Goss as Steve Fox, Gary Daniels as Bryan Fury, Darrin Henson as Raven, Lateef Crowder as Eddy Gordo, Cung Le as Marshall Law, and several others are swell fits, making for one of the best ensembles ever seen in a fighting-themed adaptation like this (or at least a much better one than in THE KING OF FIGHTERS). Utilization of these performers and characters, however, is another issue: Heihachi and Steve Fox are prominent characters but don't fight at all, Kazuya is written as a slimy rich boy rather than the fighting beast we know him as, and - with very few exceptions - no character besides Jin has more than a single fight.

When they do fight, however, it's mostly good stuff. Director Dwight Little hasn't done much action fare since he directed Steven Seagal and Brandon Lee during their prime, but he seems to have gotten better with age: he and choreographer Cyril Raffaelli wrangle some very competent brawls which occasionally peak as deliciously eye-opening, like during the Eddie Gordo and Bryan Fury fights. In-game fighting styles are mimicked pretty well (sans Marshall Law, whose portrayer sticks with his MMA instead of jeet kune do) and even the actors who aren't real-life martial artists come across looking tough. On the downside, almost all of the fights could've been longer, if only to do justice to the millions of times the same match-ups have taken place between gamers, and slow-motion was unquestionably overutilized. The final match between Jin and Kazuya was ruined by the movie's portrayal of the latter, but the remaining seven should all be considered generally satisfying if you're not out to hate them.

In the end, this one doesn't transcend the game-to-movie curse that we're all waiting to see shed and hardcore fans will rightfully bash the snot out of the altered storyline and missing characters, but as far as this button-masher goes, my needs have been sated...maybe not by the ideal TEKKEN movie,

Fmovies: I know the movie wasn't very faithful and they took a lot of liberties, it changed a lot of stuff around. But as far as video game movies go, this wasnt the worst ever made. The story was pretty straightforward, but at least it wasn't convoluted or it wasnt ridiculous like some other video game movies can be. The movie is nothing more than a fighting tournament movie and it didn't need to be anything else. People complain about the acting or the plot, but the most important part of the movie which was the fighting part of it, was done very well. The fights were great and the characters looked like their game counterparts.

While there was reason to dislike the movie from both fan-based point- of-views (Lack of characters from a game that has quite a healthy roster, especially the absence of two main characters/transformations that could have been an obvious choice for the final bout) and movie critics point-of-view (scene inconsistencies, story), I can honestly say I enjoyed the movie. I didn't take any notice of the 'goofs' that were listed on this site while I was watching the film. Characters were imitated to a decent quality and the action was quite solid. But I feel what most critics are forgetting, is that yes a 'good movie' requires a good plot..or so that's what the critics seem to believe.. This is based off a FIGHTING game. A fighting game that also focuses more on fighting than story. So you shouldn't expect much more from a movie based on just that. To sum it up, I thoroughly enjoyed it but don't actually take my word for it.. In fact don't take any critic's word for it. I know from personal experience that only you will know whether you will enjoy a movie or not. People have different opinions and this is merely my opinion. I would be interested in an open-discussion about this movie anyways though :)

POSSIBLE SPOILER ALERT:

I WANT A SEQUEL! I feel like there's a love triangle going on that needs to develop/conclude in the next movie. Also I want to see more fighters..especially devil,devil jin,ogre,jinpachi. And Heihachi Mishima is NOT dead ;)

Tekken fmovies. Look I understand Video Game movies have a stigma about them but to hate on a movie due to the lack of authenticity you should look again. The writers of this movie did the best they could to pick out the story of Tekken. What people do not understand is when a movie is made they can take liberties with the story because it is "Based" on characters not carbon copies. I enjoyed this film from beginning to end, some of the writing was bad and some of the actors could have been better(Movies now a days have the same issue), but you have to realize most of the actors in this film are actual MMA and martial artists. I liked how they changed things around to make sense of it all, especially for those who will be fresh to the story of Tekken. The fighting was top notch, Jin was likable, you really felt like he was an ordinary Joe. I loved the fact that the film was left open (watch after the credits). This movie to me has a wonderful replay value almost like "Kickboxer" on crack. All you fans need to get your heads out of your A$$ and enjoy the movie for what it is. If you like Tournament, Fighting or even a nice action flick this one is for you.

"You will fight, the world will watch, and my legacy will be written with your blood."

Tekken actually wasn't half-bad. I'm as surprised to be saying that as you probably are to be reading it. 

It probably helped that the bar is so low for video game adaptations, and that the last such movie I saw was King of Fighters, which was awful to an absurd degree. Tekken can't help but look good in comparison to that. It helps that it makes at least an effort to keep some of the story and characters from the games, while offering frequent decent, if not great, fight scenes. The overuse of flashbacks gets a little old, but that's a much more minor issue than I was expecting Tekken to have.

I have to mention that Tekken looks pretty good, with some impressive sets and a slick, high-budget veneer. The main actors are adequate, with John Foo as Jin being a capable fighter and believable enough as an earnest and ultimately good-hearted guy. Kelly Overton doesn't have a lot to do other than look hot in her greatly revised role as Christie, but she's infinitely qualified in that particular area. She does okay in her action scenes, too. Ian Anthony Dale is appropriately villainous as Kazuya, and everyone else is at least acceptable. 

Tekken is basically just another fighting tournament movie, placed in a video game setting. But, that's all it really needs to be. The story is simple and straight-forward, and I think that's a good thing. Keep in mind that this isn't supposed to be a 100% accurate adaptation of the game, and it'll probably entertain you. 

I was surprised positively. Yes, it's a video game adaption and from what I can tell it doesn't stick too much too it story wise, but for me it was quite entertaining. It's stupid, but not yet on a level where you want to face palm yourself all the time. It's much more serious than DOA and I still like that one better, but that's mostly because of its all-out- trash-appeal and because the fight choreography is a million times better. In Tekken many fights look like training exercises, many cuts can't hide, that you're not watching one fight, but many separate actions. Plus, there are some shots that are supposed to look dramatic or cool, but the just look badly done.

But all in all, it's mildly entertaining, it does look more expensive than it was, the cos-play-factor is bearable and some ideas in the fights are nice to see. I would never buy it, but for rent it's entertaining 90 minutes of mindless fun.