Tekken (2010)

Sick Product of a Sick System

Really Surprised!

Absolutely Fantastic

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

Not that spoilers are relevant but still, I better put a warning here that I am going to write a few spoilers.Why this film is no good, to start with, quite a few characters are hard to recognise, even for a Tekken fan. Thankfully their outfit is there to help, but this is another problem; most of the outfits are so cheap that it turns a character like Nina Williams from sexy to vulgar. Jin gets gradually his outfit through the film, but we never get to see him with the improbable haircut like in the games. I get it, this is not a cosplay contest, but the casting feels like it could have been a little better. Something else looks cheap in this film, the background set. Sure the story is all about a tournament and it is always more or less the same ring they are fighting in, you could hope for something a little better looking.Visually this film is no good, but then again, it is a fighting movie, we came here to watch blood and sweat. Do not blink whenever you see a punch, it will not last very long. The fight a incredibly short; the best of all being the final fight (between... I will not spoil it here, although it will not be any surprise who are the two fighter for this epic battle) that lasts about 30 seconds. Hello, ever heard of the concept of a boss?Bad acting, bad costumes, in fact bad everything. Except Heihachi who looks like a senior cosplayer.

Somebody tell these "film" makers that fighting games do not make good films. There are so many issues and problems that it's pointless to even try. First of all, fighting games don't really have a plot. They have some cut scenes and back story for the characters, but it's essentially all fighting. Translate this into a film and you're screwed. They are always the same. Tournament, personal motive for protagonist, fights, the end. Enter the Dragon did this perfectly all those years ago, so just stop trying. That had actual characters it could play with. Here, the characters already exist, but no actor will ever do those pixels justice. We get a whiny boy here, enters a competition for revenge, has fight after fight, and that's it. I hope this is the last of this crap. At least the animated film had invisible dinosaurs.

This movie is hard to discern. It has its ups and downs, its cheesy moments and its groundbreaking battles... As a stand-alone movie, one might think it pretty good. The acting isn't as bad as independent movies usually deliver. The characters are two-dimensional, and all the main characters were adorned with minimal background stories that blended in well with the movie; in other words, they didn't feel forced just so you can know the characters better. Also, unlike other movies that start off from one setting and then jump to a luxurious island/mansion/castle, etc., this movie maintains its dystopian vibe from beginning to end, maintaining the reality of its world its inviting you in. Compared to the games, there were a lot of disappointments. The characters dress like they do in the games, yet none of the actors are physically similar to them, nor do they talk like them. Also, some important characters (Heihachi, Kazuya, Nina) were extremely reduced to a disappointing level, while others (Christie, Steve, Raven) were needlessly emphasized. The movie actually manages to grasp your attention, but halfway through, it spans out of control, and the final fight was a major disappointment. I will also say that I'm glad some core characters like Paul Phoenix, Lei Wulong and Hwoarang were left out; it's better to leave them untouched than to ruin them.All in all, the movie might have had more credit if it changed the title and the names of the characters. In other words, it didn't need to be a Tekken adaption. One could easily come up with a movie based around a tournament without disappointing a lot of gamers (because let's face it, most of the people that watch these types of movies are gamers).

"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.