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- Blu-ray: Tekken
- Rating: R
- Starring: Jon Foo, Luke Goss, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, Gary Daniels, Kelly Overton
- Written By: Michael Colleary, Alan B. McElroy
- Directed By: Dwight Little
- Distributor: Anchor Bay Home Entertainment
- Original Year of Release: 2010
- Extras: See Below
- Series:
Tekken Blu-Ray Review
Lifeless videogame adaptation By
Tim Janson
August 04, 2011
Jon Foo competes in Tekken
© Anchor Bay Home Entertainment
Tekken was the fist game I ever played on my original Playstation and was always a favorite. But frankly I never saw in it the elements to create a film around unlike Mortal Kombat and its more colorful characters. The film got only a sparse U.S. theatrical release.
Tekken is set in the near-future of 2039 after apocalyptic wars have destroyed much of civilization and governments have dissolved leaving to world to be ruled by a handful of mega-corporations, Tekken being the largest and the ruler of what was North America . Tekken is run by Heihachi Mishima (film vet Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa) and his sadistic son Kazuya (Ian Anthony Dale) who desires to be given control of the company by his father. In this world common items like coffee and oranges are sold on the black market. Each year Tekken sponsors the Iron First martial arts tournament where fighters from around the world compete for glory and wealth. Into this brutal arena steps Jin Kazama (Jon Foo), a young man from the city’s slums known as the Anvil, who answers an open invitation for fighters to fill the last slot in the tournament. Jin hates the Tekken Corp. and has been earning a dangerous living by running anti-Tekken contraband.
Jin is out for revenge against Mishima after his security soldiers murder his mother who instructed him in the ways of the fighting arts. Jin is managed by Steve Cox (Goss), a former Iron Fist participant who tutors Jin about the other fighter’s weaknesses. Kazuya soon learns who Jin really is and is determined to kill him before he can win the tournament. Jin finds an ally to aid him in the beautiful fighter, Christie Monteiro (Overton).
Tekken is disappointing on two levels…as an adaptation of the game it fails to capture the spirit and intensity of the videogame. The characters are there (Raven, Eddie Gordo, Bryan Fury, Sergei Dragunov, Anna and Nina Williams) but they get no development whatsoever. In comparison to their 3D counterparts in the game, these characters are one-dimensional to a fault. Also, for a film based on a fighting game there is a surprising lack of fighting. I think there are actually more firefights with the Tekken security forces that there are tournament fights. Considering the film is supposed to center on the Iron Fist Tournament, director Dwight Little fumbles the ball repeatedly.
Tekken also fails on its own merits as a film. Ian Anthony Dale is so melodramatic and over-the-top as the villainous Kazuya that you expect him to twirl his mustache and tie Jin to some train tracks. But he’s not alone as the film labors through several un-inspired performances including Gary Daniels (Fist of the North Star) as Bryan Fury, and Overton as Christie Monteiro. I like Luke Goss but someone needs to tell him he doesn’t have to be in every bad film that is offered to him (Witchville, Death Race 2 anyone?). Tekken offers several hot female fighters but we barely see most of them in action. Considering the many very good martial arts films that have been coming out over the past few years, Tekken just doesn’t deliver the goods as a good game adaptation or action film.
Blu-Ray Extras
There is only one extra on the disc, a 52 minute production called “Stunt Stars” and frankly I think it’s more entertaining than the film itself. It features a look at the stunt work and choreography of the film including many interviews and behind-the-scenes footage. It’s good insight into the world of stuntmen and women.
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I can't believe you sat down to watch this. You sir are a brave soul.