Tekken

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When I get thinking about one-on-one fighting games, my go-to titles were always 'Mortal Kombat' and 'Street Fighter' (namely 'MK'). When it comes to games like 'Tekken', I have really only played it either at a friend's house, or at the arcade. I never really developed skill enough to have my go-to characters, or really know any moves other than basics. I just saw it as pure arcade fun for a couple of dollars worth of gaming, if I had time to hang out in the arcade after catching a movie, or shopping. So once again, my knowledge of what this is supposed to be isn't abundant. However I will say this - I actually enjoyed it.

This film was released in 2009, following the releases of six games in the main series, ranging from 1995 all the way up to 2007. There was also 'Tag Tournament' in '99, and 'Dark Resurrection' in '05. So with eight games in the franchise altogether, it seems that this one took quite some time, and may have felt rather "too little too late" for fans. For me, however, this might as well be a whole new thing for me, as I haven't even visited a 'Tekken' game since 'Tag Tournament' over 20 years ago. I basically forgot everything I ever had any knowledge of with the games. Having said that, the film is said to be loosely based on elements of the first three 'Tekken' games, and follows Jin Kazama (Jonathan Patrick Foo), who first appears in 'Tekken 3', as the lead character.

Raised by his mother, Jun (Tamlyn Tomita), he learns martial arts, and believes his father to be dead. Once he hits 19 in the year 2039, he begins living his life as a fighter and contraband runner in a place called The Anvil. One night, Jin gets himself targetted by an elite specs group known as the Jackhammers, who are there to ensure the safety of The Anvil. Upon returning home, he finds his mother has been killed by the Jackhammers, and he swears vengeance against a man named Heihachi Mishima (Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa). In order to do so, to keep it basic, he has to climb the ladder at the Tekken tournament as an "Iron Fist Fighter". So, much like with 'Mortal Kombat', this ends up being a pretty good adaptation in as much as it's about a character fighting through a tournament to get to, and defeat that final boss.

Surely, one must be wondering what other 'Tekken' characters join this cast, so it's probably time for another roll call, as done in my 'Mortal Kombat' and 'Street Fighter' reviews. Well, there's a lot, so I'll simplify as much as I can. On the main stage, we have Steve Fox (Luke Goss), a former boxer and Iron Fist fighter who becomes Jin's sponsor, Christie Monteiro (Christie Monteiro), who Jin more than befriends at the tournament, Heihachi's son, Kazuya Mishima (Ian Anthony Dale), and to a lesser extent, the tournament's present champion, Bryan Fury (Gary Daniels). But it's not really like they cut a lot of characters out of this either. Just featured in fighting, there's also Marshall Law (​Cung Le), Raven (Darrin Dewitt Henson), Eddy Gordo (Lateef Crowder), Miguel Rojo (Roger Huerta), Nina Williams (Candice Hillebrand), Yoshimitsu (Gary Ray Stearns), Anna Williams (Marian Zapico), Sergei Dragunov (Anton Kasabov), Miguel Rojo (Roger Huerta), and I may have even left one or two out.

Although my overall unfamiliarity with these games certainly plays a part in my review, I can't really deny that this was a movie I didn't expect to like, but enjoyed anyway, just because of its simplicity. This was like 'Mortal Kombat' in that sense. I can't honestly say I expected much more than what I got, and I enjoyed the fact that the soundtrack and set design actually gave it a bit of an arcade-like feeling that I can't really explain. It's really quite simple - I had fun with this. Stylistically, it was kind of like watching a long music video, the fight sequences were pretty damn cool, and I actually found Jin to be a character I could route for. But I will say that I'm making it sound more awesome than it actually is. I mean, it's certainly not without a problem or two.

The things that weigh this movie down quite a bit include, mostly, the acting, and probably what they do with all of the characters. I'm no expert, but when a one-on-one fighting game becomes a movie, the studio seems to really like to take liberties. If Balrog and E. Honda working on a news crew in 'Street Fighter' doesn't suggest that, I dunno what does. I'm altogether unfamiliar with this group, but I have to imagine they screwed up here and there. I would probably consider this a guilty pleasure of sorts, speaking for myself. Sometimes a dude just needs to watch other dudes beat each other up. Add a revenge plot to the whole thing, and I'm good to go for that little bit of junk food for the mind. This can be found on Amazon Prime, if one is curious to see for themselves. Just bear in mind, I'm DEFINITELY against the grain on my positive review! So if you end up hating it, don't blame moi.

3/5

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