Bullet Points: Tekken (2010)
Video game movies have never been very good. It’s that simple. Something just hasn’t translated from the games to the screen. I wish it weren’t the case because there are so many awesome games out there that should make for excellent films but I have yet to find enough to prove my point wrong. Based on the cast, plot, and the game that it comes from, Tekken probably won’t be the movie to prove me wrong. The new Mortal Kombat movie may be delayed but why should we let that keep us from some video game fighting action?
Synopsis: Jin Kazama (John Foo) witnesses the death of his mother Jun by Tekken in the slums known as Anvil. After finding a Tekken ID he decides to seek out vengeance for his mother’s death.
- Life in the Anvil: Most movies are a product of the time they were made and Tekken is no different. It starts with a pretty sweet parkour scene as Jin is running contraband for money in the Anvil. The Anvil is the poor part of town where everyone struggles to survive day to day and lives in fear of the government troops sent out by the Tekken Corporation. Jin lives with his mother who has taught him two important things: how to fight like a GD badass, and to always and forever hate the Tekken Corporation.
- Tired of running: Once the plight of his class really starts to hit him in his home, Jin decides to use those fighting skills his mother had been teaching him his entire life to change the system. The Tekken Corporation has a tournament each year called Iron Fist. Competitors from each of the eight companies that have taken over the world and the former champion all compete in a very Hunger Games-like tournament. It’s all very video gamey and I am just over here wishing it was a real thing. Jin fights a preliminary fight and becomes the People’s Champ. A name that The Rock should have trademarked!
- Meet the fighters: Introduction sequences in the training facility are a great way to show off some of the other fighters but having Luke Goss in the mentor role for Jin is a great way to give us added details about everything. He was a former fighter for Tekken and knows a little or lot about anything important. Tournament fighters and rules? Yep. The corruption behind the company and those running it? Of course. Who Jin’s mother was and the history behind her expulsion? You betcha.
- The real villain: What is a futuristic world run by corporations without a little class warfare? The poor and downtrodden are ruled over by the elite groups who do as they say when and where it benefits them. Jin is the epitome of the little man but his training, resourcefulness, and ‘never say die’ attitude make him out to be the ultimate hero. The villain, however, could be shared by a number of people. It would be easy to point the finger at Ian Anthony Dale’s Kazuya but it’s clear that the real bad guy out there is the system that has allowed all of this to persist.
- Fighters gotta fight: There is way more to the biggest fighting competition in the world than just fighting. Jin has to get some new pants. He had to get a new ID made from Tekken so I’m guessing he got a haircut. Then you have to meet all the other fighters and just hope (fingers crossed!) that one of them likes you. It certainly seemed like Christie Monteiro liked Jin from the start. They start flirting immediately and even though he is trying to ruin the very thing that makes her pocketbook heavier, she is all over his bones.
- Happily ever after: I’m not really sure how this movie leads into any stories following this ending. Jin gets the revenge he was looking for. He gets a totally hot chick in Kelly Overton’s Christie Monteiro, and he has become a legend in his native ghetto. The biggest problem is that the same system that allowed all this corruption and awfulness is still in place and it’s only a matter of time before it starts up again. In fact, I had no idea there was a sequel to this until I ran a search and realized that it had come and gone and currently has even worse ratings than this one. Seems like one they should have just left alone.
The Verdict: Tekken certainly isn’t the worst video game movie out there and it hurts to say it but it’s probably one of the better ones. Don’t take that as extremely positive sentiment since most video game movies are absolute trash. Tekken isn’t a game that I’ve very familiar with other than playing around on the Tekken 3 arcade game when I was younger. I did recognize most of the characters but the story isn’t something that I remembered and I was happy to follow along with John Foo’s Jin as his story took him from nobody street trash to elite level fighter in no time flat. There is a little bit of world building to the film but not enough to detract from the action or the small amount of plot elements sprinkled in. This feels like the type of movie that could have an extra 20 minutes tacked on and released as a Director’s Cut or something. That seems to be the thing that everyone wants these days. Either way, I had fun watching it and the fight scenes were decent enough to not have me eye-rolling myself into a mild concussion. Fans of the game and anyone liking that fighting tournament feel should check it out.
