Following the success of 1995’s Mortal Kombat Hollywood has repeatedly attempted to recapture the film’s box office magic by pumping out numerous videogame adaptations (giving Uwe Boll and Paul W.S. Anderson careers in the process). I don’t need to tell you that while some of the films have made money and a select few have been entertaining the predominant characteristic shared by videogame film adaptations is that they are terrible movies. So sitting down with Dwight H. Little’s Tekken was something I had to talk myself into. After all, this is the man that directed Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers, Free Willy 2 and the ill-fated The Phantom of the Opera starring Robert Englund.
When the arcade game Tekken was released in 1994 it was an instant hit. I remember playing it in a multi-level arcade that was located in Piccadilly Circus. I don’t remember it having much of a plot. Not that you need a plot to make a fighting game, but you should have one if you’re making a movie. The film is set in a dystopian future where governments have been replaced by large corporations. The Tekken Corporation with controls North America. CEO Heihachi Mishima rules from Tekken City where he hosts a fighting tournament that promises its victor wealth and fame (but not ownership of the corporation like in the videohame). Jin Kazama (Jon Foo) lives in the slums outside of Tekken City known as the Anvil. Since a young boy his single mother has trained him to be the ultimate fighter. Following her death at the hands of a Tekken kill squad Jin begins to piece together his mother’s true identity and starts down a path that leads him directly to the Iron Fist Tournament.
It’s not exactly an original storyline but considering the plot only exists to justify the various fight matches it would do if the film’s writers didn’t muck it up by adding a romantic subplot between Jin and fighter Christie Monteiro (Kelly Overton) that never works. Still, and this might say something about the genre, as far as live- action films based on videogames go Tekken is better than I expected. It’s a cut above both Street Fighter films, never feels as inane as anything Uwe Boll has spit out and manages to have a certain artistic flare to it. Factor in that the film reported to have cost somewhere around $35 million to make and the results aren’t nearly as impressive. Nonetheless, if you’re a sucker for this sort of genre fluff and can look past the uneven acting talents of the cast and simply enjoy the over-the-top fighting sequences Tekken is worth a look.
Anchor Bay’s Blu-ray release of the film features an above average audio track and a flawed but generally appealing video transfer. The only real bonus feature is a 50-minute look at the stunts of the film. It’s a little longer than I would have liked but far more comprehensive than I would have imagined. It’s definitely not the five-minute throwaway segment that I was expecting.