Tekken - Thoughts

I don’t remember any promo activity for this movie, at least not in my region. Having been slightly familiar with the combat video game Tekken, when I came across something about this movie online, I decided to read up on it. Being someone who’d watched the Mortal Kombat, Street Fighter, and Fatal Fury movies and cartoons, it should come as no surprise that I decided to source and watch this movie. In Tekken, a young boy living in the slums of the new corporate world, witnesses the shooting of his mother, and decides to use an annual tournament for professional warriors as a means to seek vengeance on the corrupt corporation that was responsible for her death.


While the plot is simplistic, and leaves very little to imagination, the fight sequences are pretty impressive. Considering that Tekken is about the fighting, I guess it succeeds. My knowledge of the games’ story is limited, and thus it’s hard to say if the movie is in keeping with the original game storyline. The twist regarding the lead characters lineage is interesting, but not all together shocking. The runtime is short and the overall pace is quick, with just a few acceptable slower moments. The character mix is well suited for a movie of this sort, and brings the action together well. Though the lead character has a girlfriend and also seemingly hits it off well with a fellow female combatant, there is no real romantic piece to the plot; be warned if you’re expecting one. If you’re a videogame fan looking for a martial arts movie remake, you’ll love the action and enjoy Tekken. On the other hand if you don’t really care for such amateur low to medium budget action productions, you will be bored.

Most of the cast in Tekken is amateur, with the only readily recognizable face being that of Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, who plays Heihachi Mishima, the head of the Tekken organization. Incidentally he played Shang Tsung in the legendary Mortal Kombat movie from 1995. He did well in his role in Tekken, coming across as the dominant head of the organization, being both commanding, and authoritative. The lead role of Jin Kazama is played by Jon Foo, who was admirable in his portrayal of the bold young teenager. Blended well was his representation of the rash and passionate adolescent out to seek vengeance, yet having good moral values and learning quickly from his well-wishers. His friend and fellow participant whom he had a noticeable connection with was Christie Monteiro, played by Kelly Overton; a young woman who was smart, sassy, and very capable of kicking ass. She did justice to her role, coming across as dependable and loyal. Overall an amateur cast with pretty decent performances all round.

As sourcing the movie was relatively difficult, I ended up watching a downloaded DVD5 version of the movie. While picture and the overall presentation were far superior to a lossy DivX, I do believe that some transcoding might have been done that marginally degraded quality. Video was clear and pixel free for most part, but wasn’t flawless. Definition was pretty much acceptable all through. Most of the scenes in the movie are at night or indoors in artificial light. Sound was presented by means of a Dolby Digital 5.1 surround audio track. It complemented the fight sequences well, and made the action enjoyable. Surround stage usage was quite minimal overall.

My Recommendation: Watch It – (A must watch for those who enjoy video game movies)