In the year of 2039, after World Wars destroy much of the civilization as we know it, territories are no longer run by governments, but by corporations; the mightiest of which is the Mishima Zaibat...
Tekken punches, kicks and body slams your sanity to the ground. 'Mortal Kombat' wasn't exactly a success, its sequel did not fare any better and 'DOA: Dead or Alive' no one saw. So naturally I have to ask myself the question that is evidently all buried in our minds. Why? Why do we need another fighting video game adaptation when clearly other iterations were failures? Alas, here we are. Set in a dystopian future, a well-trained fighter amongst the common folk chooses to enter the 'Iron Fist' fighting competition for vengeance. So what is 'Tekken'? I assumed it was the name of the MMA-like tournament. Apparently, in this film, it symbolises various assets that quite simply make no sense. "I must gain Tekken", "He will fight in Tekken" or even "Tekken". It was explained in the expositional introduction, and still I have no clue. Kudos! It's loosely based off the games, in the fact that it utilises the same characters and stage select screen, which I must confess was a nice detail. Although, the negated fighting styles from each character were sorely missed. Sure Yoshimitsu is equipped with his katana, but where are his special moves? Up circle square! Just do it! Give me something memorable atleast. This is without mentioning the poor characterisation, particularly of Kazuya and Heihachi, that is sure to irritate fans of the series. Predictably, the film is just as bad as you expect it to be. Cheap, monotonous, predictable, clichéd, poorly acted with a sprinkle of whitewashing and ten years too late. You could say it has a 90s charm, particularly with its direction, but do not fool yourself with this delusion. It's just bad. The fight choreography was surprisingly well edited, only succumbing to quick cuts occasionally. Yet regardless of the watchable matches, it does not mask the abysmal story. So whilst not the worst video game adaptation ever, ironically it seems Tekken KO'd itself.
