The Tekken franchise is one of the most iconic names in video games. It was once a titan of every arcade in the world, but now it lights up the world stage in countless massive tournament events. Fans of fighting games have nothing but love for the tale of the Mishima Zaibatsu and the endless war to control the Devil Gene. Though the games remain stellar, the franchise’s history outside its home medium has been questionable. The Tekken movies, for example, aren’t quite as compelling as a fight between family members.
Video game movies are generally on an upswing since their early days. While the “video game movie curse” was always overblown and there were plenty of solid animated entries in the medium, live-action video game movies tend to be unimpressive. Fighting games, in particular, have a mixed history. The 90s Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat movies, for example, live on as delightful pieces of overblown camp. Later entries in both franchises land closer to disaster than their predecessors. The Tekken movies don’t quite measure up to those classics.
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What is Tekken about?
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Director |
Dwight Little |
|---|---|
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Writer |
Alan B. McElroy |
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Stars |
John Foo, Kelly Overton, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, Ian Anthony Dale, and Cung Le |
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Runtime |
87 Minutes |
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Release Date |
November 5, 2009 |
Tekken is an extraordinarily loose adaptation of the plot of Tekken 3, the standout title in the franchise even after 27 years. It’s director, Dwight Little, took inspiration from sports movies and dystopian science fiction to give the story a slightly more grounded feel. Little’s Tekken universe is under the thumb of a handful of megacorporations, most prominently the Tekken Corporation. That particular all-consuming business interest also runs the King of Iron Fist Tournament, in which sponsored fighters engage in one-on-one brawls for a chance at the good life. The film follows Jin Kazama, a slum-dwelling teen who helps his loving mother make ends meet by running contraband for local resistance groups. Jin’s mom, Jun, taught him a unique form of martial arts that turned him into a weapon. Unfortunately, Tekken’s jackbooted thugs kill Jun while hunting Jin, sending Jin on a quest for revenge.
Tekken is, as expected, mostly built around the Iron Fist Tournament. Tons of martial arts movies use this format, arguably contributing to its prominence in the fighting game genre. It’s a sturdy workhorse for the basic structure of a movie about people punching each other, but it’s generally barebones when it comes to character development. Jin has to fight his way up, tearing his way through one video game character after another. Those characters look a bit like their source material, but their nationalities, personalities, and roles in the plot tend to shift around a lot. The film dispenses with all of Tekken‘s supernatural elements, robbing the third game of its final boss and Jin of his late-game reveals. It’s a bizarre choice that takes a lot of the charm out of the story. Ultimately, the film is surprisingly grim, keeping the camera on the most depressing elements of its universe without making much room for the levity of the source material. It’s a bit boring overall, though the fights are okay. Does it deserve its straight-up 0% positive score on Rotten Tomatoes? Not really, but it’s still not very good.
What is Tekken: Kazuya’s Revenge about?
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Director |
Wych Kaos |
|---|---|
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Writers |
Nicole Jones and Steven Paul |
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Stars |
Kane Kosugi, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, Rade Šerbedžija, and Gary Daniels |
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Runtime |
89 Minutes |
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Release Date |
August 12, 2024 |
After the critical failure of the first film, the producers with the rights to the Tekken franchise thought it would be wise to tap the director of the worst-received film ever made. Director/producer Wych Kaos is best known for helming Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever, another project with a 0% on Rotten Tomatoes. The element that makes Ballistic special is that it has by far the most official reviews of any 0% movie, granting it an edge over other complete whiffs. Tekken: Kazuya’s Revenge doesn’t have a 0% because it only has three critic’s reviews on the site. The film is a prequel that went straight to DVD. The plot follows an amnesiac operating under the codename K, despite the fact that the film’s title spoils his identity. K carries out missions for the secret resistance against his dad, Heihachi, leading to a series of unconvincing fight scenes in an incomprehensible plot. It’s a considerable downgrade from the first entry, which did not leave a lot of room through which to fall.
Where can you stream the Tekken movies?
Tekken is available completely free to stream from Tubi, The Roku Channel, Pluto TV, and Plex. Fans can also rent or purchase it from Amazon Prime Video or Google Play. Tekken: Kazuya’s Revenge is also available free on Tubi, Pluto TV, and Plex.
The Tekken movies aren’t good, and they’re only occasionally a fun kind of bad. The first entry is somewhat worth watching for its fight sequences and silly costumes, but don’t expect anything as compelling as Tekken 8‘s story mode. The King of Iron Fist Tournament is, unshockingly, more compelling for the competitors than for the spectators, especially without all the devil powers.
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