 |
DVD Tekken: Buraddo benjensu
 Run time: 100 min Rating: 5.9 Genres: Animation | Action | Sci-Fi Director: Yoichi Mori Writers: Dai Satô Stars: Christine Marie Cabanos, Isshin Chiba, Darren Daniels |
| Storyline Details |
|
| Plot Keywords: martial arts, genetics experiment, scientific experiment, father son conflict, based on video game | |
| Details: Country: Japan Release Date: 1 September 2011 (Japan) |
|
previous post
4 comments
After 13 years of playing the game, after seeing how namco stated they would do a proper movie to redeem themselves for letting that disappointing live-action movie to be made, I had high hopes for this animated movie. It is every tekken fan's dream for there to be a true masterpiece of a movie.
Unfortunately, it did not happen. this movie turned out to be yet another mediocre attempt. Better than the live action for sure, but still fall way short of what was expected of it.
First problem is the general directing and "acting", too much pretentious "I am cool" crap, mostly from Anna, Nina, Jin and Shin, yuck! if tekken was aimed at 15 years olds then I would understand, but most long time tekken fans are now in their mid twenties to mid thirties. these high school wannabe facial and body expressions simply come off superfacial and repulsive.
Second problem is voice acting. I watched the English version, after the 3rd line of the whole movie, where Nina and Anna exchange greetings, I was like "oh boy..". The voice acting is closer to a cheap DVD localised release of anime series than a mainstream feature animated film. it was as if voice actors had no proper direction or had not understood their characters, several characters come off as cheese and pretentious. since it's just like their acting, maybe it was intended after all.
third and the biggest disappointment of this movie is the way the final battle had taken powers so out of proportion, almost as if we have moved from Tekken universe into Dragon Ball Z universe. this sort of elevation is not a problem if the movie did not have tekken in its roots. the whole point of tekken is balanced fighting power between its characters that makes a fight possible. Turning it into a plasma canon feast completely destroys the fundamental dynamic between the characters. and in the end one super Saiyan characters seemingly seriously but obviously jokingly tells a teenage girl, "some day you will defeat me" .
Having said all this, Blood Vengeance is not without merits. I really enjoyed its animination in general, Ling has a difference face in every tekken game she appeared but she looked the best in this one, yet still maintains a very oriental look. some perverted shots from below hers and Allisa's short skirt were amusing. Music and sound effects are top quality. Lee's comical presences was great, it was a pity that they did not handle Anna and Nina in a similar less-serious more-fun approach.
All in all, Tekken fans will see it regardless what people say, non fans will find plot somewhat puzzling and over movie lacklustre, but semi- decent entertainment nevertheless.
I'm a big fan of the Tekken series, but this movie is testing my patience as a fan.
First of all, why is the movie starring the character that has the LEAST amount of connection to Tekken's overall story?
Second, why do we need androids? Was boxing kangaroos and living training dummies not far-fetched enough? Speaking of far-fetched, why is Panda featured as a main character? I'm not kidding, Panda gets more screen time than Lee, Nina or Anna. And somehow, we're supposed to take it seriously…
The dubbing is awful across the board, I've heard better dubbing in B-grade hentai. Er, not that I would know, just from what I hear… Moving on.
In the last 15 minutes or so of the movie, you find out that the ENTIRE plot revolving around the pretty boy Shin and the two girls was COMPLETELY AND UTTERLY POINTLESS, and it doesn't even have any resolution. A whole new plot starts, and it's wrapped up even worse than the previous one. (Rocket fist? Really?!)
You could argue that in a Tekken movie, all that matters is the fighting. Well, this movie manages to sucker punch you there too, because there is HARDLY any fighting whatsoever. It's no exaggeration that more time is spent between the two girls yacking their heads off than fighting. The only good fight is the one at the end between three certain characters; partially because the two stupid girls aren't involved, and also because it's actually exciting. But is that worth sitting through all the bullcrap this movie has? HELL no. Just look up the final fight on Youtube.
And ignore SecretSkills' review, unless you're like him/her, and all you need to be happy is bright flashy images in your face. Trust me, save yourself the time and killed brain cells and just have someone jingle keys in your face for an hour. Keys that have a panda keychain on them.
0 out of 10, and that's being gracious.
Though I am not overly a fan of the games, I am familiar with them and have played a couple of them. And I also saw the live action movie "Tekken" and what a dud that was.
Then I saw this CGI animated movie, and I was blown away. The Japanese people are really on to something with the recent animated movies of this caliber; such as the "Final Fantasy: The Spirit Within", "Final Fantasy: Advent Children" and "Resident Evil: Degeration", and now "Tekken: Blood Vengeance". The animation is smooth and nothing less than breathtaking. The characters, the surroundings, the fights, everything looked so amazing.
Now, not being overly familiar with the Tekken universe, I did enjoy this movie for the story and the sheer eye candy that it was CGI-wise. The story was quite nice as well, fast-paced and easy to follow. But when there suddenly was devils and spirits in the story, it was sort of a turn of events that was a bit too much for my liking.
I also think it is quite good that they didn't try to cram as many characters from the game as possible into the movie. And if they did, I think the end result would have been a messy blur. The movie worked quite well with just a handful of the characters from the game. And who am I to tell whether or not they picked the right ones to be in this movie? But hey, it worked for me, as I enjoyed the movie.
If you haven't already seen this CGI animated movie, get into gear and do so. If for nothing else, then do it just to watch the amazingly beautiful CGI and animation. It is off the charts.
I got to see this at the special premiere event held at select theaters across the US, and I'm glad I did! After one lackluster animated film and one downright disappointing live-action one, a film adaptation of the celebrated fighting game hits it out of the park. Rather than trying to force-feed the viewer as many of the 44-to-date major characters as they can while explaining the history of the King of Iron Fist Tournaments to people who may or may not have played/loved the games, this movie takes a different track. Focusing on a very limited cast of characters–yet a cast drawn from all the way across the history of the games–this piece tells a story which falls squarely within the universe of the games (as opposed to one merely "based on" them). Occurring between the events of Tekken 5/Tekken 5 Dark Resurrection and Tekken 6, this follows popular character Ling Xiaoyu as she is recruited by a powerful corporation to do some undercover investigation of a handsome high school student. Along the way, she encounters and befriends the quirky Alisa Bosconovich, unaware that she is on a similar mission–not to mention unaware of some other secrets Alisa is keeping. As the two work their way closer to the truth, dirty secrets, both little and big, about their employers are uncovered, and plots within plots lead inevitably to a generational confrontation which could potentially alter what it means to be human.
This movie has a fair amount of depth and character development. Thanks to the small cast, tightly focused story, and an understanding of what makes a good game as opposed to a good movie, the audience is treated to something special–learning who these people we fight with in-game truly are, and how they got that way. Characters were clearly selected because relationships which already existed between them could heighten the drama, or because they were foils for each other, allowing new relationships to form while informing the audience of important plot points. Don't get me wrong: There's plenty of action, and plenty of fights. Characters even use those wonderful combos players are so familiar with. The Nina/Anna encounters provide a deeper understanding of their relationship than we can get in-game–yes, even while they're fighting!–and avoids being reduced to cliché. And near the end is the battle royale that gamers all wished we could have seen at the end of Tekken 4, but the consoles lacked the power to make happen. It's glorious.
There are moments when it gets a bit campy, of course, but overall, the nice mix of characters, the nice mix of action and development, and the crisp, true-to-the-game visuals make this movie the unicorn of gaming: A game-based movie that's actually good!