I would have liked this film to have followed the storyline from the video game series, which my brother and I played on all the time when we were younger. However, this film didn't turn on to be that bad, where in 2039, Jin Kazama (John Foo) witnesses the death of his mother Jun (Tamlyn Tomita) in the hands of the cruel corporation Tekken. As a result, Jin enters a dangerous combat tournament sponsored by Tekken in order to avenge his mother's death and potentially bring down the people running the corporation.At an hour and a half long, this film has intense action from start to finish, going on a plot full of twists and unpredictability, which actually made this film quite captivating. The movie features a host of characters from the video game like Jin, Jun, Bryan Fury, Nina Williams, Anna Williams, Raven, Steve Fox, Kazuya Mishima and Heihachi Mishima. Each takes on a role a little to a lot different than the game, but is acted out fairly well. I would have preferred them giving Nina and Anna more screen time, though, and having a different actor play Kazuya; Ian Anthony Dale to me wasn't very into the role and didn't look comfortable. The Kara character was unnecessary and I would have replaced her with another original character from the video game.Aside from some of the cheesy effects and overboard fights, it's an OK movie. It's not one of the best action films I've seen, but better than some of the other video-game based movies like the boring Super Mario Bros. and the extremely cheesy DOA: Dead or Alive.Grade C+

This is one of the worst movie based on a video game. It's basically based on a fighting game so had very low expectations for it but didn't know it would be this terrible. All the characters have different characteristics from the game, like completely. The story is nowhere close to following the video game story line. It's like "Tekken: Blood Vengeance" came out to atone for this movie. Which isn't a good CGI animated movie but stuck close to the Tekken universe. This one just about has nothing to do with it. Except the tournament and the corporation. The fighting style of each character is also completely different from the video game franchise this is based off of. Steve Fox is the only likable character in this movie. This movie is about an hour and a half long but it was just so darn painful to sit through because of how boring and lame everything is. At least the "Mortal Kombat" movie got some effort thrown into it and at least tried to follow the storyline of the game, but not this one. It just amazes me how this movie cost $30,000,000 to make. I guess it's to get the license because everything from the dialogue to the acting to the props and special effects look so very cheap. Because of the budget I was at least expecting something, not much but something but left disappointed. This movie is a abomination to the video game franchise this is based off of. Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa was pretty good as Shang Tsung in the "Mortal Kombat" movie. But his look and acting is just unintentionally funny to watch and so awful.1/10

As a huge fan of the Tekken series, upon finding out about the game being adapted into a film, I honestly never had high hopes in the first place. Normally, video games that are made into a film are normally horrendous (with the exception of Resident Evil) and on seeing the trailer, I knew this would be no exception. First of all, there are a lot of inaccuracies in the film. First of all, Jin (the main character) wasn't introduced until the third Tekken game but it is understandable to have him in the movie as the majority of the games are centred around him. However, Jin was only 15 when his mother died but in the film he was an adult. Speaking of his mother, Jin, in the video game she was murdered by the character Ogre which is the reason why Jin began to fight and enter the King of the Iron Fist tournament, but in the film she is not killed by Ogre but by a bazooka? and Jin goes to the Iron Fist to kill Heihachi, who in the video game was Jin's mentor!I could ramble on more about the inaccuracies like Steve Fox being Jin's mentor, or Paul Phoenix not being involved in the film even though he is in all the games, but there are other criticisms at hand. The acting - TERRIBLE! It was like everyone done a half-hearted performance, not bothered about what events occurred. It was like they were just waiting for filming to end.Characters - Now I know that they can't include every character in Tekken, but they probably had the worst selection ever! They had Christie to play the female lead which makes no sense. They had Sergey, Raven, and others who weren't introduced until Tekken 5 or 6. And Foo, who played Kazama didn't even look like Jin! He wasn't broad enough and they pathetically modified his hair to make it look like Jin only to have it look like an ice-cream cone.And where was Hwoarang in this? Everyone loved a bit of Hwoargie in the games!So overall, I give it a 3/10. The visual effects, the fight sequences and Yoshimitsu's outfit are the only positives about the film. You can tell that they put a lot of work into locations and such with their rather large budget. However, if you're a die hard Tekken fan like me, don't watch it, you will be frustrated. This goes on the list of bad video game to movie adaptations along with Street Fighter, House of the Dead and more. So don't waste 90 minutes of your life watching this frustrating film. Just play the game.Anderson

From Dwight Little, a somewhat inconsistent but generally good director, comes a brave attempt to transform a rather one-dimensional (story-wise) subject into a feature film. I remember playing all the Tekken games when I was younger - I absolutely loved the fighting mechanics, and also had an appreciation for the typically over-the-top story introductions for each character. While not expecting much from the film (there seems to be an urge to cash-in on game popularity with poor movie adaptations), I was hoping some of my favourite characters would make an appearance...but was unfortunately let down a little in this area. However, I quite enjoyed the film as a simple fighting/tournament action movie.The Tekken storyline in the games is sparse at best, but I appreciate the efforts made to tell a decent story here. It's actually more pertinent than you might think, and has an element of social commentary also (Gil Scott Heron quote included). In the future, giant corporations run the world - the biggest of which is Tekken. The story follows Jin as he struggles to make a living in the slums outside of Tekken City. He ultimately finds his way into Tekken's Iron Fist tournament on a quest for vengeance but the impact he has, alongside family feuds and quests for truth, is more than he could have ever imagined.So the story is adequately told, but most people will come for the fighting and there's plenty here. I am a little numb to fighting films these days since I watched so many when I was younger (including Little's 'Rapid Fire'), and I certainly don't believe that this film breaks new ground in this area, but it ultimately achieves what it sets out to do - entertain. There are other action pieces not involving fighting, with the film starting out well thanks to a well choreographed chase scene.With regards to the acting, Luke Goss is very good once again (see 'Blade 2' for another great performance from him); the girls are unfortunately cast a little (no pun intended) one-dimensional and lack the fluidity of the male fighters when fighting; John Foo is likable as Jin, the guy we're all cheering for; and the bad guy (Ian Anthony Dale) is suitably menacing. The other fighters in the tournament are lacking depth, but they serve their purpose. It's great to see Lateef Crowder showing his great Capoeira fighting style as Eddie Gordo - check out 'Warrior King' for better choreographed fights from him.The music is fitting for the subject matter, with plenty of rocky, aggressive tunes, and more chilled notes for the quieter parts. Ultimately nothing to write home about. Overall the sound is good, with accented blasts of sounds to match the explosive action on screen.Overall, I would recommend this for fighting fans ('Bloodsport' is a fairly good comparison), but with the omission of key Tekken fighters like Paul, King, Jack and Lei Wulong, and an absence of focus on key moves from the series that gamers know and love, I'm not sure I could recommend it to avid Tekken fans...*Note: Review is of the Blu-Ray version*