Tekken (2010 film)

Tekken
Japanese film poster
Directed by	Dwight H. Little
Produced by	Steven Paul Benedict Carver Iddo Lampton Enochs
Screenplay by	Michael Colleary Alan B. McElroy Mike Werb
Story by	Namco
Narrated by	Jon Foo Kelly Overton
Starring	Jon Foo Kelly Overton Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa Ian Anthony Dale Tamlyn Tomita Candice Hillebrand Luke Goss Gary Daniels Mircea Monroe
Music by	Homario Suby
Cinematography	Brian J. Reynolds
Editing by	David Checel
Studio	Crystal Sky Pictures
Distributed by	Anchor Bay (DVD) Warner Bros. Pictures (Japan)
Release date(s)	November 5, 2009 (2009-11-05) (AFM) March 20, 2010 (2010-03-20) (Japan)
Running time	92 minutes
Country	Japan
Language	English
Budget	$30,000,000
Box office	$725,967,369

Tekken (鉄拳) is a 2010 Japanese-released, American-produced martial arts film directed by Dwight Little and adapted from the fighting game series of the same name. The film follows Jin Kazama (Jon Foo) in his attempts to enter the Iron Fist Tournament in order to avenge the loss of his mother, Jun Kazama (Tamlyn Tomita), by confronting his father, Kazuya Mishima (Ian Anthony Dale) and his grandfather, Heihachi Mishima (Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa), the latter of who he thought was responsible for her death.

On November 5, 2009 Tekken was shown at American Film Market. On January 14, 2010, an international trailer was released, and the film premiered in Japan on March 20, 2010.

Plot

In 2039, after World War III has destroyed much of civilization, territories are now run by megacorporations; the biggest being Tekken Corporation, which controls North America. In order to placate the masses, the corporation's Chairman, Heihachi Mishima, sponsors the King of Iron Fist Tournament, or Iron Fist - in which fighters battle until one is left standing and receives a lifetime of stardom and wealth.

Jin Kazama has been raised by his mother, Jun. She has trained him in martial arts and has been a mentor, yet she never speaks of Jin's father, claiming he is dead. Now a rebellious teenage fighter and contraband runner, Jin sees Jun killed during Tekken's crackdown on slum area insurgents, referred to as the Anvil. Grieving the loss of his mother and feeling guilty that he had not protected her, Jin swears revenge against Heihachi. In the ruins of his former home, he finds a Tekken Fighter I.D. belonging to Jun. He decides to try out at the Open Call, which lets the Anvil pick a fighter for the tournament. After defeating the disgraced Marshall Law, Jin is sponsored by former boxer Steve Fox and is hailed "The People's Choice".

Upon entering Tekken City, Jin befriends mixed martial artist Christie Monteiro. After witnessing Raven overpower Capoeira fighter Eddie Gordo in the first match, Jin wins his match against Miguel Caballero Rojo, nearly killing him in a fit of rage. Heihachi's son, Kazuya Mishima, is impressed and offers Jin a place in Tekken Corp., but Jin refuses. Later that night, after sneaking out with Christie and visiting a nightclub, Jin is attacked by assassin sisters Anna and Nina Williams, on the orders of Kazuya, who is scheming to take over Tekken and sees Jin as a possible obstacle. Jin survives the assassination attempt, thanks to Christie's interference. Steve and Christie attempt to discourage Jin from continuing in the tournament. But Jin vows to win Iron Fist and kill Heihachi. Meanwhile, Kazuya blackmails the tournament's champion Bryan Fury into killing Jin in a match or be exposed as a cyborg, banning him from the tournament for life.

During the quarter-finals, Jin is matched up with swordsman Yoshimitsu. Heihachi, liking this young fighter, deems that this match be reserved for the semi-finals and attempts to change the order. He is stopped by Kazuya, who has control of the Jackhammers, soldiers used for peacekeeping and insurgent control. Kazuya then has Heihachi imprisoned and orders the match to begin, effectively seizing control of Tekken. Jin narrowly defeats Yoshimitsu, thanks to Heihachi tripping a security alert in the arena. Following the match, Kazuya orders all of the fighters to be detained. He tells them that the rules have changed, now they must fight to the death. Jin, Christie and Steve try to escape, along with Raven and Heihachi, but Raven is wounded and recaptured. The rest make it out to the Anvil.

There Heihachi reveals to Jin the true nature of his origin. Many years ago, Jun was fighting on the Iron Fist and she impressed Kazuya, who raped her, making him Jun's father, and left her for dead. She survived the assault and Heihachi took her out of Tekken City to keep her alive. Heihachi also tells Jin that since he is Heihachi's grandson, he could become the next Chairman. He also states the corporation's true purpose is to restore order to the world, though Jin can't believe what he is being told. Heihachi entrusts Jin with the task of defeating Kazuya. Later the group is located by Jackhammers, who kill Steve in a firefight and recapture the rest of the escapees. Before taking them back to Iron Fist, Kazuya orders the Jackhammers to execute Heihachi.

Back in the tournament, a dispirited Jin is forced to fight in the finals against Bryan, who had already killed Sergei Dragunov, while Kazuya holds Christie in the control room. At first he is outmatched, but remebering his mother's teachings, Jin kills the cyborg. Angered, Kazuya enters the tournament himself, armed with half moon axes, and begins the final match. The weaponless Jin is battered and is about to lose. He is saved, though, when Christie escapes by shooting the Jackhammers guarding her, creating a distraction. This allows Jin to wound and pin Kazuya, who baits Jin by claiming that he remembers how Jun "put up quite a fight". Kazuya taunts him into inheriting the Mishima Curse (Heihachi imprisoned and killed his father and Kazuya murdered Heihachi), but Jin refuses to kill his father, stating that he is a Kazama, not a Mishima. Christie comes to the stage and declares Jin the new Champion of Tekken. Elated, the crowd both in and outside the arena cheer for him. When Christie asks where he will go, he replies that he will go home to the Anvil. He walks out of Tekken City's gate and is saluted by the Jackhammers - symbolizing his new role as CEO of Tekken Corp. In a voiceover, Christie explains that Jin's victory made the Kazama family name synonymous with hope in the Anvil, but that the true legacy of Tekken is only beginning.

After the credits the scene shifts back to Heihachi's execution. A Jackhammer is forcing Heihachi to kneel at gunpoint. His final words are: "I am Mishima Heihachi. I...am...Tekken. You will obey." The Jackhammer does so and Heihachi lives, ready to take back Tekken.

Cast

See also: List of Tekken characters

• Jon Foo as Jin Kazama "The People's Choice","The People's Champion" and the current reigning Champion of Tekken (Younger Jin portrayed by James Dallas Liu, aged 6 and Jason Rosario, aged 11)
• Mircea Monroe as Kara: A girlfriend of Jin.
• Ian Anthony Dale as Kazuya Mishima: The son of Heihachi Mishima, father of Jin Kazama and the supposed heir to the Tekken Corporation, in charge of security.
• Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa as Heihachi Mishima: The chairman of the Tekken Corporation.
• Kelly Overton as Christie Monteiro: A beautiful, versatile female mixed martial artist who falls in love with Jin.
• Tamlyn Tomita as Jun Kazama: Jin Kazama's beloved mother and the one who taught him how to fight.
• Luke Goss as Steve Fox: A retired boxer from England that was once one of the best fighters in the world but has passed his prime. Steve serves a mentor and father figure to Jin. Goss was the first confirmed actor in the film, and explained that his character has "some fights out of the ring."
• Cung Le as Marshall Law: A disgraced martial artist. He is a mixed martial artist, and his presence in the film was confirmed in 2008 by Kung Fu Cinema.
• Gary Daniels as Bryan Fury: A ruthless and power hungry cyborg and former Interpol officer and the former champion of Tekken.
• Candîce Hillebrand as Nina Williams: An assassin who represents Eyederdex Corporation in the tournament.
• Marian Zapico as Anna Williams: Nina Williams' sister, who also represents Eyederdex Corporation in the tournament.
• Darrin Dewitt Henson as Raven: An international intelligence agent that represents G Corporation who befriends Jin in the later parts of the movie.
• Lateef Crowder as Eddie Gordo: A Brazilian Capoeira practitioner fighting for ValenCorp.
• Gary Ray Stearns as Yoshimitsu: A mystic, samurai-esque armored swordsman.
• Anton Kasabov as Sergei Dragunov: A member of Spetsnaz who represents RusCorp .
• Roger Huerta as Miguel Rojo: A young Spanish brawler.

Other characters

• Kiko Ellsworth as Denslow
• Louise Griffiths as Sapphire
• John Pyper-Ferguson as Bonner

Soundtrack

The film's opening theme is "You're Going Down" by the Australian alternative band Sick Puppies, from their album Tri-Polar.

Release

Theatrical

The film was screened at the Mann's Criterion Theatre in Santa Monica on November 5, 2009, as part of the AFM Film Festival to find a solid distributor. It was released in Japan on March 20, 2010 through Warner Bros. Pictures (Japan). The film also premiered on July 27, 2010 in Singapore and August 4, 2010 in the Philippines (via Pioneer Films). One week before the Philippine premiere, Jon Foo visited Manila to promote the film. Due to its poor reception, the film never saw a wide theatrical release in the United States, and was released direct-to-video instead.

Home media

The film was released on DVD and Blu-Ray in Japan on August 11, 2010. In the UK, Optimum Released and distributed the film on May 2, 2011. Anchor Bay Entertainment released the film in the United States on DVD and Blu-Ray on July 19, 2011.

Reception

Katsuhiro Harada, director of the Tekken video game series, negatively reviewed the film. He said that Namco was "not able to supervise that movie; it was a cruel contract,” and later went on to say that he was "uninterested" in the film. Aside from his review, the film received mixed to negative reception^{[citation needed]}.

Prequel

Crystal Sky Pictures is bringing the video game Tekken back with a prequel to the 2010 live-action adaptation. This time, they have found a new helmer in Ong-Bak director Prachya Pinkaew. The new film, currently titled Tekken: Rise of the Tournament, currently has no casting in place. However, the producers are looking for actors to closely resemble the characters who will be in the film.

External links

• Official website (Japanese)
• Tekken at the Internet Movie Database
• Tekken at Rotten Tomatoes