Tekken (2009 film)

This article is about the 2010 live-action film. For the 1998 OVA Film, see Tekken: The Motion Picture.

Tekken
Japanese film poster
Directed by	Dwight H. Little
Written by	Screenplay: Michael Colleary Alan B. McElroy Mike Werb Original story: Namco
Produced by	Steven Paul Benedict Carver Iddo Lampton Enochs
Starring	Jon Foo Kelly Overton Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa Ian Anthony Dale
Cinematography	Brian J. Reynolds
Edited by	David Checel
Music by	John Hunter
Production company	Crystal Sky Pictures
Distributed by	Warner Bros. (Japan) Anchor Bay Entertainment (USA) Optimum Releasing (UK)
Release dates	November 5, 2009 (2009-11-05) (American Film Market) March 20, 2010 (Japan) July 27, 2010 (Singapore: English Theatrical Premiere) August 4, 2010 (Philippines) September 1, 2010 (United Kingdom: DVD premiere)
Running time	87 minutes
Countries	United States Japan
Languages	English Japanese Mandarin
Budget	$35,000,000

Tekken (鉄拳) is a 2010 martial arts film directed by Dwight Little, based on 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, by confronting his father, Kazuya Mishima (Ian Anthony Dale) and his grandfather, Heihachi Mishima (Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa), the latter of whom he thought was responsible for her death. As of January 14, 2010, an international trailer has been released.

Plot

In the year of 2039, after World Wars destroy much of civilization as we know it, territories are no longer run by governments, but by corporations; the mightiest of which is the Tekken Corporation, which controls North America. In order to placate the seething masses of this dystopia, the corporation's Chairman/CEO Heihachi Mishima sponsors the King of Iron Fist Tournament, or Iron Fist - in which fighters battle until one is left standing, who in turn will receive a lifetime of stardom and wealth.

Jin Kazama, a rebellious teenage street fighter and contraband runner, witnesses the death of his mother Jun during Tekken's crackdown on insurgents in Tekken City's slum area of Anvil. In the ruins of his former home, he finds a Tekken Fighter I.D. among his late mother's belongings. Intrigued, as his mother was a staunch anti-Tekken activist who warned him to stay away from the tournament, he sets off to the Open Call, which allow the masses in Anvil to pick a fighter for the tournament. After defeating the disgraced fighter Marshall Law, Jin gains sponsorship from former boxer Steve Fox and is hailed by the masses as "The People's Choice".

Upon entering the heart of Tekken City, Jin meets and befriends female mixed martial artist Christie Monteiro. Jin wins his first match against Miguel Caballero Rojo, nearly killing him in a fit of rage. Later that night, after sneaking out with Christie and visiting a nightclub where they flirt and bond, Jin is attacked by the twin assassin sisters Anna and Nina Williams (who are also taking part in the tournament, both fighting for one of Tekken's rival corporation, Eyderdex), who are acting on the orders of Kazuya Mishima, son of Heihachi. Kazuya also schemes to overtake Tekken Corp from his father. Jin survives the assassination attempt, thanks to Christie's interference. Steve and Christie both attempt to dissuade Jin from continuing in the tournament, as his life is in danger. Against their wishes, Jin vows to win Iron Fist and kill Heihachi. Meanwhile, Kazuya blackmails the martial artist Bryan Fury into killing Jin in a match or be exposed as a cyborg, effectively banning him from the tournament for life.

During the quarter-finals, Jin is matched up against the mysterious swordsman Yoshimitsu. Heihachi taking a shine to 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 gained control of the Jackhammers, or Jacks (high tech soldiers used for peacekeeping and insurgent destruction). 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 later tells the imprisoned fighters that the rules have changed, wherein they must fight to the death in order to advance. Along with Raven and Heihachi, Jin, Christie and Steve launch an escape. Raven is wounded and recaptured, but the rest make it out to Anvil.

When the fighters find a hideout, Heihachi reveals to Jin the true nature of his origin, explaining that many years ago, Kazuya raped Jun and attempted to kill her. He took her out of Tekken City to keep her alive. Heihachi also states that now Jin can become the next chairman of Tekken Corp and that its true purpose was to restore order to the chaos-ridden world and help the people rise again, much to Jin's disagreement and distrust. Heihachi entrusts Jin to defeat Kazuya, but soon after, the hideout is located by Jacks who engage in a quick firefight that results in the death of Steve, and the recapture of the rest. Before taking Jin and Christie back to Iron Fist, Kazuya orders Jacks to execute Heihachi.

Back into the tournament, a bruised Jin is forced to fight against Bryan in the finals while Kazuya holds Christie captive in the control room. After a bloody struggle, Jin triumphs, killing the cyborg. Angered, Kazuya orders a new final contestant for Jin: himself. He walks down to the arena, two half moon axes in hand, and begins the final match. The weaponless Jin is battered, but is saved when Christie escapes, shooting the Jacks guarding her and creating a distraction. This allows Jin to wound and pin down Kazuya to the ground. Kazuya taunts him into inheriting the Mishima Curse (Heihachi imprisoned and killed his father and Kazuya murdered Heihachi), but Jin stops from killing his father, stating that he is a Kazama, not a Mishima. Christie comes down to the stage and declares Jin the new Iron Fist Champion. 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 back home to Anvil. He walks out of Tekken City's gate and, in a scene reminiscent of Tekken 5, he is saluted by the Jacks - symbolizing his role as the new CEO of Tekken Corp. Jin walks the streets of Anvil, a crowd follows him. A voiceover from Christie explains that Jin's victory made his name synonymous with hope amongst his people in the Anvil, but that the true legacy of Tekken is only beginning.

In a post-credits scene, a wounded Kazuya walks by the holding cells back at the arena, as the scene shifts back to Heihachi's execution. A Jack has Heihachi kneel at gunpoint. His final words are: "I am Mishima Heihachi. I...am...Tekken. You WILL obey." The Jack lowers its gun in a sign of obedience, as Heihachi looks on, ready to take back his empire.

Cast

See also: List of Tekken characters

• Jon Foo as Jin Kazama "The People's Choice": A young and talented fighter who is driven by grudge upon the death of his mother, Jun. He enters the contests to exact revenge against his mother's alleged killer, Heihachi Mishima. In real life, Jon Foo is a Wushu martial artist apart from acting.
• Ian Anthony Dale as Kazuya Mishima: The son of Heihachi Mishima and the supposed heir to the Tekken Corporation. While Heihachi hosts the tournament, Kazuya however has his own plans for it.
• Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa as Heihachi Mishima: The chairman of the Tekken Corporation. He is the father of Kazuya and the grandfather of Jin Kazama. An experienced fighter himself, he holds The King of Iron Fist Tournament to crown the best fighter on Earth and to maintain the Mishima namesake. Tagawa is also known for playing another fighting game character, Shang Tsung, in the first Mortal Kombat film.
• Kelly Overton as Christie Monteiro: A beautiful, versatile female mixed martial artist who Jin meets during the tournament and develops a bond with.
• 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. He acts as Jin's sponsor in the film. 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 who fights Jin in an Open Call match in Anvil. Le 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 cyborg and former Interpol officer that competes in the tournament. Daniels is a former kickboxer himself, which is the same fighting style used by his character in the video games.
• Candice Hillebrand as Nina Williams: A cold-blooded assassin who represents Eyerdex Corporation in the tournament.
• Marian Zapico as Anna Williams: Nina Williams' sister, who also represents Eyerdex Corporation in the tournament.
• Darrin Dewitt Henson as Raven: An international intelligence agent who represents G Corporation and sides with Jin during the tournament. He is considered highly skilled and iron-hearted.
• Lateef Crowder as Eddie Gordo: A Brazilian Capoeira practitioner. Crowder was offered the role due to his real-life Capoeira skills and resemblance to Eddy. In the film, Eddy and Christie are not related in any way.
• Tamlyn Tomita as Jun Kazama: Jin Kazama's beloved mother. After she is killed during an anti-insurgent raid by the Tekken Corporation in Anvil, Jin enters the tournament to avenge her.
• Gary Ray Stearns as Yoshimitsu: A mystic, Samurai-esque armored swordsman. This version of Yoshimitsu is based on his Tekken 3 appearance.
• Anton Kasabov as Sergei Dragunov: A member of Spetsnaz, Dragunov is considered the very symbol of fear on the battlefield whose overwhelming fighting prowess has earned him the title "The White Angel of Death". He is killed by Bryan Fury, ripping his throat with a spiked chain.
• Roger Huerta as Miguel Caballero Rojo: A young Spanish brawler, and one of the Tekken contestants.
• Mircea Monroe as Kara: An original character that is Jin's girlfriend at the beginning of the film.

Differences

• The film takes place in a dystopian setting, where global wars have decimated the world population and continents are run by different corporations. The setting of the video game series is no different from present-day Earth, where countries are still run by their respective governments.
• Much of the plot of the games revolves around Kazuya Mishima and Jin Kazama and the devil gene which gives them superhuman power, however the devil gene story was omitted from the film.
• In the film, the corporation behind the tournament is named Tekken. In the games, the corporation is named the Mishima Zaibatsu and the tournament itself is named Tekken.
• In the games, Yoshimitsu is the only character who fights with a weapon. In the film, Jin uses a naginata when fighting Yoshimitsu and Kazuya uses twin axes when fighting Jin.
• In the film, it's insinuated that Jun Kazama, Jin's mother, was raped by Kazuya. In the games, Jun and Kazuya's relationship and the circumstances to how Jin was conceived was never fully explored.
• In the film, Christie Monteiro is a Caucasian mixed martial artist and a love interest to Jin. In the games, Christie is a Brazilian Capoeira fighter with no love interest while Ling Xiaoyu has a heavy crush on Jin.
• In the film, Steve Fox is portrayed as a retired boxer whose character is significantly older than in the games. He appears older than Nina Williams who is his mother in the games.
• In the film, Nina Williams and Anna Williams are assassins. In the games, only Nina is an assassin. During the Tekken 3 era, Anna even tried to prevent her sister from becoming an assassin once again after Nina developed cryosleep induced amnesia.
• In the film, Marshall Law is a mixed martial artist whereas in the games his fighting style is heavily based on Bruce Lee's Jeet Kune Do. In the film, Marshall is described as having knocked out Paul Phoenix in 28 seconds. In the games, Marshall and Paul are friends and often sparring partners whose matches often end in a draw.
• In the film, the Mishima soldiers are referred to as "Jacks" which is short for "Jackhammers" and appear to be human. In the games, Mishima soldiers are referred to as Tekken Force and the Jacks are a series of large humanoid combat robots.

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 in order 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. One week prior to the Philippine premiere, Jon Foo visited Manila to promote the film. The film will hit United States theaters in 2011 through Anchor Bay Films.

Home media

The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray in Japan on August 11, 2010. In the UK, Optimum Releasing will distribute the film on September 1, 2010. However, HMV.com states that the DVD release date is June 27, 2011 Anchor Bay Entertainment will handle home video distribution of the film in the U.S. in 2011, following its theatrical release.

External links

• Official website Template:Ja icon
• Tekken at IMDb
• Tekken at Tekkenpedia
• Jon Foo Interview on Tekken (Japan)