I'm really glad I did! There was so much to love about the movie, and it really drew me back into my Tekken fandom by reminding me just how good the characters really are, and how deep and interesting the world of Tekken is. It certainly whet my appetite for Tekken Tag Tournament 2.
First off, the animation in this film is absolutely gorgeous. The bright colors, the lighting, and the fluid movements and loving detail in each character is astounding. The film is really a treat for the eyes. Whether it's a simple conversation between two characters, or one of the film's astounding fight scenes, it's really just a pleasure to watch, even on a standard DVD.
Speaking of the fight scenes, I really have to give special mention to them. They are AWESOME. They really capture the feel of the Tekken series helps that all of the moves used in them are straight out of the game and are brilliantly exciting and animated to perfection. There is one in particular, near the middle of the film, that had my mouth agape. So well-done. It's worth watching the movie just for that, in my opinion.
Of course, it helps that the plot of the movie is quite interesting. Yes, it requires foreknowledge of the Tekken storyline, and when I first watched the film I was confused as to why certain things seemed to come out of nowhere. However, on a second viewing after I had caught up on the series' story, I was impressed with the amount of foreshadowing and callbacks to the game there were. I will say that parts of it do require accepting the "scientific" explanations at face value, but I had no problem suspending my disbelief and there was nothing that really pulled me out of the illusion too badly.
As for audio, I can't comment on the English dub, but the Japanese voicework is great, with Alisa especially sounding adorable and ranged. The music as is to be expected of the Tekken series is fantastic, fitting the atmosphere of scenes to a T.
I've heard complaints that the film isn't action-oriented enough, or focuses too much on the "high school drama" between Alisa and Xiaoyu. If anything, I felt this was one of the movie's biggest strengths. Tekken's world is populated with fantastic characters, so it was nice to see many of them get their due. Lee in particular was one of the film's biggest standouts, and this film really made me love the character. The fact that the fight scenes were kept far apart from each other made each of them that much more special, and as said before they were impeccably choreographed and animated.
Of course, this film isn't perfect. The story may be a bit confusing to some, especially if you're not a fan of the series, and your enjoyment of the film really depends on your enjoyment of the characters. As someone who really likes the characters they chose to focus on, I had a blast, but other fans may not be so kind towards it.
All in all, I thought it was a great film one that triumphantly defies the accepted notion that movies based on videogames are terrible and am pleased to have it in my DVD collection. Gorgeous animations, likeable characters, and an interesting story all tied together to make an entertaining romp I would watch again and again. Check it out.
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Tekken is one of my favorite video games and in the 90's the first movie "Tekken" came out and was awesome as a drawn cartoon video. This movie is so awesome, the characters look so real and the story goes right along with the Tekken games. GET IT!Best Deals for Tekken: Blood Vengeance (Movie)
I'm not at all familiar with the Tekkenverse, and I'm only going on my friend's assurance that this film doesn't too much mangle the internal continuity of Namco Bandai Games video games. I'm recommending TEKKEN: BLOOD VENGEANCE, mostly for its dazzling CG animation. The story itself gets more muddled as it progresses, although, thankfully, enough coherence is retained. I was able to follow the plot, even though, at times, I did scramble to keep straight just who is who and which their respective allegiances. At its core, the narrative is constructed around a seriously messed-up family feud. The supernatural Mishima bloodline had always been prone to homicidal urges and wanton destruction. But those new to this universe may require a scorecard.Powerful rival corporations use, respectively, a high school girl and a robot posing as a high school girl to infiltrate Kyoto's prestigious Kyogoku Academy to spy on a student rumored to hold the key to the M stem cell, the so-called Devil gene which unlocks paranormal talents and confers immortality. Teenager Ling Xiaoyu, an expert martial artist who rides a panda and looks cute in her standard schoolgirl outfit, is expelled from Mishima Polytechnic High School which then paves the way for the Mishima Zaibatsu company's brand of arm twisting. This leaves Ling's loyalties veering somewhere on the shaky side. It's even suggested that she goes along with the espionage ops only because the target, Shin Kamiya, is a good-looking hunk.
You have to credit the script writer(s) for dispensing with the fight tournament format, as that plot device is pretty played out when it comes to adapting video games to cinema. Instead, there is a "story" which does frame the fighty fights. The film's first half-hour dedicates itself to fun high school hijinks, with Ling Xiaoyu's snooping around qualifying as lighthearted caper. She befriends another girl, the naive Alisa Bosconovitch, who dresses like to borrow one reviewer's neat description a "cosplay courtesan." Alisa and Ling are soon vying for Shin's affections, although Ling's crush seems more half-hearted.
The story drops the high school shenanigans once Shin Kamiya is abducted during a school festival competition. It adopts a more somber tone. The two warring corporations the Mishima Zaibatsu and the G Corporation show their hand and deploy their forces. This leaves the outgunned Ling Xiaoyu caught in the crosshairs from all directions.
Again, TEKKEN: BLOOD VENGEANCE may be a bit daunting for those just entering the Tekkenverse. There's a lot of things thrown your way. In a good move, the writers opted to focus on only two protagonists (three, if you count Jin), even though plenty of Tekken characters pop up seemingly for the sake of a gratuitous cameo. Shin Kamiya, for one, feels like a gimmick, there only to advance the story and then disposed of. But Ling and Alisa are appealing protagonists and their friendship is really nicely fleshed out. What happens to one of them in the hell's broken loose third act makes for a surprisingly emotional moment. On the other hand, it's disappointing that Ling, in that same third act, is relegated to the sidelines, although, yes, logically, her skills set renders her pretty helpless in the face of the apocalyptic brawl. Yes, the film culminates in an epic three-way battle royale among the Mishima clan, all three of whom exhibit destructive supernatural aptitude. I'll say that this is possibly the best extended animated fight I've ever seen. Three generations of the Mishima bloodline just tore each other up! And just when I thought they couldn't top it, the Mokujin spirits of the Kyoto Castle are invoked and the stakes escalate that much more.
This film gratifies several fetishes of them anime geeks. Cute martial artist in schoolgirl outfit check. Hot robot girl with transformable body parts (and a nifty jet pack) ditto. Another hottie in tight black leathers springing into action you betcha! Frequent salacious upskirt shots yes! Oh, and let's not forget the refrigerator scene which has a toweled-only Ling cuddling with Alisa.
The story occasionally drags and baffles, but it's worth sticking around for the CG work and the remarkably rendered action sequences. I really couldn't care less about Ling's search for the kidnapped student and the resulting poking into the M cell conspiracy, but I did like the human touches, the interactions between our two heroines, and even the clichéd plot device of the robot's developing a sense of humanity. And how can you not get hyped when the fate of the world ultimately rests on a wrecked robot's Skyrocket Super Punch?
And a final thing. May I suggest that you watch this with the Japanese soundtrack? The English dub lacks a little something.
Honest reviews on Tekken: Blood Vengeance (Movie)
Like the title suggests, this movie is purely for the fans. This option is also for the ones that either don't want Tekken Hybrid or have a 360 and don't really want to shell out 40 bucks for a blu-ray version of the movie. While the release has no features whatsoever, it's still a serviceable movie.However, one of the things that really plagues the film is the English dubbing. Sure, Xiayou and Anna are pretty good, but the other voice actors either ham up their lines or phone them in, leading to many unintentionally humorous moments. The story is pretty odd, and while it does center around both Alisa and Xiayou, the whole film gets hijacked by the Mishima clan and bloodline (understandably so, since the movie is subtitled Blood Vengeance.)
The main spectacle is how pretty the film looks, even on DVD. The animation style is akin to the Final Fantasy CGI film, and is less bogged down by story. Although fans will recognize the conflicts between Jin, Heihachi, and Kazama, casuals will find something to enjoy in this movie.
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Ah, those days in college, playing "Tekken" on the PSX until my thumbs would be in pain and thinking that the game was the best fighting game on the planet!But I know I'm not alone when it comes to being one of the many fans who grew up playing and still are playing "Tekken".
The Bandai video game series which began in 1994 has always pushed the limit in fighting video games and we have seen six incarnation of the game for the major consoles, a Sony PSP version of the game as well as a "Tekken Tag" version.
And one thing that "Tekken" had always done so well was seeing Namco trying to make an awesome looking 3D game, giving its characters their own fighting style and gameplay that rivaled other fighting game competitors, including CAPCOM's "Street Fighter" fighting game series (a rivalry that will lead to the upcoming "Tekken x Street Fighter"/"Street Fighter vs. Tekken" videogames).
But you have to give credit to Bandai for crafting a continuing storyline that revolved around the ruthlessness of the Mishima family which include the evil and dead (but manages to always come back alive) patriarch Heihachi; Kazuya, Heihachi's evil son with the devil gene who will do anything to destroy his father and Kazuya's son Jin, who also has the devil gene (but chooses to use his power to destroy his grandfather and his father).
Sure it sounds and reads quite wickedly and if you played the game, you can't deny of how this family is the ultimate in dysfunctional relationships. Who can ever forget Kazuya Misushima grabbing his father and dropping him down a cliff? Wicked, I tell you.
But if there was one thing that "Tekken" has not lived up to its video game series is its video releases.
The video games had cool stories but with each game, each character had a CG-storyline that lasted for a few minutes and fans wanted more! Especially with "Street Fighter", "Virtua Fighter" and "Final Fight" receiving some anime love, "Tekken" would receive some love in 1998 as anime fans were treated with a lackluster animated film titled "Tekken: The Motion Picture", followed by a 2010 live-action film titled "Tekken" which even "Tekken" video game director Katsuhiro Harada had panned. With a poorly done animated and live-action film, fans can only wish these two never existed.
Fortunately, Bandai Entertainment had always wanted to create a CG-based animated film since the release of "Tekken 6' (for the PS3 and XBOX 360) and what they created was the CG animated-film titled "Tekken: Blood Vengeance", a storyline that actually will appeal to those who are familiar with the video game series.
The film was supervised by Youichi Mori ("Appleseed") and written by Dai Sato ("Eureka Seven", "Cowboy Bebop", "Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex"). In charge of animation production is Digital Frontier who created the sequences for "Tekken" 5 and 6.
And possibly the smartest decision made by Dai Sato was to not include every character in the "Tekken" universe but to focus on the characters that relate to the Mishima storyline: Heihachi, Kazuya, Jin and Lin Xiaoyu. And characters with storylines that have continued since the first video game: Spy Nina Williams and her enemy and sister, Anna but also the addition of the latest character, Alisa Bosconovitch (a robot created by Dr. Bosconovitch who has played a big part in the series storyline and his relation to other characters in the videogame).
"Tekken: Blood Vengeance" will be released in the U.S. on DVD on November 22nd. For those who want the Blu-ray release, will want to purchase "Tekken Hybrid" which contains the 3D Blu-ray version of the film, plus "Tekken Tag Tournament HD" and "Tekken Tag Tournament 2: Prequel" and was released on December 27, 2011.
VIDEO & AUDIO:
"Tekken: Blood Vengeance" is presented in 16:9 and is in Japanese and English Dolby Digital 5.1. For an action film, as expected with this explosive storyline, you can expect a good round of explosions and destruction galore with the soundtrack. And the picture quality is what one can expect on DVD.
While the CG looks fantastic and in par with the graphics of the "Tekken 6' cut scenes, for those who are wanting to watch this in HD will have to purchase the PS3 "Tekken Hybrid" which contains the upcoming game "Tekken Tag Tournament 2: Prologue", "Tekken Tag Tournament HD" and "Tekken: Blood Vengeance 3D".
In fact, this film looks amazing enough that I would prefer to watch it in HD versus on DVD, especially since you get both "Tekken Tag Tournaments" for the PS3.
But for the DVD release, picture quality is good and as for the Japanese and English dub, I prefer the Japanese soundtrack as it syncs much better with the characters mouths. But for those who prefer English, you do have the English dub as an option.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
"Tekken Blood Vengeance" comes with the film trailer and the trailer for the "Tekken Hybrid" PS3 release.
JUDGMENT CALL:
"Tekken: Blood Vengeance" is a film that definitely brings the storyline to the video game fans who have grown up with this series. As the anime movie and the live-action film were made to be more accessible to those not familiar with the video games, I would imagine that "Tekken: Blood Vengeance" can be watched by someone not familiar with the series but at the same time, not feeling the impact compared to those who are familiar with the Mizushima families dysfunctional relationship.
As a fan of "Tekken", I can easily recommend this to fans because the storyline literally relates to the video games. You can't help but be excited when you see Nina vs. Anna, Lin Xiaoyu vs. Alisa and of course, seeing Kazuya and Jin going against each other. And there are also a few other short cameo appearances by a few other characters as well.
So, in terms of watching a film based on a video game, graphic-wise, I enjoyed this film as much as I enjoyed "Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children". Mainly because I invested so much time in playing those games, you can't help but be excited.
The storyline is easy to follow when it comes to Lin Xiaoyu but when it comes to the Mishima family, I know there are viewers not familiar with the video games who will feel they are missing a chunk of storyline because they don't know the hatred between Jin and his father Kazuya and both towards their grandfather Heihachi.
And this is possibly one part of the release that can be problematic for some. For the release of "Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children", to help viewers understand what had taken place beforehand, many of the CG animatics from the video game were included as a special feature and served as a wonderful primer to help people understand the film.
It would have been nice of Namco to include those CG clips as special features from the previously released video games, especially the cut-scenes regarding Heihachi, Kazuya and Jin. So, I felt that was one missed opportunity for this DVD release (Note: I am not sure if the Blu-ray release will contain extra features not included on the DVD version), as it would definitely help non-fans or new fans understand what is going on and possibly get them interested in the video game series.
But for those who are fans of the video game series, I can personally say that the film was exciting and fun to watch. Granted, if you are not fans of the Mishima clan, Nina Williams or Lin Xiaoyu, I can understand how those fans would be a bit bummed that there favorite characters were not fully featured.
But considering how I wished the video game cut-scenes were longer, to have 92 minutes of all story featuring these cool characters from "Tekken", I can't help but having this grin on my face because I enjoyed watching it.
And while the PQ and AQ were good for DVD, I wish there were more special features on the DVD but who knows? Perhaps the Blu-ray release may have extra features. And the fact that the PS3 "Tekken Hybrid" release comes with the 3D version of the film and two "Tekken Tag Tournament" video games in HD, I wouldn't be surprised if the hardcore fans go for the Blu-ray release. I definitely would!
Overall, "Tekken: Blood Vengeance" may not be for everyone as it is truly geared towards fans of the "Tekken" video game series, but if you are a fan, I definitely recommend watching the film!
