Those familiar with the games will know that they follow the Mishima family who are the heads of a major corporation, and the multi-generational in-fighting is the general plot of the series. While there are elements of that in Tekken, details like the Devil that has a heavy influence over many Mishima family members are completely ignored. In my opinion though, I think that is one of those details that wouldn't appeal too much to the general American movie-watcher, or at least not as much as the gamers who have come to expect a bit of quirkiness from Japanese titles.
So where does that leave us? Well, in the near future, the world's economy has crashed badly and only a few mega-corporations have survived. One such company is Tekken and they control the United States Territories. It is under this corporation's thumb that Jin Kazama (Jon Foo) has grown up. He is a street-wise kid who makes some extra money by running various blockades and checkpoints in order to get people what they need and want.
He's good at this because his mother has trained him all his life in a unique style of martial arts, but when she is killed in a raid, Jin vows vengeance on Tekken and decides to try out for the Iron Fist competition being hosted in Tekken City. His goal is to get in, get as close as he can to Tekken's patriarch, Heihachi Mishima (Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa) and get his revenge first hand.
Along the way, he will get to know, and have to get through, several other fighters who have been competing in the Iron Fist contest for several years. These include Marshall Law (Cung Lee), Christie Monterio (Kelly Overton), Raven (Darrin Dewitt Henson), Nina Williams (Candice Hillebrand), Anna Williams (Marian Zapico), Bryan Fury (Gary Daniels), Eddy Gordo (Lateef Crowder) and the armor-clad Yoshimitsu (Gary Ray Stearns). In the end though, his biggest opponent is Heihachi's son, Kazuya (Ian Anthony Dale), who wants control of Tekken for himself.
Special features are sparse, but the one featurette it offers is really interesting, if you have even a passing interest in stunts, that is. "Stunt Stars: Tekken" follows the film's fight choreographer, Cyril Raffaelli, and his company of stunt men. Cyril and his friends are one of the reasons Free Running or Parkour have become so popularized over the last few years. Besides the fact that they use it heavily in any film they are involved in, Raffaelli also released tons of videos online depicting him and his friends performing across the streets of Paris.
As far as the stunts of Tekken are concerned, he not only mapped out each of the fights in the film, but also the chase scene Jin goes through early in the film. The featurette itself covers the filming of the movie's last fight, as well as that chase scene. I found this hour-long special feature to be very interesting.
Tekken is a fairly good videogame to movie adaptation, all things considered. While the story might not be exactly what fans of the games might want, there are a lot of iconic moments from the fighting games that keen-eyed fans should be able to pick up on. This movie is at least worth a rent, and the crisp picture and surround sound that comes with the Blu-ray version of Tekken definitely adds to the overall ambiance of the film.
