Info :
This 1998 anime film
is based on the
popular video game
of the same name.
TEKKEN benefits
from having a
talented group of
filmmakers and
animators at the
helm including
Masaaki Hannan
(animation director),
Hazuaki Yanagisawa
(character designs),
Ayata Yamaguchi
(screenplay), and
Hunihisa Sugishima,
who directs. ADV
Films, chief purveyor
of Japanese live
action and animated
films presents
TEKKEN as their first
(late) entry onto DVD.
To make TEKKEN
more attractive to
the audience that
plays the video
game, ADV Films has
added American
alternative bands to
play loud music on
the soundtrack.
During the action
scenes we are
"treated" to the likes
of The Offspring, The
Urge, Stabbing
Westward, and the
only one with any
real talent, Corrosion
of Conformity (or
C.O.C.). Whether this
music is an asset to
the home theater
experience (or a
distraction), we’ll
leave it up to the
audience to decide.
It’s really not fair
to refer to TEKKEN as
a film or movie,
because it’s barely
over an hour—
hardly a full length
film. So we will refer
to TEKKEN as a
feature.
In the beginning, a
little girl named Jun
witnesses a jackal
kill a mother rabbit.
This incident leaves
the little girl in tears.
A young boy learning
the martial arts
named Kazuya
Mishima, comforts
Jun in her moment
of sadness. The
boy’s father,
Heihachi, sees his son
talking to Jun and
mistakes this act of
compassion as a sign
of weakness.
Heihachi is one of
those extreme,
overbearing fathers
who wants his son to
follow in his
footsteps. Heihachi
grabs Kazuya and
threatens to throw
the boy over a
nearby cliff. Heihachi
says that should
Kazuya survive the
plunge, Kazuya will
truly be his rightful
heir. Kazuya screams
for mercy as his
father tosses the
boy into a ravine.
Jun witnesses this
unbelievable act of
poor parenting, and
she is traumatized
for life.
Years later, Heihachi
is now recognized as
the supreme martial
artist. He has fortune
and fame, and uses
these assets to host
a gladiatorial duel of
martial artists on a
remote island. Jun is
now grown up, and
she herself has
trained in the martial
arts since her
emotions were
scarred from that
fateful day many
years ago. Jun has
since developed
some psychic
empathic abilities.
The government
agency she works
for sends her
undercover as a
fighter to participate
in Heihachi’s
tournament. She is
joined in this mission
by a Chinese
undercover agent
named Lei, and
together they depart
for the island where
the duel takes place.
Along the way, they
meet a hulking
fighter named
Jack-2, who travels
with a sick little girl.
When they arrive on
the island, they meet
up with a host of
other powerful
fighters. Among
them is Kazuya
Mishima, who
survived the plunge
off the cliff after all.
He is back on the
island seeking to end
his father’s life.
Kazuya is visibly
scarred from his
childhood ordeal, but
he is even more
emotionally scarred
at his father’s
betrayal. The lust for
vengeance gave
Kazuya the will to
survive and endure.
Kazuya is now a
superhuman fighting
machine whose only
desire is to take
revenge. Jun’s
empathic nature
senses Kazuya’s
torment and his dark
side drives her crazy.
She confronts him,
and asks him to
reconsider killing his
father. But Kazuya is
so driven with
hatred that he
threatens to kill her
if she gets in his
way.
Meanwhile, Heihachi
has his own secret
agenda besides the
tournament. He
commands a
scientific team that
operates from a
hidden base on the
island. He forces
these scientists to
genetically engineer
a breed of savage
Velociraptors who
kill anything in their
path. He also has an
army of walking
robotic war
machines. As the
combatants are
fighting on the
island, the
Velociraptors are let
loose to hunt the
fighters. Most of the
fighters are
slaughtered except
for Kazuya, Jun, Lei,
and the huge Jack-2
(who turns out to be
a robot himself). The
explosion of the
research base on the
island triggers a
chain reaction that
causes a volcano to
erupt, threatening to
consume the island.
Jack-2 is destroyed
in the onslaught, and
before he dies,
Jack-2 begs Lei to
take care of the little
girl who he cares for.
Jun fights Kazuya in
an attempt to brings
him to his senses.
But Heihachi has
plans of his own for
the last two
fighters…
TEKKEN turned out to
be a real surprise.
Not that it is a
blockbuster by any
means; but it is
quality
entertainment (but
it’s no GHOST IN THE
MACHINE). I knew this
feature was based
on the best-selling
MORTAL COMBAT-
inspired videogame,
so I was expecting a
rapid fire combat
anime with a flat
script and hollow
characters. I was
surprised to find
TEKKEN a rapid-fire
action anime with
well-defined
characters and a
script that focuses
on the story and
characters and less
on the fight scenes.
Don’t get me
wrong, there is
plenty of bloody
martial arts
sequences, just not
as many as I was
expecting.
There is a lot of
emotion and feeling
running through this
animated film; from
the darkest pits of
despair, to the height
of human
compassion. The
character of Kazuya
is a fascinating one.
Betrayed by his own
flesh and blood and
left to die, only his
hatred of his father
kept him alive and
gave him the desire
to become the most
lethal fighter on the
planet. His soul is
very dark, and
because of the aura
of despair
surrounding him, the
audience hinges on
his every word.
Another dark
character is his
father Heihachi, a
man that stands for
everything that is
evil: money, power,
fame, and yes, even
science. Heihachi is a
man you love to
hate, and TEKKEN
portrays what
happens to
megalomaniac
people like this. They
are eventually
hunted by many and
have to watch their
backs throughout
their life.
The positive
emotions are
represented mainly
by Jun and Jack-2.
Jack-2 is a war
machine
programmed to
possess emotions to
make better
decisions in battle.
His emotions take
over his intellect,
however, and he
befriends a young
girl who is slowly
dying from disease.
Jack-2 knows that
the advanced
scientific research
conducted by
Heihachi may be the
key to saving the
girl’s life, and he
makes the ultimate
sacrifice to ensure
that the girl gets a
second chance. Jun
is not only a capable
female warrior, but
she has an empathic
nature as well. The
trauma of seeing
young Kazuya
thrown over a cliff
has scarred her as
bad as it the torment
suffered by Kazuya.
She unsuccessfully
tries to get into
Kazuya’s psyche,
and convince him
that killing his father
will not solve his
problems.
There is also some
solid sci-fi
interwoven into the
narrative. Heihachi
controls his scientific
researchers and
forces them to
develop a host of
unbelievable
creations. The
scientists create
humanoid robot
soldiers who are
programmed to
wage war. They also
breed a horde of
vicious Velociraptors
who eat human
flesh. These
Velociraptors have
the ability to turn
themselves invisible!
This invisibility
makes these
creatures virtually
detectable, so they
can sneak up and put
the bite on their
victims.
Lest you think that
TEKKEN is a soap
opera, you should
know that (besides
the martial arts
tournament and the
hand-to-hand
combat), there is
boatload of mayhem
in TEKKEN. We
witness Heihachi’s
atrocities as he has
his own scientists
and employees put
to death. He releases
the Velociraptor
horde free to roam
on the island, and the
pack proceed to
chow down on the
unsuspecting
fighters. Until they
face Kazuya that is; a
fighting-mad Kazuya
attacks the
creatures and
manages to rip some
them apart in a
bloody battle. One of
Heihachi’s guards
gets his skull crushed
in against a cliff wall.
There is no shortage
of violence and
action in TEKKEN, and
the narrative
doesn’t dwell on it.
TEKKEN is one of the
first films to combine
computer graphics
with traditional
animation. This
combination is
winner, and makes
for some truly
colorful eye-candy.
The battle scenes
and character
movements are fluid
and smooth. The
animation
successfully
generates a life-like
appearance. My only
complaint about the
visuals is the lack of
detail. The
filmmakers don’t
let you forget this is
animation by
keeping the detail
level minimal.
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