Review: Tekken: Blood Vengeance

It’s not much of a stretch to say that videogame based movies don’t exactly have a high quality track record. At best they’ve been so-bad-it’s-good cheesefests (the early 90′s Street Fighter movie is a particular favourite), at worst they’ve been simply dire, last year’s live action Tekken being a particularly heinous example. In fact, it was so awful that Tekken franchise director Katsuhiro Harada has justified this film partially as a reaction, explaining that Namco had little to no control over the previous movie’s direction. And Blood Vengeance looked to have a strong chance to break out of the videogame movie ghetto, with a script penned by former Cowboy Bebop and Eureka Seven scribe Dai Sato  and animation work done by Digital Frontier, responsible for Resident Evil: Degeneration and also the sharp opening cinemas for Tekken 5 and Tekken 6.

Right from the opening, it’s clear at least one party held up their end of the bargain. Blood Vengeance is without a doubt an utterly gorgeous movie, at the cutting edge of what CGI animation is capable of achieving. Granted, the humans still haven’t quite reached photorealism, meaning that the so called ‘uncanny valley’ can still be a problem occasionally, but most of the time it’s just a total feast for the eyes. Hair, water, clothing and all the tough, small details that can make or break your suspension of disbelief are impeccable, and there’s a real eye for environmental detail, from the gentle warm colours of a Japanese garden to the cold windy confines of a clifftop castle. It’s well worth watching this on the biggest screen you can just to maximise the visual impact. I’ve also got to credit the film for effective use of 3D. I’m a sceptic, but the technology was very intelligently used throughout and added a great deal of substance to several scenes.

When it comes to backing up the pretty face however, is where Blood Vengeance begins to stumble. Films based on fighting games have always suffered because, well, most fighting games don’t have much actual story to them and what story they do have tends to be an excuse for a lot of one-on-one brawls. For what it’s worth, I actually think Tekken has one of the genre’s more interesting yarns – a multi game saga centered around the twisted Mishima family comprising of grandfather Heihachi, his much loathed son Kazuya and lone white sheep (and Kazuya’s son) Jin Kazama. Their saga has powered the series along since the very first game, and there’s plenty of meaty drama to be had from the conflict.

Unfortunately, for the most part this power trio stays in the background, content to make brief appearances behind desks and pull the strings of other, less interesting protagonists. Instead, the films opts to centre on the pair of schoolgirl (sigh, how predictable) Ling Xiaoyu and the naively cute Alisa Bosconovitch, both of whom are assigned to trail movie-original character Shin Kamiya, possessor of a dark secret that may eventually lead back to the Mishimas.

There’s no other way to describe it – this central storyline is just a complete mess. There are plotholes all over the place and the film seems desperately unsure of its own pacing, with seemingly critical sequences almost entirely absent. Simple example – at one point Xiaoyu discovers a massive secret underground lab beneath her old school. We’re not shown how she discovered it, where it was hidden, or why it was never uncovered before, we’re simply outside one moment and in the lab the next, with only a cursory piece of dialogue actually letting us know where the lab is. At more than one point Xiaoyu and Alisa are rescued by blatant deus ex machina or simply irredeemable stupidity on the part of the villains. Shin Kamiya himself is pretty much a cipher – he doesn’t appear much and seems pretty unlikable when he does, making him difficult to empathise with. When his secret and the conspiracy around him is eventually revealed it’s both daft and confusing, and cements his status as nothing more than a talking mcguffin. It’s also worth noting that this is not a great entry point for newcomers to the franchise – strong knowledge of the franchise is expected and indeed required to understand vast swathes of the plot, although it does pay back in the form of some nice cameos and continuity nods.

The English version’s coherence is at least helped by its strong voice cast, all of whom turn in professional performances, but display various levels of success in inhabiting their characters. This is mostly due to some pretty poor dialogue, and a fair bit too much angst, particularly in a memorable (for the wrong reasons) scene where Xiaoyu talks about ‘the warmth of a refrigerator’….no, I don’t get it either. That scene aside however, Carrie Keranen turns in a strong performance, investing her character with some decent energy and holding her own in the more dramatic scenes. Cristina Vee is a bit less effective as Alisa, going for a classic ‘shy and polite girl’ voice which rings a little false, though once again she’s hampered by the dodgy script. The standout performances have to go to Kaiji Tang as goofy teacher Lee Chaolan, who effortlessly steals every scene he appears in, and Jamieson Price (credited as Taylor Henry) in full on scenery chewing mode as the villainous Heihachi.

In defence, there are still some aspects of the film genuinely worth seeing. The fights, for example, are superb, with great choreography and some inspired camerawork really allowing the action to shine. Two in particular stand out in the memory – a showdown between Xiaoyu and Alisa in a Kyoto garden, and the films penultimate battle, a three way royal rumble through the interior of an ancient Japanese castle that also showcases the animation teams’ great work with dust, debris and large scale environmental destruction. In fact, it’s fair to say that the last 20 minutes or so of the film are probably its best, as it abandons the lame conspiracy plotline and instead goes for what it does best, namely flat-out crazy. The subsequent audio-visual assault is breathtaking to behold, and thoroughly and enjoyably bonkers, and one is left with a sneaking suspicion that the film might have been best off playing its ‘mad’ card from the very beginning.

Instead, what we’re ultimately left with is a film I have trouble recommending. Blood Vengeance is far from a disaster, and has several genuinely excellent sequences, but a weak plot and vapid dialogue drag it down, making it often confusing and, worst of all, boring for sustained stretches. If you’re a big Tekken fan then it may appeal to you more, but in the end Tekken: Blood Vengeance resembles a videogame perhaps more than it should – all flash, no substance.

Ratings
Story
Shallow and confusing, with major plotholes and banal dialogue
Animation
Simply magnificent, one of the best looking CG movies yet
Audio
A strong dub, with great sound FX and decent enough music
Overall
Beautiful to look at but terrible to watch. A tragic waste of potential