Tekken: Blood Vengeance Review

Tonight I went to the premier of Tekken: Blood Vengeance. The movie was a mixed bag of cool fight scenes, odd humor, and cheesy dialogue. The movie was shown in 3-D, which looked quite amazing and disorienting at the same time. Honestly, I could have done without 3-D, but this was the only way to watch the film in theaters, so I can't complain too much. Let's start with the plot...(beware some spoilers below)

The movie mainly follows the adventures of Ling Xiaoyu and Alisa Bosconivitch. Ling Xiaoyu gets transferred to an international school by Anna, in a convert effort to capture a young man named Shin. Shin was infected with a rare mutagen that grants immortality and each of the Mishima men want him dead or alive. Xiaoyu and Alisa both fall for the guy, and ultimately join forces to rescue him. Did I mention Devil Jin and Devil Kazuya fight Dragon Ball Z style?

The plot has plenty of cameos from characters like Lee (who is hilarious), Lei, and Ganryu. Don't expect everyone to appear however, as the movie doesn't follow a tournament plot line. I admired this idea, as most fighting game animes or films try to cram in every character and it always seems too forced for my liking. Keeping the cast down to a select few allowed for more character exploration and a descent story. Don't go into Tekken: BV expecting Shakespeare, but it is certainly better than the recent Tekken live action film or any Uwe Boll nonsense.

The movie has plenty of funny scenes. Panda has her shining moments but the show stealer is the Mishima misfit, Lee. He is a teacher and odd caretaker for school girls, Alisa and Xiaoyu. His lines are delivered in a superbly aloof manner, and the audience cracked up whenever he appeared. Unfortunately, the movie also has plenty of unintentional humor from poorly written dialogue.

The voice acting seemed to employ every well-known anime voice actor and actress in the biz. This gave the movie a strong dub, but also distracts with jarring performances from Jin, who sounds way too old and Anna, who sounds really over the top whenever she speaks. Dialogue is hit and miss, mainly miss. One scene toward the end had the audience cracking up as every other line seemed like a gay innuendo. It started to feel like Tobias from Arrested Development wrote the script at this point...what a blow hard!

The fight scenes are what the fans came to see, and for the most part, Tekken: BV doesn't disappoint. Alisa's chainsaw mode gets represented to dramatic effect, and Xiaoyu looks cool using her fighting style to avoid the berserk android. Later in the film, the whole Mishima family throws down, and it is really badass to see your favorite signature moves being used to tear down Kyoto Castle. The devil battle is the film's highlight, with an unfortunate lackluster "fight" occurring afterwards that feels anti-climatic and very "un-Tekken" like.

 Overall, this movie should be a real treat for Tekken fans. However, I would avoid this movie unless you know the Tekken cast or love CGI films, because there isn't much background story given for those unfamiliar with the franchise. The movie will be released on PS3 as Tekken Hybrid, a dual pack with the film on Bluray and a HD upgrade for fan favorite, Tekken Tag Team Tournament. The movie with debut in Japan in September. Hopefully Namco sees fit to release Tekken Hybrid on Xbox 360 as well.

Quick Movie Review: Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

If you love gaming or indie music, then more than likely you will love the movie Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. The movie is a geek's dream come true with cool fight scenes, inside references galore, and brilliant special effects. The movie is based off a graphic novel which I never read so I can't make any comparisons to the book. However I can offer my kind words as a gamer and film buff.

The movie stars Michael Cera as the geeky bass player, Scott Pilgrim. He hasn't had a real girlfriend in over a year, so he takes up dating an underage Asian girl named Knives to boast his ego. He quickly finds her dull after seeing Ramona Flowers, a hot indie girl with an attitude. Eventually Scott wins her heart (much to the other girl's chagrin) and believes life will be good from then on. However, things take a turn for the worst, when an evil ex of Ramona crashes Scott's battle of the bands performance. The evil ex tells Scott he must defeat all seven evil exes to stay with Ramona, so like any fool in love would do, Scott begins whooping each of their asses when they appear to keep her affection.

The fights look fantastic, easily on par with the latest superhero flicks. Each fight seems like something out of an anime or a retro video game. Some effects seem a little cheesey at first, but for the most part this is done to make the viewer laugh. Any action fan will love these scenes.

Many game references appear through out the film. The movie even opens with the Legend of Zelda theme from Link to the Past. In a key scene, Scott tries to win Ramona's heart with a lame re-telling of the history of Pac-Man's name (with hilarious results.) Also for a really obscure reference, one band is named Clash at Demonhead...that's fuckin' hardcore.



The acting was terrific. Michael Cera was awkard (as usual) but also he some how pulls of being a badass at just the right time. The skilled actor, Jason Schwartzman, effortlessly plays a very cool and arrogant ex-boyfriend. The performance that really impressed me was from the unknown, Ellen Wong. She played the adorable Knives, the girl Scott puts on the back-burner for Ramona. She comes off as geeky and comical, which plays as a nice foil for the calm and collected Ramona.

The movie is funny as well. One portion parodies Seinfeld, which is a little lame, but for the most part the one-liners are hilarious and Scott's aloofness make for a fun viewing experience. Another thing that makes this movie so great is the soundtrack. I literally left the movie and went to Best Buy to buy the soundtrack. It is that good.

Go see this film! I read it is underperforming this weekend due to being released against the Expendables, Sly Stallone's new film. I would hate to see this movie bomb, because I fear we will never see anything like it again if that happens.

One last thing: Check out the game on PSN. It is a love letter to old school beat-em ups like River City Ransom and Double Dragon.