Why the Tekken film works

There are a myriad of reasons why videogame adaptations do not work, they are so large in number that it would be a daunting task to list them all here so I shall simply highlight the most important; what's the point? Over the years, this has become a question that changes considerably depending on the gaming climate. What, for instance would be the point in trying to make a film from the adventures of Nintendo mascot Mario, a series that prides itself on blissfully simple gameplay mechanics and narrative economy? Fast forward a couple of decades and we ask ourselves what would be the point in making Resident Evil into a film? Surely this franchise has proven that it can match the best of what Hollywood has to offer, so why give the world a live action re-imagining? The smart answer would be to say that there are obvious financial benefits in targeting a wider demographic than that of the gaming community, but since i'm a cynical type of guy i'd rather believe that the filmmaker's own blind arrogance has duped them into believing they can improve upon something that has been created by someone far more talented than themselves.

I recently watched Tekken, a micro budget B-movie adaptation of one of my favourite fighting franchises. It was about halfway through the film when I realised I'd been grinning like an idiot for quite some time, I actually enjoyed this film, a lot.... how strange. The only other time I have felt like this while watching a videogame adaptation was when Jean Claude Van Damme's Guile flash kicked Raul Julia's M.Bison in the face. Yes, I, like many others, love the Street Fighter movie. There is a reason that Street Fighter works and there is a reason that Tekken works, they are complete and utter fan service.

The Iron Fist tournament kicks off early in the Tekken movie, the first round is Raven Vs. Eddy Gordo. Gordo wears exactly the same outfit he does in the game, as does Raven. Both fight with real world styles that stick close to the ones they use in the game. They fight on a stage made up of a physical and virtual representations of stages seen, you guessed it, in the game. Tekken never tries to be anything other than a cinematic companion to a fighting game that doesn't need narrative dressing to function. There are no pretensions here, no po-faced attempts at re-imagining, just good old fashioned tongue in cheek fun. It's clear that writer Alan Mcelroy has done his homework, he manages to squeeze in as many of the old favourites as he can, as well as relative newcomers like Dragunov and Roja. He takes some liberties with the overarching storyline of the Tekken universe (Steve Fox as Jin's mentor? Really?!), but it's the only way he could have explained away all those characters without bothering with something as stifling as backstory.

Devoid of any form of cinematic merit, Tekken gets by solely on the energy of it's inspiration. A good videogame adaptation should go hand in hand with the title that inspired it and this film does that so well, it should be given away as an extra with the next Tekken game. Worth watching if only to see Jin's signature fringe flecks appear every time he fights.