After 17 years, 10 games (including spin-offs), a DTV animated movie, a live-action movie that's not really worth thinking about, is it possible venerable fighting game franchise
Tekken might get a big-screen adaptation worth being a little excited about? Well, you can find out for yourself on July 26th, when the CG movie Tekken: Blood Vengeance is screened in theaters throughout the U.S.--in 3D, no less--in a one-night only engagement. After that, the movie will be available as part of a special PS3-Exclusive bundle which will include a Blu Ray of the movie as well as a copy of
Tekken Tag Tournament HD.
The
Tekken fiction is... complicated and a little weird. The title itself refers to the "Iron Fist Tournament" thrown every few years by wealthy businessman Heiachi Mishima, a bald industrialist with deadly fists and a penchant for throwing family members into volcanoes. In their broadest strokes, the story is an inter-generational struggle between Heihachi, his son Kazuya (dead via volcano, resurrected via super science), and
his son, Jin, who is the inheritor of the "Devil Gene," a power which Heihachi covets. The stories of the other fighters crisscross the main plot, dragging in cybernetic ninja bandits, Hong Kong cops, zombie mercenaries, kung fu fighting chefs with big debts, and luchadores out for vengeance.
I dig the talent associated with it--the director, Youichi Mouri, was responsible for my favorite opening sequence of the entire franchise,
Tekken 5 (below), the first minute of which is one of the most absurd and crazy and wonderful, effectively summing up the bizarre conflicts in the franchise. The writer, Dai Sato, has some strong credits behind him as well. I'm a little dubious about the music of Hitoshi Sakimoto, which actually sounds fine in the trailer, but I wasn't a huge fan of his work on
Tekken 6.
Here's the official press release:
Set in the rich Tekken universe, TEKKEN Blood Vengeance 3D follows Xiaoyu Ling, seasoned martial artist and high school student, tasked by the G Corporation to infiltrate an international school in Kyoto to gather information on the mysterious student Shin Kamiya. Before she can make any progress in the investigation, Shin is kidnapped by an unknown assailant.
Digging deeper into Shin’s background in an attempt to rescue him, Xiaoyu learns about the frightening underbelly of the Mishima Zaibatsu. Jin Kazama, Kazuya Mishima… and the late Heihachi Mishima’s conspiracy that’s stained with blood.
Created in full CG, TEKKEN Blood Vengeance 3D is being produced by Digital Frontier (Resident Evil: Degeneration, Death Note and Appleseed), with the screenplay written by Dai Sato (Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex and Cowboy Bebop) and the score composed by Hitoshi Sakimoto (Ogre Battle, Final Fantasy Tactics, and Tekken 6). Directing the project will be Youichi Mouri, who directed the opening movies for both Tekken 5 and Tekken 6: Bloodline Rebellion.
http://youtu.be/f1cjbIrNtD0
