Tekken: Blood Vengeance (2011) User Reviews

Really wanted to love this movie...

[ultimitsu · 5/10 · 12 January 2012]

After 13 years of playing the game, after seeing how namco stated they would do a proper movie to redeem themselves for letting that disappointing live-action movie to be made, I had high hopes for this animated movie. It is every tekken fan's dream for there to be a true masterpiece of a movie.

Unfortunately, it did not happen. this movie turned out to be yet another mediocre attempt. Better than the live action for sure, but still fall way short of what was expected of it.

First problem is the general directing and "acting", too much pretentious "I am cool" crap, mostly from Anna, Nina, Jin and Shin, yuck! if tekken was aimed at 15 years olds then I would understand, but most long time tekken fans are now in their mid twenties to mid thirties. these high school wannabe facial and body expressions simply come off superfacial and repulsive.

Second problem is voice acting. I watched the English version, after the 3rd line of the whole movie, where Nina and Anna exchange greetings, I was like "oh boy..". The voice acting is closer to a cheap DVD localised release of anime series than a mainstream feature animated film. it was as if voice actors had no proper direction or had not understood their characters, several characters come off as cheese and pretentious. since it's just like their acting, maybe it was intended after all.

third and the biggest disappointment of this movie is the way the final battle had taken powers so out of proportion, almost as if we have moved from Tekken universe into Dragon Ball Z universe. this sort of elevation is not a problem if the movie did not have tekken in its roots. the whole point of tekken is balanced fighting power between its characters that makes a fight possible. Turning it into a plasma canon feast completely destroys the fundamental dynamic between the characters. and in the end one super Saiyan characters seemingly seriously but obviously jokingly tells a teenage girl, "some day you will defeat me" .

Having said all this, Blood Vengeance is not without merits. I really enjoyed its animination in general, Ling has a difference face in every tekken game she appeared but she looked the best in this one, yet still maintains a very oriental look. some perverted shots from below hers and Allisa's short skirt were amusing. Music and sound effects are top quality. Lee's comical presences was great, it was a pity that they did not handle Anna and Nina in a similar less-serious more-fun approach.

All in all, Tekken fans will see it regardless what people say, non fans will find plot somewhat puzzling and over movie lacklustre, but semi- decent entertainment nevertheless.

Wow, just wow...

[paul_haakonsen · 6/10 · 27 November 2011]

Though I am not overly a fan of the games, I am familiar with them and have played a couple of them. And I also saw the live action movie "Tekken" and what a dud that was.

Then I saw this CGI animated movie, and I was blown away. The Japanese people are really on to something with the recent animated movies of this caliber; such as the "Final Fantasy: The Spirit Within", "Final Fantasy: Advent Children" and "Resident Evil: Degeration", and now "Tekken: Blood Vengeance". The animation is smooth and nothing less than breathtaking. The characters, the surroundings, the fights, everything looked so amazing.

Now, not being overly familiar with the Tekken universe, I did enjoy this movie for the story and the sheer eye candy that it was CGI-wise. The story was quite nice as well, fast-paced and easy to follow. But when there suddenly was devils and spirits in the story, it was sort of a turn of events that was a bit too much for my liking.

I also think it is quite good that they didn't try to cram as many characters from the game as possible into the movie. And if they did, I think the end result would have been a messy blur. The movie worked quite well with just a handful of the characters from the game. And who am I to tell whether or not they picked the right ones to be in this movie? But hey, it worked for me, as I enjoyed the movie.

If you haven't already seen this CGI animated movie, get into gear and do so. If for nothing else, then do it just to watch the amazingly beautiful CGI and animation. It is off the charts.

Third Time's the Charm!

[Wakener_One · 7/10 · 28 July 2011]

I got to see this at the special premiere event held at select theaters across the US, and I'm glad I did! After one lackluster animated film and one downright disappointing live-action one, a film adaptation of the celebrated fighting game hits it out of the park. Rather than trying to force-feed the viewer as many of the 44-to-date major characters as they can while explaining the history of the King of Iron Fist Tournaments to people who may or may not have played/loved the games, this movie takes a different track. Focusing on a very limited cast of characters--yet a cast drawn from all the way across the history of the games--this piece tells a story which falls squarely within the universe of the games (as opposed to one merely "based on" them). Occurring between the events of Tekken 5/Tekken 5 Dark Resurrection and Tekken 6, this follows popular character Ling Xiaoyu as she is recruited by a powerful corporation to do some undercover investigation of a handsome high school student. Along the way, she encounters and befriends the quirky Alisa Bosconovich, unaware that she is on a similar mission--not to mention unaware of some other secrets Alisa is keeping. As the two work their way closer to the truth, dirty secrets, both little and big, about their employers are uncovered, and plots within plots lead inevitably to a generational confrontation which could potentially alter what it means to be human.

This movie has a fair amount of depth and character development. Thanks to the small cast, tightly focused story, and an understanding of what makes a good game as opposed to a good movie, the audience is treated to something special--learning who these people we fight with in-game truly are, and how they got that way. Characters were clearly selected because relationships which already existed between them could heighten the drama, or because they were foils for each other, allowing new relationships to form while informing the audience of important plot points. Don't get me wrong: There's plenty of action, and plenty of fights. Characters even use those wonderful combos players are so familiar with. The Nina/Anna encounters provide a deeper understanding of their relationship than we can get in-game--yes, even while they're fighting!--and avoids being reduced to cliché. And near the end is the battle royale that gamers all wished we could have seen at the end of Tekken 4, but the consoles lacked the power to make happen. It's glorious.

There are moments when it gets a bit campy, of course, but overall, the nice mix of characters, the nice mix of action and development, and the crisp, true-to-the-game visuals make this movie the unicorn of gaming: A game-based movie that's actually good!

Only good for Tekken's fans

[omnislash_ultimate · 7/10 · 17 December 2011]

As many game animations before (FFVII-AV, Resident Evil...), this movie is only suite 100% for Tekken's fans.

Otherwise, this movie is not too bad and my girlfriend can watch it with me till the end. But if you do not know what is "TEKKEN" before, it is hard to grade this movie over 5 stars.

Anyway, as a Tekken player, but not hardcore, I barely can understand all the story line. 7 stars is acceptable. One more thing is I think this movie is too lack of characters, I really would like to see more from Tekken games, but there is only Ling XiaoYu (Which is my most favorite and many others gamers) and a addition cute robot name Alisa is the main characters. Where is Asuka, for example :)

They Don't Shake

[dfgremnants · 6/10 · 13 December 2011]

Not really a Tekken fan otherwise I would have loved the movie. I enjoyed the music and the fight scenes but I had a hard time focusing on the female characters. The problem is with the way there bodies react.

I am accustomed to watching people body muscle move in a certain fashion when they're moving and when we have 4 main female characters, it's really hard to avoid noticing that part. Hence, throughout the movie it kept bugging me.

If only they moved it around a bit, the whole movement would seem natural. The CGI was a bit repetitive when it comes to the scenes but I guess you can't really complain about that considering what the movie is based on.

Apart from all those minor issues that I noticed and personally felt, the movie is indeed fun to watch, although I have to skip the dialogues because the dub was just messing up everything. I guess this movie should be watched in it's original language with subtitles enabled.

Again, don't get me wrong. I liked the movie, I am just a bit put off by certain things that I couldn't stop noticing. Didn't see other Tekken movies and honestly reading the reviews, I am glad a didn't.

The movie does contain some good action, perhaps a bit more of it would be awesome. Good job NAMCO.

Possibly just for the tekken fans.... If even.....

[CommeVousNousEtions · 2/10 · 18 January 2014]

From the point of view of someone who has only come across the game fleetingly in the past and not really cared whether the film turned out bad or good either way, other than for my own entertainment value I suppose, It has to be said that I found this film woefully wanting.

I can only assume that tekken fans liked this simply because of the 15-20 fight scene at the end and from what I've learned it sticks close to the story of the game.

To be honest, it was awful, i thought this was going to be an action film but it turned into a bore snoozefest pretty quickly. OK, a number of problems 1). What exactly do they think an untrained teenage girl can do for them? Oh yes, and lets throw a knife at her head at point blank range for the fun of it. She should be dead, film over. 2). She's asked to find out what she can?, I swear, this is the worst reason for getting someone to do anything. What does this mean, find out that he is gay or straight?, find out where he lives? find out what he eats for dinner? Find out what they presumably already know, that he is an 'immortal person'? Moving on. 3). Look everyone, An immortal kid is jumping off a building. Now everyone already knows what he is, so, eh, i feel embarrassed pointing this out because it's so stupid, but, Jin, jin's father and grandfather, he's over there, get him, film over. 4).Between 30-45 mins of teenage girls whining, enough said, moving on. 5). Why was there some guy in the shower with shin????? Quickly moving on 6). How does shin know that the two girls are agents? 7). Robot grows feelings... Enough said, moving on 8). Weirdo teacher just happens to find them in the woods, creeper or what? 9). Shin is immortal but dies in two seconds, film over, oh wait. 10). they killed off the main character this film was revolving around and then dumped him like a rag doll, just, what??? 11). Cheesy 15 minute fight scene for tekken lovers, the only redeeming factor I would think for many. 12). Cheesy fight scene has typical good guy gets ass whupped for a few minutes before remembering that he can fight and starts ass whupping the bad guys. 13). Let me just fly around aimlessly here for a while dodging the giants arms swinging just to give the studio more time for this completely pointless fight scene before I remember I have this giant laser that's all bad ass and cool and will rip my enemies to pieces. 14). So why was heihachi in hiding.... 15). Why was shin so sure he could lure heihachi out of hiding? 16). Why didn't someone just kidnap him one day as he went to school. Would have saved us this complete dross. 17). Typical Japanese moral at the end about humans fighting, blah blah. 18). 'I know you'll come for me some day, I'll be waiting', This line was just as bad as batman's 'I know there's good in you', Completely pointless and you're left wondering what the character is seeing that the audience can't.

Anyway, absolutely awful, couldn't believe how bad this was.

Enjoyable for a non-fan of Tekken

[helmutty · 7/10 · 13 January 2012]

I am not a fan of Tekken and have never played the games. The only thing I have done is watching the live-action movie in 2010 and animated movie. And that's all I know about Tekken. But the visuals in the trailer has attracted me to watch this. The visuals are pretty and realistic like in Final Fantasy: Advert Children and Resident Evil: Degeneration.

The story: Yeah, as what the other reviewers complain, the story is dead simple and is probably an excuse to string various fight scenes together. But the beautiful visuals and cool fight scenes make the movie more watchable. You can marvel at the detailed animation and fight scenes are almost flawless like in a live-action movie. The few fight scenes for an CGI movie are top-notch. Although action fans will have to patiently wait for the action-packed third act which features one of the best fight scene in animated and CGI movies. The story in fact is not too bad. It has a bit of the spy stuff. Music wise is good. Best to be viewed with the Japanese voice-over. The English one sounds weird.

Overall: It is supposedly a Tekken movie for the fans who are enraged by the live-action movie. I guess the fans will enjoy this better than the live-action movie. The hybrid Blu-ray is interesting. It plays the 2D and 3D version on Blu-ray and 3D Blu-ray players plus the game on Playstation 3.

No denying: This movie blows.

[swingkid_2000 · 1/10 · 22 March 2012]

I'm a big fan of the Tekken series, but this movie is testing my patience as a fan.

First of all, why is the movie starring the character that has the LEAST amount of connection to Tekken's overall story?

Second, why do we need androids? Was boxing kangaroos and living training dummies not far-fetched enough? Speaking of far-fetched, why is Panda featured as a main character? I'm not kidding, Panda gets more screen time than Lee, Nina or Anna. And somehow, we're supposed to take it seriously...

The dubbing is awful across the board, I've heard better dubbing in B-grade hentai. Er, not that I would know, just from what I hear... Moving on.

In the last 15 minutes or so of the movie, you find out that the ENTIRE plot revolving around the pretty boy Shin and the two girls was COMPLETELY AND UTTERLY POINTLESS, and it doesn't even have any resolution. A whole new plot starts, and it's wrapped up even worse than the previous one. (Rocket fist? Really?!)

You could argue that in a Tekken movie, all that matters is the fighting. Well, this movie manages to sucker punch you there too, because there is HARDLY any fighting whatsoever. It's no exaggeration that more time is spent between the two girls yacking their heads off than fighting. The only good fight is the one at the end between three certain characters; partially because the two stupid girls aren't involved, and also because it's actually exciting. But is that worth sitting through all the bullcrap this movie has? HELL no. Just look up the final fight on Youtube.

And ignore SecretSkills' review, unless you're like him/her, and all you need to be happy is bright flashy images in your face. Trust me, save yourself the time and killed brain cells and just have someone jingle keys in your face for an hour. Keys that have a panda keychain on them.

0 out of 10, and that's being gracious.

been waiting years for this........at last

[d-adrian-williams · 29 October 2013]

Ever since i played tekken on the original playstation i was hooked, the ten hit combos, power moves it was all there the best 3d fighting game ever, i used to watch the intro's movies and wonder to myself why don't they make a movie like the intro's as they were mini movies in themselves, tekken 2, 3, 4 and the rest all came with the best intro movies i'd ever seen, now 20 years later and finally, finally i get what im asking for, anyone who played tekken and knows the moves will instantly recognise the special moves each character has, after that disastrous movie which tekken was with its characters that look nothing like the actual game characters i am at last happy, i cant see any tekken fans honestly not liking it, they should use these methods for all game to movie franchises because it works, they don't have to find lookalike actors everything is already spot on, i liked res evil anime too, and final fantasy also as far as im concerned this is the way to go, now all they have to do is make mortal kombat, killer instinct and streetfighter like this and ill be a happy bunny indeed, this is how it should be done, 20 years too late but hey better late than never.

better Tekken film then the other 2

[www-afzala1 · 7/10 · 1 December 2011]

apart from the nude scene from Shin Kamiya, kinda miss that guy since he was awesome in the film, even though this was a girly film its also better than the other 2 rubbish Tekken film this one was actually better. But they should make a sequel because they didn't explain how Alisa ended up in a cell when Lars found her in Tekken 6 scenario mode, and namco should put shin in the future Tekken game also i recommend that this film won't be a let down to a Tekken fan because the final fight scene was epic and thought how would Jin fight in a Tekken film. the voices were not too bad to me anyways. finally a film with a plot line related to the Tekken franchise

Kind of disappointing.

[amaze-mas-x · 3/10 · 4 August 2012]

I agree with some bits of swing kid's review. However I do think it's fine if they used Xiouyu has a main person. Elisa is only a main kind of character in Tekken 6. I was hoping to see other characters such as Law and Hworang and even Asuka. They are way more important. Even Anna wasn't that much of a deal. Lee was only there in a humorous role although I wouldn't really have expected him in such a role. I've liked Lee in the games ,mainly Tekken 5 so that's okay. I decided to watch the English version so I would understand better. Big mistake. The voice acting is ridiculous. I'm going to watch bits or so of the Japanese version so I can get over how bad the English dubbing is. I wouldn't mind Namco trying again but seeing all the main characters of the game would be interesting. 3 stars for Kazuya, Jin, Heihachi, Xiouyu, Lee, Nina and Panda. Excuse the spelling.

Tekken: Blood Vengeance was great!

[SecretSkills · 10/10 · 28 November 2011]

This movie is everything fans wished for! A CGI movie by the studio that made the awesome intros to the Tekken video games.

The story-line is in my opinion flat, but that doesn't matter. The reason we watch these movies aren't because of the story but because of the awesome action scenes. This is pure eye candy for all the action fanatics that have been begging for a true Tekken movie.

The final part of this movie is amazing, nonstop pure action. To me, this is were the movie shines and were the fundamental theme is prioritized.

UH-MAZING!

Must watch for all the true Tekken fans!

10/10

Tekken Blood Vengeance review

[hakan_respect · 5/10 · 10 October 2021]

Before I do this review, I will skip all casting information because most of casting is unknown in the west. I only can say that Katsushiro Harada involves as a executive producer in this animated movie since he is at the bandai namco from begining of Tekken video game series so his presence was a positive sign for this movie on paper but his involvement couldn't save this animation. Honestly, I didn't find what I expected from this animated movie because it doesn't represent Tekken Series as whole. Only %5 percent of the characters from Tekken universe has been used so it is a kind of spin-off but if you are shooting a spin-off you should have an animated series before this movie or maybe a trilogy but it just a spinoff. In this respect, this animated movie mostly can reach to the game series' fanbase because the characters won't make sense even for hardcore anime/animation watchers. Also I dissapointed with some character models but overall visual quality was so not bad. One way or another if a person was not familiar with Tekken game series, then s/he should stay away from this animated movie, but Tekken fans can see the movie either way the movie is quite mediocre and I can say that Tekken 7(game)'s story was more compelling and better than this animated movie.

You don't need to be a takken fan to not like this movie. Side note I have copied a paragraph from someones since he/she summed up this movie pretty well

[WeAreLive · 3/10 · 2 March 2019]

To be honest, it was awful, i thought this was going to be an action film but it turned into a bore snoozefest pretty quickly. OK, a number of problems 1). What exactly do they think an untrained teenage girl can do for them? Oh yes, and lets throw a knife at her head at point blank range for the fun of it. She should be dead, film over. 2). She's asked to find out what she can?, I swear, this is the worst reason for getting someone to do anything. What does this mean, find out that he is gay or straight?, find out where he lives? find out what he eats for dinner? Find out what they presumably already know, that he is an 'immortal person'? Moving on. 3). Look everyone, An immortal kid is jumping off a building. Now everyone already knows what he is, so, eh, i feel embarrassed pointing this out because it's so stupid, but, Jin, jin's father and grandfather, he's over there, get him, film over. 4).Between 30-45 mins of teenage girls whining, enough said, moving on. 5). Why was there some guy in the shower with shin????? Quickly moving on 6). How does shin know that the two girls are agents? 7). Robot grows feelings... Enough said, moving on 8). Weirdo teacher just happens to find them in the woods, creeper or what? 9). Shin is immortal but dies in two seconds, film over, oh wait. 10). they killed off the main character this film was revolving around and then dumped him like a rag doll, just, what??? 11). Cheesy 15 minute fight scene for tekken lovers, the only redeeming factor I would think for many. 12). Cheesy fight scene has typical good guy gets ass whupped for a few minutes before remembering that he can fight and starts ass whupping the bad guys. 13). Let me just fly around aimlessly here for a while dodging the giants arms swinging just to give the studio more time for this completely pointless fight scene before I remember I have this giant laser that's all bad ass and cool and will rip my enemies to pieces. 14). So why was heihachi in hiding.... 15). Why was shin so sure he could lure heihachi out of hiding? 16). Why didn't someone just kidnap him one day as he went to school. Would have saved us this complete dross. 17). Typical Japanese moral at the end about humans fighting, blah blah. 18). 'I know you'll come for me some day, I'll be waiting', This line was just as bad as batman's 'I know there's good in you', Completely pointless and you're left wondering what the character is seeing that the audience can't.

I honestly liked it a bunch!

[mickeybomb2 · 10/10 · 8 August 2013]

So let me get out the cons of the movie I did not like. Hated the voice of Jin and Kazuya in the English dub version, it doesn't suit them and mostly doesn't do them justice! I honestly did enjoy the plot and I found Ling Xiaoyu & Alisa Bosconovitch very likable character in this movie. I know this movie is receiving hate but overall the movie did deliver for me and had some strong character developments. My favorite Tekken game is Tekken 4 btw. :) If anything the movie would had been fine if they just found better voice actors to fit the character's role. Even though that was a bother to me, I can't say that it's going to effect my score due to them not being present most of the film.

A Masterpiece

[OldSchoolRecords · 8/10 · 23 December 2011]

We all know how awful live action movies are when they're based on video games, but we rarely get to see a CGI movie based on one. Tekken Blood Vengeance is a work of art from start to end.

Most fans are disappointed that the story is centered on Xiaoyu and her friendship with Alisa, and how there aren't enough fight scenes and how Shin had no point of being in the movie. Honestly though, Shin was useless, and the climax involving him was weak.

But I disagree with everything else. A movie centered around the Mishimas and Kazamas would be just another Devil Within or Bloodline Rebellion or Tekken live action movie, to which most of everyone were disappointed in. Focusing on a different person's perspective was actually quite smart and refreshing. It's nice to know how other people are effected around them. Plus it re-adds a bit of emphasis on the character, who felt forgotten due to the increasing character roster. And I also believe there were fairly enough fight scenes. Those who're complaining would only complain about there being TOO MUCH fights, had there been more.

The only other weak points I can think of is the most of the dialogue (but let's face it, Japanese were always cheesy in this case) and the final battle scene. I'm not talking about the three-way fight building up to the Devil Jin vs Devil Kazuya. No. THAT WAS EPIC! I'm talking about Heihachi in Mokujin Monster Fashion whatever... that was unnecessary.

Withal, every piece of work has its flaws, but once you get over yourself and enjoy what there is (and think about how much effort was put into it) it's actually a well-made masterpiece.

Excellent CGI, the best game Animation yet.

[farhan_ds · 9/10 · 28 November 2011]

True to tekken story line, this CGI is just brilliant, . although watching in Japanese dubbed to English makes all the lip syncing dull and unexciting, it is still one of the best vocal performances in dub. they could have hired a few more voices instead of one vocalist making additional voices.

but thats besides the point. every tekken fan already knows the story line.. its great, its fun, very fast paced, action oriented and the best fight scenes in a CGI, even better and more involving than the street fighter 4 animation.

the best thing is the traditional move list each character performs true to their game. the opening is the fight scene between Nina and Anna and they trademark linkers and kicks makes it so exiting and sets the theme of the whole movie. the cgi is just brilliant. its such a great thing that games get CGI movies. cz there are physical anatomical and budget limitations to what can a movie show, while there are almost none in CGI, thus enabling the directors to be as realistic to the games as possible. its fluid, its dynamic, and the action is just stunning to watch..

her is an idea.. how about some Japanese animator plays through GOD OF WAR series and make a CGI about karatos..? that would be soooooooo Bad Ass..!!!

Tekken fans will get what they want.

[BeGre92 · 8/10 · 25 November 2011]

As a fan of the tekken games in my younger years, i have always kept the tekken games in my heart. Just the thought of tekken on the PSONE makes me get all nostalgic about the franchise. I saw the tekken movie from last year and was really looking forward to that one. It satisfied me quite a bit, but I felt it could have had much more potential. And hearing about this one got me all hyped up. Seeing the trailers got me really curious, specially Xiaoyu & Alysa, i love those 2 characters.

But now to the point. You can see that this movie is a wink to the fans, however it is a bit clumsy and predictable at some times. The dialog can get pretty corny too, but it doesn't ruin the whole experience. The visuals are neat and the combat is great. There are parts in the story that i would like to call plot holes, but we have to keep in mind, this is a game to movie conversion and a lot lies behind the background of the characters. And that changes a lot. I halted for a moment and realised that they did pretty good, considering this is a game. If you have enjoyed any tekken games in your life, i would advise you to see this. Even if you haven't played any of them, this is a great way to get in the mood for Tekken.

Oh, and gotta love the panda !!!

The BEST video game movie so far, animated or not!

[keal · 9/10 · 26 December 2011]

I go for artsy-fartsy sci-fi most times, but I was just glued to the screen with this one. Fantastic CGI facial expressions. Of course the fight scenes, explosions and such are just the bleeding edge of animation AND live-action. What made this surprisingly enjoyable was the sappy ending!

*** SPOILER ALERT *** Ever seen the 2008 Japanese movie Cyborg Girl? When the cyborg gets split in half, she's so cute and it's hard to not feel for her. Same thing here. When the robot girl gets split in half, and then she does her super power thing with one hand, then the other hand (in slow-motion, too) and you see her rolling through the debris afterward, it's enough to bring a tear out of me. Then the panda bear steps in, and the tree monster realizes, in a sappy (haha!) way, that if a girl, a robot and a panda can be friends to the end, then there's no place for evil and fighting!

I swear, all I wanted was a movie full of cute, sexy girls, looking all flirty and karate-chopping everything. But I also ended up wiping my eyeballs cause I got dust in my eye or something ::sniff::

Oh, Japanese language with English subtitles all the way. The girls... their voices... sweet!

Outstanding

[jared-02224 · 9/10 · 10 February 2024]

There were 2 Tekken movies around the late 2000s and early 2010s and both were a major let down but for Blood Vengeance it was the best it can get, the movie itself can be hard to follow unless you're a true Tekken fan like myself, too bad I never got a chance to see it theaters here in the US if it did it wasn't playing in theaters where I live in so I was disappointed, but I was satisfied enough, the story plot was supposed to take place between Tekken 5 and 6 but the story wasn't canon to the series, Katsuro Harada made the movie because of his disappointment to the first live action Tekken movie so most of us can easily forget it.