I turned on the TV this morning and apparently I had stumbled onto the Tekkenmovie. A handsome Asian guy was running parkour style through what looked like a Chinese favela policed by cyber soldiers.
Based, vaguely, on the game Tekken many of the characters from the classic fighting series chow up, including Yoshimitsu.
The film is set in a super-crowded future controlled by corporations and centers around Jin Kazama, a street rat from the poverty center on the city, “The Anvil.” Jin used to use his skills as a fighter to advance his goal of getting paid and living comfortably in fits and starts.
One day Jin crosses the wrong people with, people with the connections to murder his mom and start him on a path or vengeance and fight clubery.
Overall, I’d say it’s a solid action film with some oddly misogynistic plot holes. The women, Christie Monteiro, Nina Williams, and Anna Williams are exempt from the Tekken universe rules that apply to the men. Somehow the tournament is won without Anna even fighting or Christie ever actually getting eliminated…
I didn’t find it horrible. However that might be because I like movies like Crank, Torque, and Stick It… anything about dystopias and choreographed bad assery. This is a fun action-packed romp through a future controlled by oligarchies and top down power.
If you’d like to turn it into a drinking game, you can drink every time there’s a flashback or someone tells Jin how to live his life.