Tekken: A Man Called X

We do not blame you if you can't quite remember anything about the first 'Tekken' movie; like many of its ilk, it was a forgettable attempt at translating the Namco video game for the big screen. Given how cold a reception it had gotten, it's no surprise that this sequel is arriving with so little fanfare, given a theatrical release in some territories and dropped straight to video in many others. Not to worry though, if you haven't caught the first movie, this is an in-name only sequel, and in fact is meant as a prequel to its predecessor.

Whereas the earlier film chose Jin Kazama as its protagonist, this one makes Kazuya Mishima its lead character. Fans of the game will know that Kazuya was only a good guy for the first instalment, thereafter turning into one of its main antagonists from the second one onwards. Fans will also know that Kazuya is in fact the son of Heihachi Mishima, the head honcho behind the infamous Iron Fist tournament of Tekken City where fighters from the eight mega-corporations ruling the world battle it out for survival and glory – and for those who are interested, the only continuity 'Tekken 2' has with the earlier film is that Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa returns, albeit for no more than a glorified cameo, as Heihachi.

This is a story which ultimately culminates in Kazuya learning that he is the son of Heihachi, but before we get to that big reveal, writers Nicole Jones and Steven Paul introduce us to Kazuya as a man with superb fighting skills who wakes up one morning in a room not knowing who he is or where he comes from. As he tries to escape from a gang of heavily- armed militia, he is knocked unconscious and brought before a questionable character known as the Minister (Rade Serbedzija). Though he says that he is running a reformation school for 'sinners', the Minister turns out to be no saint himself, wanting Kazuya only to do his bidding by acting as his assassin for hire.

Long story short (because there isn't much plot to begin with anyways), Kazuya discovers that the Minister isn't the man he says himself to be thanks to a former compatriot named Bryan Fury (Gary Daniels) who defected from the Minister's ranks and whom Kazuya was sent to kill. His only ally? Rhona Anders (Kelly Wenham), a British chick who tries to emote very hard in order to project a sense of conscience. Rhona who? Yeah, you're right. She isn't in the Tekken universe to begin with, nor for that matter is the Minister. There is a more interesting backstory here about how the film began as a project known as 'Agent X', and was only revealed later on as a Tekken prequel – hence the blatant use of character names which don't even belong to 'Tekken'.

But perhaps the most disappointing element about 'Tekken 2' is that the action just doesn't cut it. Unlike 'Tekken', this origin story for Kazuya doesn't boast of any grand tournament to speak of, relegating the fights instead to the first act where he is made to show off his fighting skills in the Minister's training camp and in the third and last act where he confronts Bryan and later on comes face to face with his estranged father Heihachi. Unfortunately, the choreography is utterly disappointing for a movie which should thrive on its mano-a-mano fighting; there is no distinction in Kazuya's technique and for that matter between any of the fights to make them stand out against each other.

What we get is a series of poorly edited shots (thankfully not shot in the jerky close-up style) stitched together with little sense of continuity between them. That is even more upsetting for fans of Kane Kosugi, whose role in 'Tekken 2' marks the first leading man break for the talented American martial artist of Japanese descent. Kosugi executes some beautiful moves, but they are lost amidst the unremarkable choreography and some dismal editing. It suffices to say that neither Kazuya nor his opponents get to express any sort of personality through their moves, and as a result none of the fights are actually memorable.

The title alone may draw those who have played the game before and may be excited to see a real-life incarnation of their avatars, but not even nostalgia can rescue this abysmal martial arts-based movie which only bears the 'Tekken' name for familiarity and to ring up more coin. Indeed, 'Tekken 2' is an embarrassment to the 'Tekken' franchise and an outrage to fans of the game, so you'll be wise to avoid it whether in theatres or on home video.

I've been a huge Tekken fan since I've played Tekken 2 the game and I fell in love with the story, however the first Tekken movie was bad enough but this one was complete garbage, Kazuya Mishima Heihachi Mishima and Bryan Fury were the only Tekken characters in the film and rest were made, I've seen many bad video game based movies but this one in oppion is by far the worst I've ever seen, no body on set has any clue what Tekken was about, don't watch it I'd rather watch Dragon Ball evolution than this, it opened my eyes to realize that Tekken was not meant to be a movie a Americanized, it's better to leave Tekken the way it's meant to be.

I know the first live-action movie was not well-received by fans and critics alike but I enjoyed its decent fight scenes. It was a guilty pleasure. I guess I could say that because I am not a fan of Tekken though I have watched the CGI Blood Vengeance. Now, back to this movie, the prequel is shockingly inept; it is extremely low-budget and features some half-baked choreography, story and editing. I may not be a fan of video games but I know if the movie tries to recreate the moments of the games and this has none. The characters do not look anything like the characters in the game. I thought I could let it go since I am not a fan but the fight scenes do not even make up for it or the lack of story.

The story: Kazuya wakes up in some unknown hotel room. He is confused about his identity. Shortly, some action happens. I thought it will be an action-packed ride given the short runtime. However, the thought was short-lived. It does contain some fight scenes but they are shockingly normal; none of the characters have distinctive fight styles. Unlike the first movie, the choreography is boring and uninspired. Each fight scene is quite short; shorter than one and a half minutes. Take out the name, Tekken 2: Kazuya's Revenge, and you will get an uninspired action movie that is almost pointless to watch. There are many annoying pointless slo-mo scenes of characters walking and walking…and bad editing. The acting is not that good too. Music is alright.

Overall: There is almost no saving grace in this. It makes the first one looks like a classic. I could at least see some efforts used to create the look in the first movie but in this, there is none. There is no distinctive style, no interesting things happening and it looks like it is shot fast with not much consideration of locations. There may be many tepid movies based on video games but this is one of the worst movies. It just does not look appealing. Not much to recommend here.

As in: Maybe they should stop making Tekken movies and just concentrate on the games. Though I have to admit, I didn't connect this with the games at any point. Which is either a good thing (making it a unique story) or a bad thing (going too far away from the source material). Whatever the case, it's the viewer who has the last word on it. And some might wish they had amnesia after watching this.

Seriously though: The fighting is pretty decent, though you do wonder how they get some people involved in movies like this. I guess everyone needs money after all. Gary Daniels makes more sense I reckon though, but the movie/script might have sounded better than the finished product after all. Because there are a few nice touches/ideas that almost shine through, but never seem to really capture the viewer ... there are worse movies out there, but there are far better ones too.

As if the production credits alone are not a clear warning sign of the type of quality we are expecting here........A while ago, this movie was to have been directed by The guy who did ONG BAK, that excellent Muay Thai movie. Instead we got that hack who made one of the worst movies of all time BALLISTIC: Ecks vs Sever.

TEKKEN 2: Kazuya's Revenge aka A Man Called X is a movie with an identity crisis. Ironic that the movie itself features a main character with a similar identity crisis. TEKKEN 2 is not a sequel, and has little to do with the beloved video game franchise it claims to be based on. The "man" in question is called "K", not "X" and "Kazuya's Revenge" is possibly the worst case of spoiler in the title, especially since the main plot is about K rediscovering his identity as Kane Kosugi, oops sorry, I mean, the titular Kazuya, after an unexplained bout of amnesia.

Waking up In a dystopian corporation run future which looks an awful lot like a present day south East Asian slum, K (who is obviously Kane Kosugi) is haunted by an obnoxious voice in his head, hunted by rent-a-cops in old army wear, and discovers he knows kung fu. Still he gets knocked out and recruited by a criminal Organisation run by "the minister". This Organization (consisting of mostly homeless Asians and stunt people) pits its members against one another in fights to the death. The victors are sent on assassination missions, something about cleansing the world or some dope like that. So when K gets tasked to take out Gary Daniels (who everyone mistakes for a Tekken character called Bryan Fury) he finds out that the Minister is not the holy man his followers think he is.

There's a bit more to the story about K discovering he is really Kazuya and a showdown with Tsang Tsung.....erm, wrong franchise....Cary Hiroyuki (although he claims to be one Heihachi Mishima) and a couple of thugs but one's patience would be truly tested by then. The story is just THAT badly paced that it actually comes across as tiresome. For example you have this whole 10 minute sequence of K taking a walk through Slum Town.......doing nothing. For 10 whole minutes while the voice-over from the Minister goes on and on about how his army of homeless beggars, sorry looking ruffians and old ladies are going to rid the world of evil. It is laughable, really.

Laughable too his how this movie is obviously not related to the Tekken franchise at all. The first TEKKEN movie starring John Foo and Ian Anthony Daniel at least looked like Tekken. Despite the mixed up story, Characters looked like how they do in the games, they wore familiar costumes and hairdos, and many familiar set pieces are showcased. In TEKKEN 2, it is a completely unrelated movie which had some characters names changed to names from Tekken.

Martial artist actor Kane Kosugi is wasted on this misbegotten prequel. Having had nothing but supporting roles so far, Mr Kosugi deserves a good movie as a main character to really showcase his skills. He does his own stunts, he is a trained martial artist with a flair for movie fighting. He could have been Hollywood's Donny Yen or at least followed in his father's footsteps (Sho Kosugi) in becoming a cult classic Kung fu star. Instead, he gets shoehorned into a production directed by "Wych Kaos".

Instead of looking like a Hollywood movie, The whole film has that "shot in my backyard" feel and visual nature akin to those cheapskate Malaysian or Singaporean TV productions. Some good camera-work does show up in the fight scenes, eschewing the usual close ups and jitter cam for wide sweeping angles that gives you full view of the fight. Unfortunately many of these scenes are edited like some amateurs on YouTube. You have a scene where K lifts his leg to kick but when the blow connects, the next cut shows K punching the guy.

Boring for the most part, tediously paced, and obviously done on the cheap, TEKKEN 2 would not have been judged any less harshly had it discarded the video game's moniker and presented itself as a martial arts movie. Kane Kosugi's fights and stunts are impressive no doubt, but their impressiveness is undermined by amateurish directing and editing. Take this sorry excuse for a movie, splice together all the Kane Kosugi fights, then trash the rest. You'd get a far more entertaining short film than TEKKEN 2.