Review of the film Tekken 2: Kazuya's Revenge by Belba Pavel

In 2009, a film adaptation of the famous Tekken game series with John Foo in the title role was released, however, despite a budget of $30 million, the film turned out to be so unsuccessful that they decided not to purchase it for wide release, and it was released in most countries straight to DVD. You understand that for a film with such a budget this is tantamount to death. However, after 5 years there were people who decided to make “Tekken 2”, which is a prehistory to the first part (for the first time I see a prequel being called a sequel :), while only Gary Daniels and Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa.

I’ll say right away that I’m very glad that Kane Kosugi I began to act more often and played a leading role for the first time since 2002. I was also glad to see Ron Smoorenburg, who was given a normal wave for the first time since 1998. However, this is absolutely not enough for the film to be called...at least “class B”. In my opinion, the film has 2 main problems:

First: these are the shooting conditions. 12 days to shoot a full-length fighting game is extremely short. There is no exact information about the budget, but it is clear that it is meager. The film looks very cheap. Therefore, on this occasion, I would like to note that there is a lot of slow motion in the film outside of the action scenes; it seems to me that this is a necessary measure to increase the running time of the film.

Second: the name "Tekken". I am ready to forgive any mistakes of the fight choreographers, actors, director and other members of the film crew, because... I believe that they made the most of what they had, but I cannot forgive them for deceiving the viewer. The creators had no right to call their film “Tekken”, because this film has nothing in common with this game. Brian Fury, Heihachi Mishima and Kazuya Mishima are not even close to the characters from the game. The powerful Tekken corporation is represented in the film with a cheaply drawn background in the form of a large metropolis with a Tekken sign. Those. the creators initially did not have the purely technical capabilities to film something resembling a game “Tekken"(like the first part), not to mention anything more. Damn, you didn’t have the money for a make-up artist and a hairdresser, and you decided to film Tekken. Honestly, it would be better if the film was simply called “A Man called X” (although Kosugi’s character in the film is called Kei), but someone “smart” decided to call the film “Tekken” and make an extra dollar from it.

Actors: Kosugi walks around the entire film with an upset and surprised look, as if asking the question “I signed a contract for the main role in Tekken, but what is this?” Ron Smoorenburg and Brahim Acchabakke flashed a couple of times in the middle of the film and waved with the main character at the end. Tagawa continues to exploit his image of Shang Tsung, which over the years has turned into an absolute parody. Daniels' character appears for 3-4 minutes, fights a little and in no way resembles Brian Fury from the 2009 film, much less from the game + he looks tired here. The girls are a complete miscast, the two main characters are too similar to each other, and the other two are poorly made up and dressed. Explain to the movie's costume designers that if you put a blonde girl in something like a school uniform, she won't look like a sexy anime fighter, but rather a cheap prostitute (the girls from the original were much better in this regard).

Fights: there are few of them here, they are poorly choreographed, poorly executed and not very well filmed. Kosugi's last fight vs Ron & Brahim is the best of them all, but honestly, it doesn't reach anything above average. Another huge disadvantage of battles is the locations in which they take place. In amateur short films, sometimes the locations are the most interesting. Surprisingly, Kane has much more screen time here, but as a movie fighter... in Ninja 2 he looks much more interesting.

As a result, we have a normal film of category C, if this does not bother you, then you can safely watch it. As an adaptation of the game "Tekken" is an absolute misunderstanding, against the background of which "Tekken" of 2009 looks like a masterpiece.

PS “Boris, what are you doing here?” :)

Author: Pavel Belba

20 comments

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    The bartender, whom the girl knocked out at the 13th minute, was not played by Tim Man by any chance?

    He is. =)

    Author's gravatar

    The bartender, whom the girl knocked out at the 13th minute, was not played by Tim Man by any chance?

    Author's gravatar

    Firstly, one does not interfere with the other.
    Secondly, Jackie could use Bradley’s skills in more detail in his further works, and not in one film.
    Thirdly, I have doubts that Bradley would refuse to direct and star in some fighting game film.
    Well, one last thing, IMHO: looking at Bradley’s filmography and stanography, it seems to me that this is hardly what he dreamed of. Avatars and Kick-Ass is, of course, a trendy movie and maybe they even paid decent money, but it’s not the same...

    I completely agree. If we talk about the career of stuntmen... we can cite the example of JJ Loco Perry, who started out as an ordinary stuntman, double and film fighter, but over time he clearly built a career as a fight and stunt choreographer, and quite successfully.

    Author's gravatar

    A few more rehearsals from Tekken 2:

    youtube.com/watch?v=iSCtUtIqBRk

    youtube.com/watch?v=Cr-2uOU6fPw

    youtube.com/watch?v=qKIYtvPTzzw

    Author's gravatar

    Or maybe Bradley himself didn’t want to take advantage of the “ticket”. maybe he likes doing stunts more than being an on-screen fighter.

    Firstly, one does not interfere with the other.
    Secondly, Jackie could use Bradley’s skills in more detail in his further works, and not in one film.
    Thirdly, I have doubts that Bradley would refuse to direct and star in some fighting game film.
    Well, one last thing, IMHO: looking at Bradley’s filmography and stanography, it seems to me that this is hardly what he dreamed of. Avatars and Kick-Ass is, of course, a trendy movie and maybe they even paid decent money, but it’s not the same...

    Author's gravatar

    Or maybe Bradley himself didn’t want to take advantage of the “ticket”. maybe he likes doing stunts more than being an on-screen fighter.

    Author's gravatar

    I think someone talked about Thailand and Galand too)) If not in that subject, then in some other one, when it came to Smurenburg. I just remember the general message. It's not like you took part in the conversation. But here's the thing: we, as viewers, evaluate the final product. We have to feed our family, we have to make a film by Thursday, there is no money, there are few deadlines... but alas, the result is still cr... but. And Smurenburg, as an on-screen fighter, is limited in his capabilities, very much so, plus his age. And Brahim seems to be able to do something, he’s even waving his legs, but there’s no impression.

    Yes, I agree, the word “start in life” is generally a metaphor))
    Jaidev and I have already discussed this topic using the example of Ken Lo, who after the enchanting “Drunken Master 2” Jackie simply drowned in the crowd. Same thing with Bradley.

    Author's gravatar

    so they immediately started telling me that he needed to feed his family, that he was following his own path

    That's what I said. =)

    raises the combat cinema of Holland there

    I didn't say that.

    then Thailand

    And I didn't say that.

    that you need to understand him.

    But this is what I said. =)

    Smurenburg - none.

    I have to agree with this.

    I said the same thing about Brahim, whom I haven’t really understood or recognized yet, he leaves some kind of vague impression. With each new work it becomes more and more muddy.

    I agree with this + I have some suspicions about the fact that in all of Brahim’s works only he wins, he never let Ron win in their battles. Just some kind of complex.

    Of all the people to whom Jackie gave a ticket, it’s most offensive to Bradley Allan, who is actually very, very cool and deserves more.

    I agree with this, but the question arises... was there a ticket at all? He only let him develop in one film, and then...it was a complete crowd scene.

    Author's gravatar

    I remember once speaking harshly about Smoorenburg and the despondency he was in, so they immediately began to tell me that he had to feed his family, that he was following his own path and in his niche, raising the combat cinema of Holland there, then Thailand, and that we need to understand it. I understand, but the fact is that Smurenburg is no good.
    I said the same thing about Brahim, whom I haven’t really understood or recognized yet, he leaves some kind of vague impression. With each new work it becomes more and more muddy.
    Of all the people to whom Jackie gave a ticket, it’s most offensive to Bradley Allan, who is actually very, very cool and deserves more.

    Author's gravatar

    Final fight rehearsal:

    youtube.com/watch?v=WZlEAiipTZ8

    Author's gravatar

    Jaidev

    About Brahim: I agree with you. I don’t have any negative...ahem...feelings towards him, but he really is NOT an actor, and he looks bad even in the role of a “one-fight fighter”. I don’t like him as a choreographer either, the only thing I can count is his JOINT work with Tim Man in Ninja 2 (although they don’t really like this film here, I personally liked the fights). Everything else that I saw was some kind of absolute dullness, despite his physical characteristics. Maybe you can’t talk about people like that, but in my eyes, the ceiling for Brahim is to be Scott’s permanent understudy (I have no complaints about him with that).

    About Gary: on the one hand I agree, he looks terrible in Tekken 2, he looks tired and old. On the other hand, in trailers and in photos from his other films, he looks much better. So perhaps it’s not so much a matter of age, but a matter of awareness of... what city you’re filming in.

    About Ron: again, I agree. But (if memory serves) I read a post on his Facebook where he talked about one HUGE mistake that negatively affected his career. After "Who Am I?" Instead of staying in Hong Kong, he went to his homeland and decided to raise combat cinema there. In Holland, he and his ideas did not surrender to anyone, and the “train to Hong Kong” had already left.

    By the way, about the “ticket from Jackie”: neither Gary Daniels, nor Ron, nor Brad Allan - these tickets did not help at all in building an acting career (especially Ron and Brad), although each of them had potential.

    Author's gravatar

    Yesterday I saw this misunderstanding. What is the problem? The one who runs this entire almshouse. But unprofessionalism is visible to the naked eye. You can say a lot, but above Pavel put everything in order. I’ll add from myself:
    The main problem of modern choreographers is that they show how cool everyone is, but do not entertain the viewer at all. I took a look at the location in the final fight. Very interesting. Empty, but interesting. The light output from the window is very promising. But the fact that all this was filmed by an amateur cameraman is on the level of an average wedding, and the editor doesn’t even know how to edit dialogue (pay attention to the final dialogue between Tagawa and Kane. The characters are on the right, then on the left, and you don’t understand who is saying what to whom. Cross-cuts it is obvious that in cinema it is generally unacceptable.) Brahim is not an actor at all. Even more so as a stuntman. As a tricker - normal.
    It is clear that everyone is already tired of their age. Geri... Ron. In the case of Ron, I don’t understand anything at all in this life. Having received a ticket from Jackie at the very beginning, he sank to the very bottom. Degradation is obvious. And again I repeat - on the face. It's a pity. It's a pity.
    In general, the result is a sad spectacle. All the guys are in good hands and a lot will be different.

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    It would seem that what could be worse than the first part, but come on...Your hands would be cut off for desecrating the legend of fighting games. There were times when they made great films based on fighting games, like Mortal Kombat. And right now it’s pure trash.
    PS: how did Gary Daniels play Ken in “City Hungter”... Lyapota!

    Author's gravatar

    Well, maybe now they’ll at least throw in some fresh ones...

    No...here, as in the case of Tekken, the creators will earn an extra dollar, but will receive even more tomatoes, now from Adkins fans, who will watch this film in the hope of a big role for Scott and will actually be disappointed. =D

    Author's gravatar

    Team Brahim:
    youtube.com/watch?v=t7KxXlBsZh0

    Author's gravatar

    Well, maybe now they’ll at least throw in fresh ones...

    Author's gravatar

    Fuck, I just found out that the director and cameraman are the same as in Zero tolerance - fuck...

      Author's gravatar

      Zero Tolerance is a completely different story. I don’t understand why the film was remade after the premiere. Probably they threw rotten tomatoes...

    Author's gravatar

    Hmm...I'll watch it only because of Kane and Brahim.

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