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.
