This is a cross post of my review that is up on the Sydney Tekken Blog.

TEKKEN: Blood Vengeance premiered tonight at Event Cinemas on George Street, Sydney. Naturally, a collective of the Sydney Tekken Community did what they could to attend the event in order to support the movie that we were all extremely excited to see since it was announced.

First of all, a huge thank you to Namco Bandai Partners Australia for the opportunity to attend the screening. It was actually a closed press event, as Blood Vengeance is heading straight to Blu-Ray upon commercial release in Australia as Tekken Hybrid, so being able to sit in was very much a privilege. Along with the tickets was free popcorn, drinks, and ice cream which were sensational.

The movie itself was fantastic. The only real negative thing I would point out is the English voice acting, but this seems to be something consistent across any Japanese to English adaption. For some reason, English voice actors just can’t seem to express the appropriate level of passion at particular moments, which felt awkward at times during the movie. I really look forward to the Blu-Ray release as I’m hoping it will have the Japanese-voiced sound track included.

Other than the voice acting, Blood Vengeance was extremely pleasant to watch as such a huge fan of the series. Initially I expected the movie to be a little more serious than it was, but it was actually very lighthearted with moments that were so hilarious I am still snickering as my fingers work this semi-review. As long as you watch the movie with the mindset that it was written by an anime writer (Dai Sato), you get exactly what you should expect. Great level of fan service, copious amounts of innuendo for both the fan-boys and fan-girls, and some really cool fighting scenes. As a Tekken player it was fantastic to see a good amount of fighting moves and stances from the game used in the movie, but it would have been nicer if there were a few more.

In sum, watch the movie. Try not to take it too seriously – just sit back, relax and enjoy each moment as it comes. If you are someone who has played through the Tekken story up until now, there will be a few pleasant surprises that will at least evoke moments of nostalgia, if not a huge burst of laughter. Lee is awesome.

Once again a huge shout out to Namco Bandai Partners Australia for providing the Sydney Tekken Community with the opportunity to see this movie on the big screen. Every single one of us who attended the movie had an absolutely fantastic time, with the following few hours at dinner involving us reciting lines and just generally having a huge geek out over particular scenes. We really appreciate it, and look forward to exciting Tekken-related events in Sydney in the future!

Oh and a huge thanks for the gift too!