Granted this is an anime blog, as I've long established, so seldom do I speak of, let alone review, any live action takes of anime or video games of the sort. I'm making an exception today while I'm covering the movie The King of Fighters, a live action film created last year.
A bit of an FYI before we start: King of Fighters, shortened as KOF, is the name of a fighting game series created by SNK Playmore, in the same sense Street Fighter is with Capcom, and Tekken is with Namco Bandai. The game is not as popular here as it is with other countries, and save for those lucky enough to have any Neo-Geo, or any SNK-related console back then, would only know of the series now through King of Fighters XI-XIII, KOF Maximum Impact 1 and 2, and the crossover games SVC Chaos: SNK vs Capcom, and Capcom Vs SNK 1 and 2. Like Tekken and Street fighter, there is a story involved, which is carried through different arcs. What separates them is that KOF was a team fighting system, as in a squad of 3 going against another squad of 3. In addition, other people from other SNK games take part, which happens a lot more than in the case with Capcom's characters Sakura and Ingrid. I'll cover more about KOF in my other blog, Seiko's Gamer Base, if you're interested, that is...
Now for the movie itself. Now I've had a lot of problems with it, but let's speak of what the film is even about. The plot's devices are the 3 treasures by three different clans: the Kusanagi Sword, the Kagura Mirror, and the Yagami Necklace. These 3 items are keys to a portal where a dormant beast, the Orochi, lies in wait. Whoever was to control Orochi could gain limitless power, so the legend says. Almost as if timed, antagonist Rugal Bernstein appears, shooting everyone insight and slashing Chizuru Kagura, who the mirror is sort of named after. Now Mai Shiranui, one of the witnesses, must go after him, but not before being warned about preventing her boyfriend, Iori Yagami, from getting involved (Yeah, explain THAT one to the press.)
Adding to this, she is told by the now hospitalized Chizuru to visit Saisyu Kusanagi, the one who knows where the REAL Kusanagi Sword is, the one in the museum being a fake. While there, she meets his son, Kyo, who appears uninvolved with not only Chizuru, but also the sword. Just when things grew quiet, a visit from Iori blows everything. Seisyu, holding mild resentment towards the Yagami, wakes up from his comatose with threats towards Iori, and abruptly dies. Only then, through brief talk with Mai, and a confrontation with Iori, does Kyo Kusanagi decide to become involved. However, his reasons are personal. For him, it's a mix of duty, and for revenge.
The target of Kyo's vengeance, Rugal, has hacked the registration for the titular King of Fighters tournament. The tournament itself takes place in an alternate dimension, and are accessible though a special bluetooth headset. However, by this time, he has drawn in various people worldwide, among which are 2 female fighters Mature and Vice, who are soon beaten and enslaved. With the tournament in chaos, how will Mai, Kyo, Chizuru, Iori, and CIA agent Terry Bogard make it out alive, if at all?
Like I said before, there were a few good things about this movie that bothered me. First off, a different dimension? With Orochi, that kind of make sense, but this occurred while it is still pretty much asleep. Second, the whole Iori X Mai thing really bugs me, as Mai is usually chasing someone else. Third, Terry as a CIA agent, that really threw me off. In fact, to my knowledge, there was no CIA characters in the franchise EVER. Lastly, the representation of them. Unless you have a really keen eye, you couldn't tell initially who every one is supposed to me, for most of them look different compared to their VG counterparts.
The movie was made in the Mandalay Pictures and Aja Tan Studios. The film is in English, but like most films of this nature, was never truly backed by the very people behind the franchise, this case being SNK Playmore. I get that it's loosely based, but... it bother me, I would say WORSE than DB Evolution, but maybe that's being too harsh. The movie was spotted on the American Film Market in 2009, while other areas, including Japan, didn't see it until the following year. It has special effects in it, but when brought to live action, sometimes it just doesn't look legit. This is sadly one of those movies that proves my theory.
Bittersweet indeed, as I had to play some KOF games to try and forget this film ever happened. Some people are great at forgetting or not counting any film terrible to them. I cannot, and even today it still haunts me. The King of Fighters movie gains a 3.4 of 10 on my scale, so you can already guess how it is on a scale to 100.
No comments:
Post a Comment