Street Fighter: The Legend of ChunLi

If you think my heading is cheesy and stupid you're absolutely right and I heartily agree...unfortunately that vary statement is the crux of the latest Street Fighter attempt's plot.

Ignoring the 1994 Van Damme version of the franchise this film starts anew, focusing on the character of Chun Li, a young Asian woman highly skilled in both piano and martial arts. Her dad gets taken away from her at a young age by M. Bison who uses him in his criminal plot to overthrow Bangkok. Unfortunately for Bison Chun Li grows up, meets a mystic who teaches her some freaky stuff and sets out to kick his ass. While the Van Damme version was far from spectacular it had a sense of humor about itself and wasn't afraid to have fun with the material, which was at the very least entertaining for a lazy hour and a half. The Legend of Chun Li tries to be a dark brooding action thriller with something like Batman Begins as its model...but the material just doesn't support it. The plot goes back and forth between clichés and just plan dumb hokey sci-fi stuff. Yes, being "rid of your goodness" is actually a plot point.

The script is loaded with cheesy dialog and flat characters which doesn't make the actors' jobs any easier and they really don't live up to the challenge. Chris Klein is particularly bad in his attempt to be the bad ass.

You would think the action would at least make it worth the time but even that is nothing to brag about. The fights are far too staged and obviously fake. They throw in some signature moves from the video games that are beyond reality. If they'd been shot differently they would've been cool, but here they just look ridiculous. These are things that would fit at home in a more cartoony film like its predecessor...but sorry, no go.

This movie is very terrible in many ways.

First off, the choice of characters is the worst possible ever for a game movie. Chun Li is meant to be Chinese yet you've chosen an actress who has problem speaking the language in the movie (when for example she asks for help which she asked in a terrible accent).

Game movies are not really easy to be pulled off along with good reviews, not many are out there. The reason is shown very clear in this movie. The director ALWAYS misses the point of what the movie should be about; I mean fair enough you don't want a movie about Ryu fighting Ken or Bison, and want a Legend of Chun Li, But you could've put a better story in it, or give the movie better actors (I can't believe the acting in this movie). Take Marvel for example, their world interacts a lot of different marvel characters, but when it comes to their own movie/cartoon, they actually make the story relevant to the characters life(e.g just because Bison was the boss, it doesn't mean that Chun Li's life has to be revolved around killing him (which is what Ryu does)).

The choice of camera shots used to try and show the story was also done badly. For example when Bison was trying to show the camera that he had a picture of his wife and daughter, which were dear to him; First off, would Bison do this? Secondly, this is very very corny.

This movie had made me dislike street fighter. I would highly recommend better actors and directors AND story writers if another street fighter movie comes out.

P.S Didn't finish the movie, it was that bad.

I don't even know where to start. For anyone who knows anything about Street Fighter, set yourself up for disappointment because the movie has absolutely nothing to do with the game. There are little to zero special effects and the ones that are in the movie do not revolve around the fighters special powers. Let's talk about the characters....I realize the movie is suppose to be about Chun-Li, but that does not mean exclude every other character in the game. The ONLY characters are Chun-Li, Balrog, Bison, and Vega. None of the characters have the same power or skill that they display in the game. There are also a lot of over played scenes by useless characters such as Chris Klein's Interpol character and the other Asian chick that also has no purpose. They only serve as pawns in making the movie more irritating. If there was ever a punishment you wanted to dish out to anyone or revenge you wanted to take upon somebody, just have them watch this movie.

This movie wasn't THAT bad. Everyone acts as if they would rather spend 90 minutes strapped to a bed of nails whilst being whipped by a hairy woman in leather named Butch than they would spend the same time watching it. I assure you that is not the case.

If you're expecting a repeat of the vandamme flick, then you will be disappointed as that is not what you will get. This is not a turn by turn fight movie; it is an adventure movie. Chun Li goes to Hong Kong to rescue her father and ends up fighting a bunch of people along the way. Many of the fights involve gun ambushes and typical fight scenes for cheesy action films with people who don't do martial arts in real life. There is no tournament, just her journey. The fighting is marginal, the acting is marginal, the action is marginal.

Kristen Kreuk (Chun Li) is the same character as any other part she plays (notably Lana in Smallville) - she talks the same and pretty much acts the same, but with more violence (not that much more). She is not a great actress, but she's not a terrible one either, considering she has played the same role her entire life.

Chris Klein, however, should die. He is almost entirely useless and tries to be a bad ass/smart ass/"I say clever things and look really cool while saying them, then make a cool face after I finish the sentence" character, but he fails. It was painful to watch him because he's just so terrible in the movie. Imagine his character in American Pie or the one is Just Friends as a "bad ass" cop who wants to be cool and impress people, but can't, yet still thinks he does. It just hurts to watch. He is the reason I give it a 6/10. If he wasn't in it, it could be a 7. Or an 8...or a 9, maybe even a 10 I don't know I couldn't watch without wanting to rip my eyes out during his scenes.

The other people, though, are just plain average. They recite their lines and move properly. Overall a C for them.

For the movie as a whole, though: I went in expecting complete crap and came out feeling like it was a decent cheesy action flick. I would not pay good money to see this, but it wasn't necessarily a waste of time. If you're bored and see it in the video store for a dollar, why not rent it? If it's on TV or if you see it online and you have free time, go ahead and watch.

Having enjoyed the game as I a kid, I was excited to see Chun Li in a new feature adaptation. The cast showed signs of "mixing it up," with its choices and I was willing for the ride.

While the overall origin story is strong (the piano playing a very nice touch for depth) unfortunately many scenes come off as campy. On a scale, the strongest scenes are easily those between Kristin Kreuk and Robin Shou as Chun Li and Gen, and sadly the weakest being Michael Clark Duncan and Chris Klein's characters of Balrog and Nash.

That was the central problem for me here, there is an exciting action piece at work but is jumbled with various other plot lines and set pieces that really feel out of place. The feeling of the film comes off as uneven as was also the case with Director Andrzej Bartkowiak's previous works in CRADLE 2 THE GRAVE and DOOM. This film unfortunately continues Bartkowiak's pattern.

Nevertheless, Chun Li was carried well by Ms. Kreuk and the effort was well mounted.

RT.