Street Fighter: The Legend Of Chun-li - Review, *SPOILERS INSIDE*

If you're expecting The Dark Knight or Slumdog Millionaire, you're out of luck! This is straight up a popcorn flick!

Before I continue...I have a confession to make... back in May of last year I got my hands on the script to this film and yes I did read it. Because of that, I have to admit it hindered the film for me in a lot ways.

There was just so much in the script that I wish was in the film that wasn't! Overall, the script just read better than the film... Also I spent a lot of time comparing the film to the script... this is why I can't read books that are made into films before the film releases! The text is always better!

To make this easier for myself and for you guys, since I really don't want to get into too much details, since I don't want to spoil the film TOO much, I'm just going to make a pro and con list for you all!

Pros:

- Kristin Kreuk, she was great in this film! and no it's not just my blind bias... REALLY! PROMISE! Honestly, she did a awesome job with the fighting and the acting. One thing I have to agree with IGN, Kristin did NOT make herself look bad in this film at any point!

- Neal McDonough, also great! His Bison was badass! Also IGN can go somewhere with that review of theirs. The man didn't even have an Irish accent in the film! For them to mistake the accent Bison had as an Irish accent, makes me question them a lot!

- Michael Clarke Duncan, for what he did in the film, I did enjoy his scenes.

- The music, I really enjoyed the score for this film... my favorite thus far is the score of when Chun-Li is arriving in Bangkok, also enjoyed all the scenes that went along with it.

- The fights! when the first fight came on screen, which was Balrog vs. Chun-Li's father, a smile just came to my face. What you see online of the fights doesn't compare to the film! So much better! I thought the fights were the highlight of the film... rightfully so.

- Vega, he didn't come off as awful as he did in that one clip. He was the one I worried the most for, but he came and went... which was just perfect. Also there's one scene at the beginning with Vega that had us all in the theater laughing.

- The girl on girl... I know people were worried about this film for whatever reason, but it wasn't all that sexual and it was actually pretty funny.

Cons:

- The Nash and Maya duo... I didn't enjoy neither of them at any point. Nash was overly corny and Maya just seemed to want to get into Nash's pants throughout the film. Funny thing is, when reading the script, I didn't care for Nash either.

- Gen, Oh Gen! He was almost as corny as Nash. I didn't enjoy Gen at all... okay, I lie, he was pretty awesome during his first fighting scene with Chun-Li and that's only because Chun-Li was awesome!

- The Bison/Rose plot... again since I read the script I personally preferred what was done in the script vs. what ended up in the film.

Final thoughts:

- My theater was pretty full, I was surprised by this due to the lack of promotions this film has gotten here in the states and because there was another theater about a mile away that also had a midnight showing.

- The people in my theater seemed to enjoy the film a lot more than I did... the guy next to me kept pumping his fist in the air and going "OH SNAP!" every time there was some type of fight... and when Ryu was mentioned at the end, I swear I thought he was going to wet himself from excitement.

- This film was NOT worse than the first Street Fighter film, nowhere near! For anyone who believes that, also believes Neal had an Irish accent in the film!

- Yes I WILL be buying this film on DVD!

The film isn't in my country, so i can't see it and i don't want to d/l it

I knew she would be. She's a consummate professional with a lot of passion and talent. Put those things together, and you are bound to do a great job.

I hope the movie does very well for her. I intend to see it either today or sometime this weekend.

This sucks, the 2 theaters in this area aren't playing it

Good thing I'm going to Louisiana this week for Spring Break! I'm gonna see this opening week dammit.

Sounds really promising.

Unfortunately the head of purchase decided that the Dragonball movie showed more promise than the SF movie so I guess I'll have to wait until it comes out on Blu-Ray.

Thanks for the review.

ĄThanks for this review!... It's a good one, without spoilers and count his strong points, etc... I watch this film in a teather!...

Thanks for the review!

I just got back home from the 11:30 AM showing here in SW MO (alas, no midnight showing here) and I have a few thoughts of my own.

Just like our Webmistress, I thought Kristin's performance only enhanced her career potential. Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought I'd be saying the words "Kristin Kreuk" and "action-movie hero" in the same conversation, much less the same sentence, but all that has changed with this movie.

Neal McDonough kicked some ass as Bison. He played Bison as elegant and lethal, and I believed them both.

I also agree about his accent or lack thereof. Just because his name is McDonough, it doesn't mean his voice sounds Irish. I ought to know what Irish sounds like, my mother's family is all from the Emerald Isle.

I disagree with our Webmistress on Gen. I liked Robin Shou's character a lot, given the time he had on screen. He gave Chun-Li the direction she needed, without being too much of a hardass.

I think Vega's time on screen was mercifully limited, as Taboo doesn't seem to quite be ready for more time on the big screen. If he had been any more of a stiff, he'd have been tagged and bagged and stuck in a morgue somewhere.

For fans of the video game, they did have Chun-Li perform some of her signature moves from the game, so that was a nice nod to the gamers.

The Bison/White Rose plot was grossly underdeveloped, a possible casualty of needing to keep the movie flowing along. The last thing you want in an action movie is to get bogged down in a side story instead of hurtling along at a breakneck pace with the main story. I would love to know what they cut from the original script, and what they changed, but I doubt we'll ever get a shot at the script ourselves.

As for attendance, it was really low, but it started before noon on a workday, so I didn't expect much there. And like Webmistress, I will also buy a copy as soon as it hits stores.


Cardinal

Ok, I saw the movie. My expectations were low, and they met them. LOL. First the bad. I think the director stinks. I think Allison Mack is a better director, and she has done only one episode of "Smallville". If KK decides to form a production company, I think AM should be on the short list of directors for any productions she wants to do. The script for the movie seemed much better.

The film just felt awkward. There were too many cut scenes that made it feel choppy. Scenes are supposed to move you from one thing to the next in logical progression. I felt like there was none. I didn't like the narration. Not because of KK, who's voice I find very sexy, but because films are supposed to be visual mediums. It's better to show rather than tell. I didn't like the character development, which there was very little of. I didn't feel the drive or motivation of the characters. I didn't get a sense of why Chun Li wanted to help others.

Not enough time was spent training KK. I would have preferred a Pai Mei/Black Mamba dynamic in "Kill Bill". Even though Pai Mei was introduced as ruthless and misogynistic, you could feel the love and respect between master and teacher by the end of training. I didn't get that sense of development of respect or love here. Chun Li was presented as being angry when initiating training with Gen, but she should have been the most angry when her father was killed in front of her. KK did get angry and played it fine, but it felt too late in the movie. There was no sense of overcoming the anger in training and harnessing something more powerful. I felt no why behind the training.

I didn't like the Nash/Maya dynamic. Contrary to most other people, I didn't think Klein was bad at all, considering I can't stand his acting in other movies I've seen him in. I think he was supposed to be rather goofy. I would have rather had them develop a Nash/Chun Li dynamic. I think Maya's role was totally pointless. I think the whole Interpol element was sorely underdeveloped and pointless.

I didn't feel the evilness of Bison or Balrog, or the entire Shadaloo organization. I should have felt hate towards them. I didn't feel the lack of conscience for someone who didn't have one like I did in Heath Ledger's "The Joker". Yeah, Heath won the Oscar and deservedly, but I think you understand my point.

The action sequences should have been longer and been better edited. The only scenes I really liked were the Bison/Gen fight and KK/Bison fight at the end, although how she killed him at the end was kind of silly. Bison kicked Gen's ass, but you wanted me to believe that Chun Li could take him on for longer? It's just not realistic. The script was more realistic in how she killed him. You could really sense the strength in Bison in his fight with Gen. It should have taken both of them to defeat him, master and student together, in a long drawn out fight. The Hadokens were totally irrelevant.

There's more, but there's no sense in dragging it out. Enough of the bad. Now with the good. Most of it was KK, but what can I say? I'm biased.

KK has so much promise. This movie did not show much of it. She is so good at doing emotions, and interjecting the human element in her scenes. There really wasn't much to show here as the character drives weren't really developed. I was afraid for her in the action sequences, but she was very good in them. The "lesbian" scene wasn't really one because it was mostly KK - not even close to being as sexual as in the script - but I can honestly say I still felt, um, a little excited. She did something there.

I don't get the people complaining about her legs not being like Chun Li's. She has fantastic legs, and they showed in the scene where she was wearing spandex-like shorts. I missed her long hair. She looked so pretty in the scenes where she wore the hair with the middle tied back while the sides draped and was wearing all black.

Overall, it was rather blah, and could have been much better. So, I was disappointed.

I saw the movie last night with my husband and brother-in-law. My husband enjoyed it, but he said he would have liked more fight scenes. My brother-in-law said it was decent. We went to dinner before the movie and it was a 40-45 minute wait, so we went to the game store nearby to see if they had the SF game for PS3. After the movie, we went home and played it for a few hours. My thumbs are swollen right now.

I think it was a decent movie. Like SOS, I went in with really low expectations thinking that it couldn't possibly be worse than the first Street Fighter movie. I'm glad I read everyone else's reviews here too. You guys are right, it is a popcorn movie and it was certainly entertaining to me. KK was the best part of the whole movie and I'm not just saying that because I'm a fan. She really made this movie.

I definitely would have liked better character development as well. The Nash/Maya thing was kind of, I don't want to say cringe worthy, but kind of pointless. Like SOS, said, I would have preferred them go more into the Nash/Chun Li storyline than the Nash/Maya one.

There were not a lot of people in the theater, but considering how small the town is, there were a decent amount. There were plenty ooohs and ahhhs during the fight scenes and laughs (especially during one of the scenes with Balrog). I thought I was going to get into my own fight in the beginning because this teenager was flashing a laser pointer at the screen until someone said something to him before I got a chance to (didn't those things become unpopular 10 years ago? ).

I am definitely going to buy the dvd when it comes out.

Terrible movie. But i do hope they make a lot of money for this film though so the sequel can be better. Hopefully Tekken the film will be good since they did recruit professional martial artists and a rated R rilm.

The best street fighter movie is gotta be "Future Cops." Yup you heard me. It's a chinese movie basically a rip off of street fighter with a lot of comedy. It's really funny and it's really good trust me.

They put an old pic of KK in March's Maxim magazine and very briefly mentioned her being in SF. Sorry for the crappy quality.

I'll stick to this SF series. I do too want a sequel, since I'm DYING to see a world tournament film!

It's easier to knock off the negative aspects first, though I did like and enjoy this movie.

Nash/Maya. Unnecessary. Chris Klein just won his first Razzie. The movie could have NOT had their sections and be 100% fine.

Flow problems. I agree with SoS. Quick cuts, and jumps in Chun Li's life, especially the Bangkok section. Add on another 10-15 minutes to let this stuff properly develop.

Those were probably the biggest problems with the movie, but they were big ones. Now, the good stuff.

Kristin. Hands down, she MADE this movie work. She gave a fantastic performance and really went there. She flips out when her dad is killed in front of her and is great with portraying emotion. Her fight scenes were awesome too, especially the one with Bison at the end.

Bison. I'm impressed. I didn't think this would work but it did better than I expected. They more implied ruthless and lack of conscience than showed it with him, but in this story there really isn't time for him to poison a river or anything. I don't know if anyone noticed this, but Bison NEVER threw a move he didn't have from back in the World Warrior game. His roundhouse kicks hit like a truck, and in that game, about 3 will knock you out.

Vega. Loved Chun Li taunting him about the mask and kept it short. Perfect. Too much of him kills his cool factor.

Balrog. Much more believable as a bodyguard in this movie than the old SF one. He was like a Tank Abbot bodyguard, the muscle. He played that well.

Gen. I agree with SoS about the shortness of training, but as Master and a former friend of Bison, that played. It could have played out longer, but what they did do, at least, made sense.

I'll be getting this on DVD.

Might get it on DVD to support Kristin but holy crud this movie was absymal. Chris Klein was the star though in the unintentional comedy aspect. The you tube clip compilation of him is pretty funny. Poor guy

Kristin showed some good on the ground martial arts moves but the wire work was terrible which was unfortunate considering it was Dion Lam on the project. It kinda crushed me in ways because her acting (the crying scene which is normal our girl's best part and the akward lesbian bathroom scene) was pretty bad in the film as well BUT in her defense I blame that on the director and scriptwriter. A good director is suppose to tell the actor what kind of range and delivery they want the preformance to look like and clearly from the action sequences to the acting, Andrejz mailed it in.

That said I probably enjoyed it more as bad film than I did Watchmen as a good film. Fox is really outdoing the Schumacher factor between this, Wolverine (woooo the workprint of that movie is bad) and Dragonball Evolution.

I have no idea where Kristin goes from her.....but she's lot of rebuilding to do

Im stunned at how bad it did internationally considering all the promo it got in Japan. Less than a million worldwide? and like 5 million in the states so far?

I doubt you're gonna get a sequel but you know I do expect them to revamp Street Fighter AGAIN in like 5 or 10 years.