REVIEW - Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li (2009)

Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li

Canada / India / USA / Japan - 2009

Directed by - Andrzej Bartkowiak

Starring - Kristin Kreuk, Neal McDonough, Chris Klein, Robin Shou

Color - 96 Min - Rated PG-13 for sequences of violence and martial arts action, some sensuality

Chun-Li (Kristin Kreuk) lives the good life in Hong Kong with her family until one fateful day when her father is unexpectedly kidnapped by an underworld mobster known as Bison (Neal McDonough). That shit won't fly with the chick who can do the patented spinning bird kick though, so Chun-Li seeks out wise master Gen (Robin Shou) who can teach her the secret of asskickery and how to throw fireballs so she can take down Bison and his organization of hoods and killers. Along the way, Chun-Li is assisted by Interpol agent Charlie Nash (Chris Klein) and his utterly useless partner Maya (Moon Bloodgood). Typical revenge movie violence ensues.

To say Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li received scathing reviews upon its theatrical release is putting it mildly. This movie was absolutely massacred by the critics, and yet... surprise, surprise, it's not nearly as horrible as they would lead you to believe. Now, now, don't get me wrong, it's not the kind of movie you'll remember twenty years from now as a seminal piece of cinematic magic, nor is it even remotely close to being a true standout in the field of action movies. It's still a subpar movie at times, and only servicable entertainment at best. If you're looking for a nice looking martial arts movie with some interesting and over-the-top fight sequences that doesn't require much brainpower going in, Legend of Chun-Li has you covered. For critics to proclaim that leading actress Kristin Kreuk is a "dead-eyed, sleepy-voiced, charisma-impaired automaton" in this film is a bit much though (because let's be honest, if anybody deserves to be singled out for a Razzie in this film, it's Chris Klein - more on him in a mo).

There is no chance for you to beat me! Challenge someone else!

This film isn't related to 1994's cheese-fest Street Fighter, which starred Jean-Claude Van Damme, the beefy cokehead martial artist with the thick European accent, as an AMERICAN Air Force guy (he must have been Cajun too). In fact, if you changed a few names here and there, you probably could have marketed Legend of Chun-Li as a typical martial arts revenge flick without the Street Fighter brand at all (think of it instead as a poor man's Chocolate). That's arguably one of the downfalls of this movie: it doesn't have enough in common with the actual Street Fighter video games (which is weird considering it was released as a sort of 20th anniversary celebration for the game series). There's no tournament of World Warriors to be had here, no stretchy armed Yoga masters or masked luchador chefs in sight. Instead, this film acts as more of a prequel to the very first Street Fighter game (you know, the one nobody actually likes or remembers?). The first tournament is teased at the end of this movie, but that's a sequel that's never, ever going to be made if you know how badly this movie tanked at the box office ($50 million budget, just shy of $9 million recouped - ouch). To be fair though, the fact that Legend of Chun-Li is such a departure from the video games means that the Hadouken spamming douchebag Ryu won't be putting in an appearance in this film.

Hammy acting is the order of the day in Legend of Chun-Li. Kristin Kreuk is your tough gal who has to keep a straight, menacing face going even when she's fed preposterous lines of dialogue. She makes a good heroine despite the script's occasional handicapping; if you're not rooting for her at the start you'll definitely be rooting for her when she kicks Taboo's ass (anyone who beats up a member of the Black Eyed Peas is ace in my book). Meanwhile, Neal McDonough gets to play up his inner Bond villain, smugly gulping champagne and threatening subordinates with a shit eating perma-grin on his face. He makes for a satisfactory adversary, though the choice of an Irish accent for the character is somewhat questionable (and leaves a hilarious gaping plot hole in its wake). Robin Shou gets to do his best "wax on, wax off" routine as the stereotypical kung-fu master, whilst elsewhere Michael Clarke Duncan puts in an appearance as disgraced boxer Balrog (a very appropriate casting decision). Most of the hammy acting is innocent enough; the actors generally have enough charisma to pull off silly lines of dialogue without making the viewer want to scream bloody murder. But then Chris Klein shows up, finishing up his opening lines of dialogue with a grimace inducing "I looove this job!". It only gets worse from there. Seriously, his delivery is so stilted and nauseatingly macho I half-expected the dude to turn directly to the camera at certain points and say: "My name... is Keith Stone."

Damn I'm smooth.

Legend of Chun-Li is held up by a number of energetic fight sequences and some gorgeous cinematography. Dion Lam (Infernal Affairs, Flying Dagger, Spider-Man 2) was charged with the dual-role of fight choreographer and director of the action scenes, and he provides some really engaging popcorn munching sequences for fight fanatics. No less than 1000 bajillion pieces of broken glass and 7000 kajillion splinters of broken wood assault the screen at any given moment during hand to hand combat. While the action scenes are certainly in the realm of fantasy with the occasional gravity defying flip or steroid induced power punch, they never stray too far into pure video game cheesiness (possibly a disappointment to some; my fiancee wanted to see more of Chun-Li's special moves from the games included). Filming locations included Hong Kong and Bangkok, and both are beautifully captured on film. For such an alleged turkey, Legend of Chun-Li sure has some excellent production values.

While I wouldn't recommend martial arts fans rushing to watch Legend of Chun-Li as soon as possible, if you ever catch it on cable or just don't know what to rent next, give it a try.

2.5 / 5