Hmmmmm…. You know, I usually think films about video games are good ideas that turn out poorly. With a cast consisting of Moon Bloodgood, Chris Klein, Kristin Kreuk, Michael Clarke-Duncan, Neal McDonough, and Black Eyed Peas vocalist Taboo, the latest Street Fighter film seemed to have a lot going for it. Although I wasn’t excited about Doom’s Andrzej Bartkowiak having his hands in the mix, the cast would likely overshadow it. For the most part I was right; this superstar cast makes a very poor film semi-enjoyable.
The Legend of Chun-Li follows the title character (Kreuk) throughout her life. The problem, in general, with making a film that spends more than half of its duration telling back story is that it gets fairly boring. Chun-Li’s privileged life is nice to watch for the first fifteen minutes or so but after that you start to want to skip ahead. After her fathers capture and ultimately her mother’s death from a terminal illness, Chun-Li sets out to find her father’s captor and take revenge. She is, of course, led to the Street Fighter clan and eventually her skills are refined by them and she is unleashed on the mobsters alongside some other popular game characters. The fight scenes are impressive as far as choreography goes but it’s not anything you haven’t seen before.
Overall this film rises to mediocre by its end. The cast is exceptional considering the weak plot. The exception comes in Chris Klein who is not even a little believable as a “rode hard and put away wet” street detective. Kreuk shines though as does McDonough. The others make the movie slightly more enjoyable, trying to breathe life into one of the weaker franchises out there. Fans of the game, especially younger ones, will probably enjoy this but those of you looking for a new action movie to fall in love with could do much better.
Reviewed by Mark Fisher
