Cinematic adaptations of Capcom’s iconic ‘Street Fighter’ vidgame franchise are now 0 for 2 with this latest effort ‘Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li.’ The film is surprisingly slick-looking and not as bad as I’d heard, but still a notably peculiar mess which might net some guilty pleasure/cult points down the road.
I’m slightly curious to know if this script had just been lying around and someone got the bright idea to switch a few names and viola - a ‘Street Fighter’ movie. If the character names are removed, there’s almost nothing here that would hint that this was based on the ‘Street Fighter’ vidgame. Besides the titular heroine, only ‘Vega’ and ‘Balrog’ show up with M. Bison changed to ‘Bison’ and bearing absolutely no similarities to the game baddie.
This is an issue that certainly can’t be said for Van Damme’s cartoony ’94 version where all the characters show up in full goofball regalia. I mention this unfaithful approach more as an observation than a complaint as look at what that got us…ahem.
No, I don’t see too many vidgame fans up in arms over this new adaptation’s loose telling, but more a questioning of why the filmmakers didn’t see fit to at least try and throw some more characters in - no matter how faithful they are to the source material.
Narrated with a particularly painful voiceover, Chun-Li (Kristin Kreuk of ‘Smallville fame) fills in the blanks explaining how she sought approval from her loving affluent businessman father through piano concerts and the studying of martial arts. When her dad is abducted by a mysterious blonde-haired, blue-eyed man known only by the name of Bison (Neal McDonough), she lives out the rest of her teen years in Hong Kong with revenge heavy on her mind.
When a tip leads her to Bangkok on the search for somebody who can help her by the name of Gen, she becomes ‘one with the streets.’ Despite her presumed millions, she survives as a penniless, homeless orphan might. When she comes to the rescue of an old man suffering the beating of some thugs in an alleyway, she unleashes a beat down but gets a few knocks herself which leads to her being rescued by the mysterious Gen (Robin Shou) - the leader of some justice-crusading vigilantes bent on bringing down the merciless Bangkok crime boss, Bison.
Bison, seizing control of the shadowish Shandaloo Corporation, plans on taking over the city’s waterfront slums, displacing thousands of the poverty-stricken in the process. With the help of right-hand man, Balrog (Michael Clarke Duncan), a heavy-hitting bodyguard (no mention of his boxing skills from the game), Bison also employs the skills of an assassin, Vega (Taboo from Black Eyed Peas…sigh) who offs his victims with some Wolverine-like claws and a metal mask.
Including Chun-Li and Gen, hot on the trail of Bison is a couple of cops stumbling in from another movie, Maya (Moon Bloodgood) and Nash (a hilariously inexplicable Chris Klein) who join up with our two heroes for the kick-strewn climax across Bison’s impressive lair just outside of Bangkok.
Lest that synopsis sounds a bit too normal for you, let me throw out one of the more outlandish scenes from the pic. Picking up the scent of Bison’s attaché Cantana (Josie Ho), Chun-Li tracks her down to a nightclub where she notices Cantana’s eyes are more drawn to the ladies. Not missing a beat, Chun-Li throws down her best dance moves to seduce her and draw her to the restroom where a nasty and admittedly fun catfight breaks out.
The film also has a bit of misogynist streak that seems just a tad too strident for a teen-demo attracting pic. Once Cantana is returned to Bison, her body is literally treated as a punching bag in a scene that wouldn’t be out of place in ‘Hostel’. Just pounding away at the body as cold blood spurts on his face, we can only assume this is because his conscience was taken away by him ripping his daughter out of his wife’s womb with his bare hands (yep, not making this up…I really hope this scene was in the PG-13 version for an added “W.T.F.” moment).
Also thrown into the bizarre mix are the two cops played by Moon Bloodgood (who seems like a franchise-headlining heroine in our her own right) and the stubble-adorned Chris Klein (who seems to be channeling Keanu Reeves if possessed by some sort of angry spirit). This style of acting is possibly the same spirit that allowed him to star in ‘Rollerball’. Note to casting: when I think bad boy, badass cop, Chris Klein is waaay down the list.
All that being said, the film looks pretty slick and the Honk Kong and Bangkok locations are well captured and pointedly exotic. The action ranges from a bit messy to not bad with Kreuk being a capably hot action heroine. And if you didn’t pick it up already, it’s also surprisingly violent (at least in the provided ‘unrated’ cut) if that’s your thing with plenty of bone-breaking, neck-snapping action.
The film is presented with a 2.35:1 1080p AVC encode that is predictably sharp and captures the cool, exotic locations nicely. There’s a bit of digital noise here and there but nothing too dramatic. The DTS-HD Master Aud track is rocking, though, with every thud and punch ripping across your room.
Special features start off with both the theatrical and uncut versions of the film and an ‘Enlightenment’ trivia track. We also get an audio commentary from producers Patrick Aiello and Ashok Amritai as well as actors Neil McDonough and Chris Klein.
Not as fun as I’d hoped, this is mostly technical stuff and a few decent anecdotes. There are fifteen minutes of ‘Deleted Scenes’ that one can easily skip. A quick sneak peak at ‘Marvel vs. Capcom 2’ with the always hilarious ‘You’ve Got the Touch’ playing behind it.
Featurettes ‘Becoming a Street Fighter’, ‘Chun-Li: Bringing the Legend to Life’ and ‘Making a Scene’ all together run about half an hour and tackle cast and crew interviews, a bit of the game history, and a breakdown of particular scenes. There are three different ‘Galleries’, a game-to-film, storyboards and production.
I have yet to watch it but a cool addition is the full length animated feature ‘Street Fighter: Round One: Fight!’ which is presented on its DVD disc. Rounding things out is the digital copy DVD in which I like to break in half and then with the sharp edges…shank somebody (just me?)
No one will mistake this for a good film, but I do have to say that I was never bored - the dialogue is cringe-inducing but the bizarrely dark approach might lead this to a long cult shelf life where it will sit comfortably next to it’s retarded brother, the ’94 version.
Tech specs are good and the special features competent, so this comes with a bemused recommendation for seekers of cinematic oddities and a lesson on how to screw up a franchise…twice.
Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li (Three-Disc Special Edition) [Blu-ray] is now available at Amazon . Visit the DVD database for more information.
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