POWERFUL FORCES ARE CONVERGING ON THE STREETS OF BANGKOK. THEY ARE WARRIORS, SOME OF WHOM POSSESS EXTRAORDINARY ABILITIES, ALL OF WHOM ARE DETERMINED TO SEE THEIR SIDE PREVAIL.
Hannah M. (hmcb0222) from BEL AIR, MD Reviewed on 5/29/2010...
Kristin Kreuk (Smallville's Lana Lang) did a pretty good job, considering the material she had to work with. The plot is basic, with no surprises or twists. The dialogue is bland and generic. Perhaps the worst point of the movie is Chris Klein, though. His parts were almost painful to watch. Thank goodness for the fast-forward button.
James B. (wandersoul73) from LINDALE, TX Reviewed on 7/4/2009...
This had it's moments. Although it's nothing much to brag about.
Movie Reviews
"Even milk has an experation date."
Adam Sims | Kentucky | 07/01/2009
(1 out of 5 stars)
"Movie adaptations of video games are always awful. In fact, one of the earliest examples of a bad adaptation is the original Street Fighter movie with Van Damme, where Hollywood tried to cash in on SFII. Now with the release of SFIV, they did the same thing, only making it worse and blemishing the greatness of the classic fighting franchise even more.
The plot itself is simple, but at the same time it doesn't make sense with some of its BS twists. Loosely, and I repeat, loosely based on the SF world, Chun-Li witnesses her father's kidnapping by the evil Shadaloo group lead by Bison and his assistant Balrog. (Sagat has gone AWOL.) So instead of calling the police, she sets off to Bangkok when she gets older to take down the group with the help of Gen, an ex member.
While the movie has some alright action in it, it's still a bomb. With terrible acting, a WTF plot, a bad script (the name of my review is one of the genius lines,) and the inaccuracy to the game itself, this movie is just asking for a Razzie. Shall I list the characters?
(WARNING! Spoilers. Not that anyone cares.)
CHUN-LI: When she is young, she looks just like an Asian, but when she grows up, she strangely becomes an American, played by some Smallville actress. I mean, just look at the DVD cover? Does she look anything like the Chun-Li we know?
GEN: The elderly character is now a middle-aged, long-haired man played by that guy who played Liu Kang in Mortal Kombat. He also knows how to do a hadoken, the only real SF move even shown, and it isn't even called that.
CHARLIE: Guile's lost friend is now a detective trying to solve the Shadaloo murders. Not to mention that the guy who plays him is an awful actor. He also had a partner named Maya. C.Viper's real name is Maya, also. I hope it's just a coincidence. ;)
BALROG: The American boxer is not even a boxer, but Bison's bodyguard. Played by a guy too old to be Balrog, he still kicks butt, but it just isn't him.
VEGA: Another bad adaptation. Played by a Black Eyed Peas member, the only resemblance between him and the videogame character is the mask. They also build him up to be a tough opponent for Chun-Li, but he is easily defeated.
RYU: What's SF without Ryu, the main character? Well, he's only mentioned once, near the end, and that's a good thing. Ryu knew better than to be in this stinker.
M. BISON: I saved the worst for last. Yes, forget all you know about the evil dictator-like character in the red uniform who will mess you up with his psycho powers. In this one, Bison is...a fruity-looking, spiky haired guy with a goatee and dressed in a business suit, but who is a good fighter. A true bastardization of a classic villain. Also, he has a daughter in this one, and it's Rose, who is a child for some reason, and not that grown-up Italian fighter.
This movie sucks so much that you'll be surprised to know that it was NOT directed by Uwe Boll. I suppose if you see it in a Red Box, you should rent it for a dollar just for a laugh, but don't pay more than that. Spend your money on an SF game instead. Even Dragonball was better than this."
Hardly a legend
Roland E. Zwick | Valencia, Ca USA | 10/02/2009
(2 out of 5 stars)
"Ever since she was a little girl, Chun-Li's sole ambition in life has been to become a world-class concert pianist. But when her businessman father is unceremoniously whisked away in the middle of the night by a ruthless corporate tycoon bent on ruling the world, Chun-Li agrees to be trained by a martial arts master so she can get her father back and bring the villain's empire crumbling down around him at the same time.
Burdened by kindergarten-level storytelling that makes "Kung Fu Panda" look like stark documentary realism in comparison, "Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li" is a far-from-legendary, barrel-scraping fiasco marked by stock characters, bland performances and rote dialogue.
Heck, even the martial arts sequences fail to generate any genuine excitement or pizzazz. Stick to the video game instead. At least you can participate in that one."
It gets one star because you can't give a half
EDURP | Morgantown, WV | 07/06/2009
(1 out of 5 stars)
"I rented it out of curiosity, I've been a fan of the video games but this movie is nothing like them. At least the first movie didn't destroy the story of the game. Chun-Li never does her fast kicks, needless to safe if you're curious then save your money. I wouldn't let someone rent it if I worked at blockbuster."
We need Van Damme to save the people of the free world
Master Killer | Island of Misfit Toys, USA | 07/04/2009
(2 out of 5 stars)
"Now, I went into this wanting to like it, I wouldn't have bought it otherwise, but you can want in one hand, and well you get the idea. Gone is the self aware tongue in check humor of the 1994 movie starring Jean-Claude Van Damme. Instead we have this slow moving, not much martial arts for the first thirty minutes, movie that dosen't even realize that it is so silly. The Van Damme movie knew it was a joke, and succeded quite well, I should add. Here, we have gravity defying wire fu, but this one is supposed to be more "realistic." I love the term realistic, action movies are about as realistic as porno movies, weather it be Die Hard or the Transporter, in real life, this stuff dosen't happen."
Remember the Street Fighter movie with JCVD? Bad, right? W
Jason | Backwater, Alabama | 08/10/2010
(1 out of 5 stars)
"A burgeoning concert pianist, Chun Li (Kristen Kreuk) adores her father, the man who taught her martial arts. When Bison (Neal McDonough) and some henchmen - Balrog (Michael Clarke Duncan) among them - abduct her father, and Chun Li's mother eventually dies, there is nearly nothing left for which to live. When she receives a mysterious Chinese scroll providing guidance, her path eventually leads towards a criminal element and the training of Gen (Robin Shou).
Meanwhile, Interpol agent Charlie Nash (Chris Klein) descends upon Bangkok and meets up with a local detective name Maya (Moon Bloodgood) to investigate the recent mass murder of all the crime syndicate bosses. The only criminal mastermind left is Bison, who's been busy buying shore-front property in the slums, sending in his secretary Cantana to participate in the least seductive girl-on-girl dance scene in cinema history, and hiring a killer named Vega (Taboo from Black Eyed Peas) who gets it started, gets some boom, boom, pow, and takes a few lovely lady lumps from Chun Li's feet. Bison's biggest plan, however, involves the shipment of the mysterious White Rose.
Let's get one thing straight: this movie is ridiculous.
Aside from titular actress Kristen Kreuk's cuteness, and goods of Moon Bloodgood (which nearly fall out of her shirt in most scenes), the only real highlight of this film is the cinematography from Geoff Boyle. His gritty renditions of Bangkok almost made the storyline of a 105lb. girl with the face of a model who survives on the street believable. Almost. Nothing, unfortunately, could save the sub-moronic script. None of the actors really stand out from the crowd in a good way. Chris Klein, however, manages to brood so horribly in his "supposed to be edgy"-role that every line uttered is a punch-line; and every scowl evokes snickers. The only way it could have been worse would have been if his role was animated by Pixar. If the intent was to hire him as a distraction for the script written in crayon and the scatter-plot directing, then it only partially worked. Only the combined beauty of Kristin Kreuk and Moon Bloodgood stopped Hollywood from getting a restraining order against Chris Klein. And don't even get me started on the Neal McDonough as Bison miscast. RIP Raul Julia.
The special effects are limited and well done - which I appreciate - but the remaining wire-fu is nearly intolerable. If I see one more scene of Kristin Kreuk running through a maze of machine gun fire without taking a hit. Shoulda been Moon Bloodgood. Shoulda been slo-mo. You're telling me John Woo couldn't have brought in his doves for this one scene?
I know you won't believe this, but since I've logged literally hundreds of hours playing the original Street Fighter game, and I'm the undebateable master of Jean Claude Van Damme movies, I can honestly tell you that the JCVD movie adaptation was better than this one...and that should be enough to avoid this affront to film stock."