Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li

Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li 2009
Director: Andrzjez Bartkowiak
Writer: Justin Marks
Starring Kristin Kreuk, Chris Klein, Neal McDonough, Robin Shou, Moon Bloodgood, Taboo and Michael Clarke Duncan

Many people have said this is the worst movie they saw in the past year, and I have to disagree with this opinion. I actually like this better than the 1994 version with Jean Claude Van Damme. It does have its weak points, the most obvious being the horrible acting from Chris Klein, but as far as a rousing martial arts action film, I believe this film really delivers. Kreuk does a great job as Chun-Li and really pulls off the fighting style ably well. The villains are quite good too, especially Duncan and McDonough. It was a real treat to see Shou doing a martial arts film again, though. This film really flies by briskly and does not overstay its welcome. Also, it is in no way shape or form the worst movie of 2009, that honor still goes to Halloween 2. It also has a good action director, who did a few good Jet Li films and the last good Steven Seagal film Exit Wounds. I can forgive him for directing Doom though as Street Fighter more than makes up for that dismal flop.
The plot basics are this, Chun-Li (Kreuk) is a young girl training to be a pianist when her father is accosted by a crime lord, M. Bison (McDonough) and is abducted and forced to work for him. This enrages Chun-Li and she sets upon a path to free her father and bring down the Shadaloo crime cartel, which is spearheaded by Bison. Chun-Li travels to Bangkok and meets up with Gen (Shou) who trains her in martial arts and advises her on what she must do to defeat Bison. Chun-Li finds her father and tries to rescue him, but Bison kills him and now she will not rest until Bison is dead. We then meet Nash (Klein), who is a federal agent trying to bring down Bison and his cartel. Soon, Chun-Li and Nash cross paths and discover they are after the same ultimate goal and decide to team up to bring Bison and his crew down. This leads to a dramatic final battle between Bison and Chun-Li, one from which only one of them will walk away alive.
This is a well shot film. The direction by Bartkowiak is done well. He stages the fight scenes well and they flow together very well. It is done like a standard action film, with no quick cuts that seem to be all the rage with films like the Bourne films nowadays. He lights the stage well and you never have a problem figuring out what is actually happening. The script is good, except for the character of Nash, he really did not seem as if he was warranted. The story could have flowed just as well with only Chun-Li and Gen. The best character in the script as far as lines go, would have to be Balrog. He really makes the film worth watching. The cast is good too, they all do fine except for the laughably bad performance by Klein. He makes Van Damme's Guile look like Lawrence Olivier in comparison. Kreuk is a great Chun-Li and is much more interesting than Ming Na's in the original. McDonough is a credible Bison, just not on the level of Raul Julia's performance. Duncan takes the cake as Balrog and brings us a delightfully cheesy and hammy performance that is worth the price of admission alone. It was great seeing Shou in action again, as I loved him as Liu Kang in Mortal Kombat. It is a shame I do not see him in more action films. The action sequences are pulled off flawlessly well, by far the best thing about the film and the climactic battle between Chun_Li and Bison is tremendous. I have a soft spot in my heart for video game adaptations, so I am probably kinder on this film than most. But, if you dig martial arts films with great fights and some cheesy dialogue and acting check this one out.
This one gets 4 out of 5