STREET FIGHTER: The Legend Of Chun-Li (2009)

In the 21st century films based on video games isn't a new concept but in 2009 a film came really from out of nowhere, based on a character from probably the greatest game of the last century and people went..”Huh?” The film bombed and was panned by critics but did it get a fair cop?

Let's find out!

Average Chinese conversation with American Accents

American writers and production teams LOVE to change things. They just love it and then bullshit their way around the fact by saying that things 'have' to change to be on the screen but The Legend Of Chun-Li certainly takes the biscuit. The film is a horrible, HORRIBLE example of whitewashing or at least 'murricaniszing by the writers and casting directors. Chun-Li is now half American, M.Bison is American, most of the Chinese folk have an American accent and it's just borderline if not entirely racist if I'm honest. This type of nasty attitude is what I like to call 'Kung-Fu syndrome'. Kung-Fu was a television series in the 70's that that was created by and meant to star Bruce Lee who was dropped at the last minute in favour of David Carradine and changing the character of Caine to a half American Half Chinese main star as audiences wouldn't accept a fully Chinese protagonist. This stuff was ropey back in the 70's 80's and 90's but in 2009 it's just absolutely unacceptable and the majority of people probably dismissed the entire film on the basis of these extremely stupid and arrogant decisions alone.

Racial changes aside the actual cast of this film is pretty decent. Kristen Kreuk at least has some heritage on her side as her grandmother was Chinese and to be honest I think she does rather a good job. Here is a pretty girl who has been offered the chance to star as the lead in a solo film about a strong female character based on an insanely popular and well know franchise. Of course she was going to take the role. Rightly so too and Ms Kreuk puts in a mighty effort it must be said. She speaks some Chinese in the film and has obviously taken some time consuming lessons in order to participate in the fight scenes which she does rather admirably. She runs, jumps, dives and shoots quite the thing as she enjoyed her time as the star of an action orientated film – sadly a rare occurrence for a lone female in the film world. Whether she is ultimately the best choice for the character of Chun-Li is debatable but one cannot fault her effort. If she had adopted a Chinese accent and the character was fully Chinese I wouldn't have had a problem with her still being in the film although unfortunately that would be even more of a case of whitewashing than before as why not just cast a fully Chinese girl?

To Bison or Not To Bison

Neil McDonough appears here as M.Bison and again, aside from the obvious ethnic issue (although it's unclear where the character Bison is actually from) the performance is actually quite good. McDonough is a decent actor and seems like the kind of guy who puts real effort in to a role so he plays the part as a really cold businessman like bastard and he's a proper cunt in parts which is really cool so surprisingly I actually do buy this red uniform free version of Bison quite a bit. Other cast members include Robin Shou of Mortal Kombat: The Movie fame, here playing another game character in Gen (albeit as a younger version) and Green Mile's Michael Clarke Duncan is cast as boxer Balrog. The rest are faceless nobodys, hot women in tight jeans and that guy from American Pie complimenting the players.

Andrzej Bartkowiak is in the captain's chair and being a pretty ok director in my book this gives the film a bit of a sheen. Production wise I really don't think the film can be faulted. It's very well shot, it's decently directed by Mr Bartkowiak and it has a very polished feel to the entire product. The film is presented as somewhat of an international crime thriller which is a strange albeit interesting choice for the character of Chun-Li, although maybe not that strange give her background. The problem is that these kinds of films have to be super smart with a great script, pin point pacing and strong story and The Legend Of Chun-Li is just a bit boring if I'm honest and feels like a child trying on an adults shoes. Some parts are drawn out far too long with not much happening or shit that you're really just not interested in. The story is ok I guess and (sort of) retains Chun-Li's personal plot from the game but it seems like a lot of flashy bits hanging off what is a pretty simple plot at it's core and they seem to be there as filler rather than fleshing out the actual main story as in interesting concept. The film also suffers from yawn inducing exposition as Kreuk narrates away a good chunk of the story just to make sure the audience is up to speed in what's going on. A bit of this would be ok but it's really just being lazy..

Considering the rest of the film... not a bad fit

Action wise the film is really a bit of a mixed bag. The fight scenes range from thoughts of “that's pretty decent” to “Jebus, that was cheesy!”. Too much wire work and flippy unrealistic moves which given the type of film this is seems well out of place. I'm no fan of the fast cut shaky Bourne type fights but something a little more brutal but still choreographed would have sat nicer with the overall tone. There are some clever moments in the choreography it has to be said and everyone looks like they have worked hard on them but it comes off as being a little 'safe' just a bit too often. The rest of the action is thriller type gunplay and chases which earns itself a biscuit for most certainly not being aimed at kids. Blood splats everywhere, people getting killed in front of their families and bones crunching all over the shop make this feel like a grown up film and credit where credit is due it does feel like that when the exciting stuff gets going.

I'm the welcome wagon! Nice to meet you friend!

The problem with The Legend Of Chun-Li isn't in it's performers, or it's production, but the story. The script is unexciting and it's just not a very interesting tale that's too full of made up bullshit which is never mentioned in the game series and changes FAR too much about the well established source. For a character who has been around since 1991 that is a huge slap in the face to the fans. It shouldn't even have the Street Fighter tag as the actual competition is only mentioned once and causes a little head scratching considering the story is pre-tournament and something happens which sort of makes the game plot irrelevant. Of course making a film, any film is tremendously hard work. Even the shitty ones that you see take months to plan and put together so that extra bit of credit is always given unless it's a total bog brush of a movie.

Despite what critics and general opinions say The Legend Of Chun-Li isn't a bad film. In fact I rather enjoyed it as a movie in it's own right! It's polished, well presented and the cast perform their jobs adequately. If it had a better story, some better tailored fight action and they didn't have the gaul to change and add so much stuff to suit American audiences who are racist enough to not accept a foreign hero then it could possibly have been a tremendous step forward for game films but although it falls flat on it's face it does have a lot of saving graces which given how cheeky it all is, is a bit of a feat.

10/10 for the cast and crew. A very hard ping in the nuts for the writers and producers for ruining what could have been a really cool picture but left us with a decent film that nobody will give the time of day to thanks to the arrogant and pretty disgraceful changes.

Striding forth from his lair at Castle Stareskull one morning, Prototron decided to not reign down terror on the villagers, but instead go back inside, crack open a beer and load up Streets Of Rage 2. One hundred years later, he's still there.  A avid music maker (of TERROR!) and retro gamer, he can be found whooping any and all heroes at all manner of SNK-based challenges.