The Phoenix Network:
 
 
About  |  Advertise
Adult  |  Moonsigns  |  Band Guide  |  Blogs  |  In Pictures
 
Features  |  Reviews
FIND MOVIES
Find a Movie
Movie List
Loading ...
or
Find Theaters and Movie Times
or
Search Movies

Review: Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun Li

Too many characters. And the fighting is terrible too.
By BRETT MICHEL  |  March 5, 2009
0.5 0.5 Stars


VIDEO: The trailer for Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun Li

Andrzej Bartkowiak's second video-game adaptation (after 2005's Doom) avoids one of the most egregious errors of Steven E. de Souza's first attempt at adapting the storied fighting-game franchise for the screen 15 years ago: too many characters.

By focusing on fan favorite Chun-Li (Kristin Kreuk), Bartkowiak and his screenwriter, Justin Marks, can tell a more streamlined tale of the thunder-thighed beauty's origins as a second-generation Interpol cop hell-bent on avenging her father's death at the hands of General M. Bison. Mix in the hand-to-hand fighting fans expect and you've got the makings of a satisfying action picture. If only they hadn't changed this story.

Now, Chun-Li's an ass-kicking concert pianist, her businessman father is alive, imprisoned by the villainous Bison (Neal McDonough), who's also a businessman, and she's shadowed by an Interpol cop (Chris Klein, acting!). The fighting's terrible too.

Related: Review: Afro Samurai, Asobi Seksu | Hush, Beirut | March of the Zapotecs | Realpeople | Holland, More more >
  Topics: Reviews , Culture and Lifestyle, Interpol, Games,  More more >
  • Share:
  • Share this entry with Facebook
  • Share this entry with Digg
  • Share this entry with Delicious
  • RSS feed
  • Email this article to a friend
  • Print this article
Comments

ARTICLES BY BRETT MICHEL
Share this entry with Delicious
  •   REVIEW: THE HOUSE OF THE DEVIL  |  December 02, 2009
    Have you walked near a college campus lately? You might notice that the ’80s are creeping into fashion, the way the ’70s did a few years back, and with the same lack of irony. It’s happening in cinemas, too — something that’s not entirely unwelcome when it comes to the horror genre.
  •   REVIEW: RED CLIFF  |  November 25, 2009
    Hong Kong auteur John Woo hit commercial and artistic pay dirt in the US with Face/Off , his loopy Nicolas Cage/John Travolta neo-noir, but once he’d directed Tom Cruise in Mission: Impossible II , was there anywhere left to go?
  •   INTERVIEW: GABOUREY SIDIBE  |  November 18, 2009
    "While reading the book, I realized that I knew this girl in so many different people. Not just girls but boys, and not just black people but white and Asian and Indian."
  •   REVIEW: MICHAEL JACKSON'S THIS IS IT  |  November 12, 2009
    The Star Wars –style titles that begin Kenny Ortega’s hastily assembled Michael Jackson tribute documentary explain that the film has been whittled down from 100 hours of behind-the-scenes video shot between last April and June during rehearsals for the King of Pop’s planned 50-date “This Is It” London concert series.
  •   INTERVIEW: LONE SCHERFIG  |  November 16, 2009
    Born in Denmark in 1959, Lone Scherfig first gained international attention in 2000 with Italian for Beginners, a charming little film that won her the Silver Bear at the Berlin Film Festival. A couple of years later, she followed up with Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself, her first English-language effort, filmed in Scotland and starring Adrian Rawlins and Shirley Henderson.

 See all articles by: BRETT MICHEL

MOST POPULAR
RSS Feed of for the most popular articles
 Most Viewed   Most Emailed 



  |  Sign In  |  Register
 
thePhoenix.com:
Phoenix Media/Communications Group:
TODAY'S FEATURED ADVERTISERS
Copyright © 2009 The Phoenix Media/Communications Group