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.