Street Fighter Movie Review
Street Fighter for over two decades has established itself as a premiere, or go-to, fighting platform. While not as dark as its cousin Mortal Kombat, it did fill the need for a dependable side-by-side fighting game, minus the gratuitous gore and violence MK provided. Now, like MK, both franchises have two motion picture installments in the can. For lack of better words, it has been a disappointing run for them both.
On a side note, let me start off by saying I was never a fan of Street Fighter. It’s not that I didn’t like it; it was more that it never intrigued me as much as Mortal Kombat did. So Street Fighter fanboys might be a bit prone to liking this film, and I stress a bit.
The first Street Fighter (1994) was another example of poor video game-to-movie entries of the time. And like the others (Mario Brothers, Double Dragon), it lacked multi-dimensional characters and solid storylines. Not even the then-hot Jean Claude Van Damme, and the late and very talented Raul Julia could save it. I will say that watching it now, years later, it does have some entertainment potential, as a movie to poke fun at. So long as you don’t remember that it was Julia’s last movie before passing away. That thought alone gives me chills, and not the good kind.
The Legend of Chun Li never gives the franchise a second chance to redeem itself. As I stated earlier, not a huge fan of either the game or the first movie, so walking into this film I never expected anything of value here, and how right I was. Not a continuation of the first, nor a reboot, Street Fighter starts off with Chun Li (Kristin Kruek) having her father taken from her at a young age by the crime boss, Bison (Neal McDonough). Bison uses his influence and wealth to raise his syndicate, Shadaloo, to full supremacy. Like all big bosses, Bison is closely guarded by a heavyweight by the name of Balrog (Michael Clarke Duncan), the enforcer. He is the baddie that makes sure all of the land goes to Shadaloo without problems, and does so through violence and intimidation. It’s not long before Chun Li is a grown concert pianist that receives a scroll written in ancient Chinese, which vaults her into a quest for her lost father, and subsequently, vengeance against the man and the syndicate that took him. The subplot involves a pair of detectives (Chris Klein and Moon Bloodgood) that are teamed up while investigating murdered crime bosses. This investigation leads them to Bison, and in turn, they end up teaming up with Chun Li to take Bison down. You get the drift.
It doesn’t take much description to know that this film’s storyline is both extremely weak as well as formulaic at best. At no point did this story ever get better than that rough, and albeit brief summary I wrote. Writer Justin Marks basically throws together a screenplay that feverishly threads very poor fight sequences with even worse punch lines. The movie falls completely off of the wagon here, and not once does it try to pull itself up.
During the movie I kept thinking “this couldn’t get any worse, maybe the some of the acting will save it.” Nope! It does get a whole helluva lot worse. Kruek, better known for her decent performances on Smallville, absolutely misses the mark with her performance here. Although she has very little in the way of material to work with, she doesn’t do much with what she has. By most standards, she is striking in beauty, but even that is abashed by her unsettling performance that just doesn’t fit her. This miscast role for her felt more like an easy paycheck then a chance at a decent starring role.
The supporting performances from the rest of the actors was easily the worst acting I’ve seen in the last two or three dozen movies. Michael Clarke Duncan chewed up every scene that he was in. I would have been more intimidated with his acting if he didn’t speak the entire film. Neal McDonough, a fairly decent character actor with roles in the award winning Band of Brothers mini-series, Star Trek: First Contact, Timeline, and Flags of Our Fathers, fails miserably to capture any kind of presence in his role as Bison. Often at times it felt forced, and like every other actor in this piece, he had very little, to no material to work with. As soon as you see him in his fight sequence where he is “gliding” ala Crouching Tiger style, you are going to realize how insanely ridiculous this film is. Chris Klein and Moon Bloodgood sadly don’t do anything to back up for the rest of the cast. Klein was given the same three lines and told to act them any time he was on screen, and Bloodgood was simply thrown on as eye candy and barely has any speaking parts.
Alright, so you’re probably wondering, “Nathan this isn’t a review, it’s a whine fest. When are you actually going to speak something half way decent about the film?” Well to whoever thinks this, I’m sorry but there is nothing even close to redeeming about this film besides the Kristin Kruek and Moon Bloodgood eye candy factor. Even when the film sets up for a huge fight sequence between Chun Li and Bison, it fails miserably. The first half of the fight sequence involves fighting with a giant bamboo stick. No, I’m not lying; they seriously fight with an 8 foot tall bamboo stick. The fight sequence ends when Chun Li uses her “ball of fury” and defeats Bison.
Overall, Street Fighter should have died a long time ago with Van Damme’s failed attempt. This film was doomed to fail and it didn’t help that the actors probably already knew this. Sign contract, read a few lines, throw a kick or two, pick up paycheck….. voilà! This film is one of those you would have gladly seen the budget go towards a charity instead of this disastrous film.
Rating: 
