Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li (2009)

Réalisateur:

Andrzej Bartkowiak

Scénariste:

Justin Marks (adaptation)

Date de sortie:

27 février 2009 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Aventure | Science-Fiction | Thriller

Accroche:

Some fight for power. Some fight for us.

Intrigue:

Based on the popular video game franchise, female fighter Chun Li embarks on a quest for justice. |

Plot Keywords:

Chun Li | Helicopter | Banana | Based On Video Game | Baseball Bat

Avis des utilisateurs:

what went wrong?

Ensemble

Kristin Kreuk	...	Chun-Li
Chris Klein	...	Charlie Nash
Neal McDonough	...	Bison / Vega (Japan)
Robin Shou	...	Gen
Moon Bloodgood	...	Det. Maya Sunee
Josie Ho	...	Cantana
Taboo	...	Vega / Balrog (Japan)
Michael Clarke Duncan	...	Balrog / Bison (Japan)
Pei-pei Cheng	...	Zhilan
Edmund Chen	...	Xiang
Inez Yan	...	Chun-Li (5 yrs)
Elizaveta Kiryukhina	...	Rose
Emilze Junqueira	...	Jeanne Xiang
Katherine Pemberton	...	Chun-Li (10 yrs)
Siri Sirijane	...	Liu

Autre(s) titre(s):

Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li (Japan: English title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for sequences of violence and martial arts action, and some sensuality.

Durée:

96 min

Pays:

Canada | India | USA | Japan

Langue:

Anglais

Couleur:

Couleur

Rapport de forme:

2,35 : 1

Son:

Dolby

Classification:

USA:PG-13 (certificate #44978) | Philippines:PG-13 (MTRCB) | Singapore:PG | Portugal:M/12 | Netherlands:12 | Mexico:B15 | Argentina:13

Lieux de tournage:

Bangkok, Thailand

Société:

Hyde Park Entertainment

Anecdotes:

This film portrays Vega as being of a different race. In the video games, Vega is depicted as being Spanish, while that in this film, Vega is depicted as being Native American to fit with the fact that Taboo is Mexican and Native American. Also, in the video games, Vega wears a mask to protect his beauty; in this film, he wears it to hide his face.

Goofs:

Révélant des erreurs: In the scene where Bison is beating Cantana to death, one of the views clearly shows the wires of her suspending harness, while a rear view does not show them.

Guillemet:

Chun-Li: [to Vega] No wonder you wear a mask.

Connexions De Film:

Référencé sur "The Rotten Tomatoes Show: Miss March/Race to Witch Mountain/Sunshine Cleaning (#1.3)" (2009)

what went wrong?

This movie is obviously going for a "re-imaging" of Street Fighter. Take a storyline and make it realistically believable. A number of movies adapted from comic books, cartoons and games have succeeded in that aspect; choosing to disregard the more far fetched and fantastical concepts and replacing them with aspects that are more rooted in contemporary reality.

I respect such a decision and who is to dispute it? Previous game adaptations that stuck with its more "unrealistic" concepts(Dead or Alive, Street Fighter 1994) never did as well as those that underwent a realistic re-imaging; like Tomb Raider and Resident Evil. In fact, it would be a breath of fresh air to have a Street Fighter story firmly grounded in reality and without all the campy goofiness that made its predecessor such an embarrassment.

So what went wrong? The story was simple enough to follow. The main character was well developed, as was she good eye candy. The acting was adequate with Neal McDonough giving one fine performance as a screen villain. Intense action and well choreographed fight scenes coupled with all the right camera angles made each battle a treat to watch.

if its one thing that director Andrzej Bartkowiak can do, that is stage a fight and work a camera to bring out the best in that fight scene.(and not surprising since he was originally a cinematographer-turned-director). Each kick and punch is shown with such vivid impact, yet wire stunts and what not are played out with restraint so as to not take away from the realism of the show. Whats more, the director is in familiar territory. With crime syndicate/revenge/martial arts movies like Cradle 2 the Grave and Romeo Must Die in his resume, Legend of Chun Li is right up his alley.

So what went wrong? Indecision. Either it was indecisiveness or a case of "too many cooks spoil the soup".

I bet the producers were split 50/50 on whether to make

a) Make this movie a complete realistic re-imaging or

b) Stick to the far fetched concepts of special powers and "dark qi" and evil organizations bent on world conquest

In the end, they took what could have been one of the MOST grounded-in-reality story for any video game adaptation, and threw in some of the most unbelievable, far out elements from the game. THe movie was going strong until 30 minutes into the film when you see a character tossing a "special power fire-ball" around. Yes i know the game characters tossed special power balls around like pies among clowns but against such a realistic setting and backdrop, such a concept would be ludicrous. Fine, they changed Bison from a power hungry, "psycho power" wielding dictator in charge of his own terrorist nation, into a more realistic underworld crime lord who works through blackmail and subterfuge. Then they had to go and throw in "ancient dark arts to rid a person of his conscience by transferring it into a baby". One of the silliest things i've ever heard; it sounds like something out of a bad 70s cartoon.

Unable to decide if it was going to be a straight out adaptation or a re-imagine, this movie failed to define its target audience and instead delivered a half baked product that was all over the place but not where movie goers want it to be. Overall, it is an entertaining but slightly clichéd cop/criminal organisation/martial arts/revenge story. This movie could have been so much more, but alas, it was not to be. Watch this one just for the fight scenes, and the ever attractive Kristin Kreuk. Way-ta-ruin a movie Capcom and thanks for the fireballs.