While the first Street Fighter movie set the stage for the Street Fighter universe, and was quite in keeping with the core plot of Street Fighter, The Legend of Chun-Li is a lot more realistic and can be easily related to the real world. Though it never comes up, I’m assuming that this is a few years prior to the events of the Street Fighter movie from 1994. I noticed some of the camera work to be amateurish, but otherwise for most part the movie was pretty good. There were some high impact actions scenes, and key Street Fighter characters including M.Bison, Balrog, Vega, Gen and Rose made an appearance. The plot had the usual crime syndicate piece by means of Shadaloo’s agenda, the master apprentice routine with Gen and Chun-Li, and also a unique father daughter relationship. Although I wouldn’t rate it as being intensely gripping, the pacing was acceptable and the movie was entertaining throughout. If you’re a Street Fighter fan then this is a must watch for you. You’ll find that Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li is comparable and possibly better than most run of the mill Hong Kong action movies.
The most prominent role was that of Chun-Li played by Kristin Kreuk. I found it a little odd that the 5 year old version of Chun-Li had such strong Asian features, but later grew to look like Kristin Kreuk who looks barely Asian. That aside, I think Kristin’s performance was excellent. Her acting was good, and so were her martial arts. Her portrayal of the loving daughter driven by anger to find her kidnapped father, as well as a pure hearted human being who by nature stood up for the weak and poor was commendable. If you’re a fan of Kristin Kreuk, then this is probably a must see movie. Neal McDonough as Bison was perfect; cold, conscienceless, ruthless and powerful. While a little smaller than what I’d have expected Bison to be, Neal McDonough is brilliant as a villain. Chris Klein plays the role of Charlie Nash, an Interpol operative on the hells of Bison and Shadaloo for over 3 years now. I found his role to be a little silly and comical. Perhaps his was the comic element in the plot. While working in Bangkok, he partners with Det. Maya Sunee, played by Moon Bloodgood. While I’m not very familiar with her past work, she has worked on a few notable projects. In Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li she plays a hot sassy police detective that means business and doesn’t mind getting her hand dirty. She played the part well, and kept things lively. Robin Shou’s portrayal of Gen, the wise mentor of Chun-Li was pretty decent. What I found extremely ironic was that he played the part of Liu Kang in the Mortal Kombat motion picture, which incidentally is also based on a videogame, and perhaps the primary competing arcade fighter against Street Fighter. Lastly, Michael Clarke Duncan as Balrog was brilliant. He looked and felt the part more than ever. His performance was flawless, and he brought to the screen solid presence as the top dog of Bison.
As in most cases, the DVD I was watching was a Region 1 US DVD. Video was bright, clear and quite good all through. No color filters or tones were applied, and colors were quite vibrant; especially during the daytime shots. Though not very large scale, the special effect were decent and not noticeable cheesy. The soundtrack that was presented by means of Dolby Digital 5.1 surround was ample. It added a lot of impact to the martial arts fight sequences. Surround usage was present but nothing overly noteworthy.
My Recommendation: Watch It – (A must see for Street Fighter fans, but average/passable for those unfamiliar to Street Fighter)
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