The Legend of Chun Li

[DorkyFresh]

Maggie Q is made for this role.

meh....i think she's hot, but she's too damn skinny, especially for her role as Mai Shiranui. she would've been better than Kristen Kreuk though.

 

[Nathan]

I would've looked for some Wushu Talent. Street Fighter doesn't need known actors. Just people that can kick ass and look convincing doing it. Of course they should be somewhat capable of acting.

 

[The Major]

meh....i think she's hot, but she's too damn skinny, especially for her role as Mai Shiranui.

Maggie may be skinny but she makes up for that with her acting and martial art talent IMO.

she would've been better than Kristen Kreuk though.

Agreed.

 

[DorkyFresh]

Maggie just needs to get preggers then she'd fill out to be Chun-Li's body type, hehe.

 

[Brian Braddock]

Agreed;

I hereby put myself forward to carry out the task.

It's a dirty job, but somebody's got to do it................

 

[Bishop2]

No, they're going for the little kids with this movie.

I definitely wouldn't say that. It's sure as hell a more mature film than DOA, but that's not very hard...

As far as violence goes, though, I did like

Spoiler

the full 180-degree neck break at the end, and also the part in the club where she kicks a guy to the ground, lifts up his gun while he's still holding it, shoves it under his chin and shoots him through the head.

Heh.

As for Kreuk's skinniness in the movie... first off, if you wanted for go for body type, well, that's why they tried to get Jessica Biel to do it, the whitest girl in Whiteonia. :P But Kreuk's legs did look pretty good when they had her walking in the tight shorts. There was at least more meat than she used to have. Of course, on someone her size, that ain't saying much.

 

[The Major]

I definitely wouldn't say that. It's sure as hell a more mature film than DOA, but that's not very hard...

Fair enough.

As for Kreuk's skinniness in the movie... first off, if you wanted for go for body type, well, that's why they tried to get Jessica Biel to do it, the whitest girl in Whiteonia. :P

Technically Biel isn't the body type, either. She's the wrong ethnicity. Then again, silly casting like this isn't unusual. IIRC Lucy Lui was the first person Fox wanted for Elektra. Incompetent casting like this needs to end.

But Kreuk's legs did look pretty good when they had her walking in the tight shorts. There was at least more meat than she used to have. Of course, on someone her size, that ain't saying much.

It's unfortunate being cheesecake is all she brings to the role. Something any hot actress could do in their sleep.

 

[Bishop2]

It's unfortunate being cheesecake is all she brings to the role. Something any hot actress could do in their sleep.

I actually meant that it looked like she had at least added some musculature to her legs - not enough of course, but at least she tried as much as a skinny little waif could. Truth be told, She wasn't even the most attractive girl in the movie. Hell, in her first scene she's acting off of a "friend" who is a far more attractive Asian actress. I couldn't help but ponder how that girl would've done in the part instead...

I'm not saying Kreuk was bad in the role, mind you. She wasn't; she emoted surprisingly well, and I liked her. But I'm not going to claim she was THE IDEAL person, either. I don't know who would be, but... I'm open to suggestions.

 

[Heretic]

I havent seen the film because I have a brain, but kreuk seems to look...um...harder...these days...not muscular...just like life has been tough. Like a sweet gil down the street who has hard times for awhile and the next time you see her she looks kind of angry

 

[Bishop2]

I havent seen the film because I have a brain

I prefer to use my brain to form my own opinion on things without assuming I automatically agree with everybody else.

Not saying a thinking person can't choose to NOT see the movie. Just saying that a thinking person can very easily decide to give it a chance, too.

 

[ABleedingCorpse]

........I'm still upset I lost 5 bucks at the ghetto theater to see this, but then again, my tattooist knocked off a few bucks for re-schedualing me that night...so I got this done.

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[Heretic]

I was kidding

Though, without seeing this film, my brain is telling me its garbage.

 

[Red Mask]

i say i want bigger legs for chun li and people start talking about bodybuilders or start positing anime pics of muscular girls.
it doesnt matter who this girl is or how her face looks.
look at those legs. they dont look skinny and they dont look like bodybulder legs.
is this so hard to find?

Chun Li already looks like a bodybuilder. She's 'da strongest voman in da Vorld', ja?

 

[Red Mask]

Maggie Q is already playing Mai Shiranui in the upcoming King of Fighters movie.

 

[rashad]

Believe or not, I didn't think this movie was that horrible. Does it have flaws? Hell yeah it does. I wasn't fond of alot of nonsense. Especially the Bison subplot about his daughter. That was pretty lame. This film does fall apart in the 2nd half. Pretty lackluster to say the least. Almost like they didn't know how to conclude things in the 3rd act. Moon Bloodgood was smoking hot though.

 

[dark_b]

Believe or not, I didn't think this movie was that horrible. Does it have flaws? Hell yeah it does. I wasn't fond of alot of nonsense. Especially the Bison subplot about his daughter. That was pretty lame. This film does fall apart in the 2nd half. Pretty lackluster to say the least. Almost like they didn't know how to conclude things in the 3rd act. Moon Bloodgood was smoking hot though.

now i understand why FOX is making those movies.

who are you...............and what are you

 

[Episode29]

My review:

Remember those golden days of yore, when Street Fighter II ruled the arcades? A simpler time, it was, filled with glorious Sonic Booms, concussive Hadoukens and earth-shattering Tiger-Uppercuts. It was a precious period in my life, before the perils of school, work and romance, where the most daunting of tribulations could be defeated with a well-timed flash-kick. No offence to Kevin Arnold, but the early nineties were the TRUE wonder years!

So when I heard that &#8216;ol Hollywood was launching a new ass-kicking adaptation, it was hard not to let a small part of my inner-nerd bask in the fan-glow. I mean, sure, lessons were learned from the fromage-o-rific Van Damme quasi-epic Street Fighter: The Movie &#8211; which was packed with more stealth boats, cartoonish flexing and corny speeches than you could spit a Yoga Flame at! &#8211; but c&#8217;mon, that clown-show set the bar so low that there was no feasible way that Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li could possibly be any crappier, right!? Right???

In a noticeable attempt to sidestep the slavish faithfulness of the 1994 original, which stirred almost twenty game characters into an over-caffeinated smorgasbord of chop-socky Chop Suey, The Legend of Chun-Li has taken the reverse course and ignored nearly everything to do with the Capcom classic. Instead, we now tag along with the petite Chun-Li (Smallville&#8217;s Kristen Kreuk), a Julliard trained concert pianist who also happens to be skilled in the Chinese martial art of Wushu. After her loving father is kidnapped by the evil (vaguely Irish) business tycoon Bison (Neil McDonough), she begins a transformative journey of discovery which owes more than a handful of quarters to Batman Begins.

Living on the mean streets of Bangkok, Chun-Li begins an unconvincing, earnestly narrated descent into the criminal underworld before meeting Liam Neeson... Or rather Robin Shou, playing the Neeson role, as Gen, a martial arts master who leads the secret organization Order of the Web. (I counted two members) In a series of training sequences, Gen schools our diminutive heroine in the sacred arts of high-kicks and fireball throwing, all the while spouting platitudes about lacking focus and not giving in to anger. Proving a quick study, our little ninja pixie is soon ready to rumble, and investigating Bison&#8217;s nefarious criminal plot which involves, wait for it, crooked real estate dealings! (Boo! Hiss!) Teaming up with rugged, greasy Interpol agent Charlie Nash (Chris Klein &#8211; more on him later) and his cleavage-flaunting partner, Det. Maya Sunee (Moon Boobgood, er, Bloodgood.), Chun-Li must face off against Bison&#8217;s hired assassins&#8217; Balrog (Michael Clarke Duncan) and Vega (The Black Eyed Peas&#8217; Taboo), before facing the big, bad end-of-level boss himself.

Le sigh. It almost pains me to admit that all of this exhausted material is played out with grim sincerity and nary a stealth boat on the horizon. Helping to ease the pain though, is American Pie alum Klein, as the swaggering Nash, who scores a home-run with a truly oddball performance. In a moment of campy genius, the actor, accompanied by gangsta rap on the soundtrack, struts boldly towards the camera before slyly announcing - to no one in particular &#8211; &#8220;I love this job!&#8221;. Arguably inspired by equal parts Cobra, Tango & Cash and Miami Vice, Klein is an absolute hoot every second of his screen-time. The hell with The Legend of Chun-Li, I want to see The Sexy Adventures of Charlie Nash!

Tragically, instead of following Klein&#8217;s possibly stoned hep-cat act, the remainder of the cast are a bunch of Blandy McBlandersons, though Kreuk does have a hilarious moment where, in an attempt to draw the attention of Bison&#8217;s lesbian henchwomen in a dance club, she seductively &#8220;steps up to the streets&#8221;/&#8220;stomps the yard&#8221;. (I&#8217;m too square to tell the difference) Another memorable bit involves Bison&#8217;s bat-**** crazy origin, which features magic caves and child-birth through super-punching. Ouch.

The fight scenes are all over the map, with an early scuffle between Chun-Li&#8217;s father and Balrog probably the highlight due to its inclusion of flaming hands. The rest, particularly those featuring Kreuk, are packed with stupid wire-work and noticeably jagged editing, used to hide the star&#8217;s lack of fighting prowess. Additionally, the decision to stage a climactic gun fight between two teams of black-clad participants in the dark was, putting it mildly, imbecilic.

Still, The Legend of Chun-Li is almost charming in its incompetence, and I couldn&#8217;t help but feel a twinge of pity when the clearly delusional filmmakers trotted out a last minute sequel teaser. When your film can&#8217;t improve upon the sight of a sickly Raul Julia flying through the air in a bright red super-suit, it&#8217;s probably time to move on. Despite the presence of a cute star and lots of pyrotechnics, this film confirms that, when it comes to Street Fighter, Hollywood doesn&#8217;t know which buttons to push.

1.5 out of 5

 

[K.B.]

Anyone else think the chick who played Lady Deathstrike in X2 would make a good Chun-Li?

I know I do t:

 

[dark_b]

of course she would. but kreuk has a bigger fanbase. look at the BO. its making millions.

 

[Octoberist]

i still don't understand the need for a Chun Li movie, even when it was first announced.

It reminds me how Hollywood can't make a Punisher movie right, despite the simple premise. I mean, the latest one was so bad that it was good, but they shouldn't be a positive in my opinion.

It's always been all about Ryu and Ken and yet, Hollywood doesn't get it. It's weird.

 

[I SEE SPIDEY]

^Agreed.

 

[Octoberist]

it was a damn weird decision. Heck, I don't know who to blame..Fox?

 

[K.B.]

No, not Fox...Rothman!

 

[The Major]

of course she would. but kreuk has a bigger fanbase. look at the BO. its making millions.

Kelly Hu may not be as well known but there is no reason to believe she couldn't do better in a movie like this. Kruek's fan base isn't necessarily big enough to make her the better choice over Hu. Jackman had zilch before he became a star in X-men, for example, and she has much better exposure before he got a big role in a Hollywood movie and the new ST movie isn't exactly Superman.

 

[dark_b]

dude i was joking. this movie is bombing . kreuk is a bad actress,has no muscles for chun li and has nothing.