I've Seen STREET FIGHTER: THE LEGEND OF CHUN-LI

This drawing of Chun Li is far better than the movie.

This story is about the origin of the Street Fighter video game character, Chun Li. It stars Kristin Kreuk, and the star of the Mortal Kombat (plus the extremely underrated Beverly Hills Ninja) movies, Robin Shou. I was also surprised that a respected actor such as Michael Clarke Duncan accepted the part of Balrog. Having seen his performance in The Green Mile, that role was far beneath Duncan's acting capabilities. So I suspect that Michael lost a high stakes bet or is being blackmailed into participating in less than mediocre movies.

I was never convinced by Kreuk that she was born to play the character of Chun Li. To me, she just came across as an empty, cold-hearted woman of privilege. And when it came to Kristin's more emotional scenes, I've seen newborn babies cry more convincingly. I would have preferred a full-blooded Oriental to be cast in the role of Chun Li. Perhaps one with a sweet, child-like voice similar to that of Pikachou. Neal McDonough played the antagonist, Bison, who was born in Thailand of Irish missionary parents. The trouble I had with that background was that the movie seemed to imply that Bison's parents were dead when he was a mere infant. Yet, McDonough erratically switched between an Irish and American accent off and on throughout his dialogue. Having supposedly grown up on the mean streets of Thailand, you'd think Bison would have more of a stereotypical Oriental accent. For example:

BISON: "Ahh, Chun Wee, my mos powofoe inimee. I weel wike to berry much punch you in dee wivver."

See? That sounds far more authentic and "weelwistic".

There's nothing legendary about this flick. This film should have gone straight to video. Wait, that was too generous. The Lengend of Chun Li should have gone straight to the Nickelodian network, because this movie was less entertaining than the Nintendo 64 version of Street Fighter.