Street Fighter II- The Legend of Chun-Li

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This post is all about Street Fighter II- The Legend of Chun-Li.

I remember playing the SNES Street Fighter II for hours and days with friends and I was best with Chun-Li (she was the only one I could find that could get out of the cheese moves like Guile's Sonic Boom) so, when I heard that 'they' crafted a movie based primarily around my favorite Street Fighter, I was pumped! However, when this movie came out in theaters, I missed it and was very saddened. Fortunately, thanks to Terminator, Wolverine, Star Trek, and a few other movies, I almost didn't even notice the wait for Chun-Li to hit Blu-Ray.

I eager scampered out and rented a copy (I wanted to buy it but the only available copies were on DVD) and sat down to watch it at my earliest convenience (last night). I was settled in and ready to go, I even updated my Memorex player.

I was very surprised to find that Kristen Kreuk (Smallville's Lana Lang) was playing the lead role and was also a bit shocked to find Chris Klein cast as Nash. I must also admit that I had quite the crush on Miss Kreuk when I used to watch Smallville regularly.

The movie kicked off and was already showing great promise by the title sequence, so I was very thrilled to grab up this movie but, as the time began to drag on, I was quickly realizing why this movie was not receiving the warm buzz that some cult classics gain. The story was quickly proving to be no better than early Steven Segal flicks, the villains were all wet, Kristen (alas, my aching heart) seemed almost crackhead thin and was not able to pull off a good Chun-Li. Nothing of any major worth came from this movie. The Chi was hokey and the special effects belonged on USA Up All Night. The fight scenes were generic, the soundtrack was audial diarhea, and Chris Klein does NOT play a bad ass. He seems more like a woman dressed as a man, playing a woman who is pretending to be a hard ass guy. Sorry Mr. Klein but your performance left something to be desired (like a male presence).

I sat through this 90 minute arcade devastation and, as it was beginning to roll its ending credits, I asked myself what I had just done! Through it all, one good thing came out of this movie...I didn't spend twenty bucks so it could waste space on my movie shelf between Spider-Man and Superman.