Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li
Encyclopedia
Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li is the second live-action film based on the Street Fighter series of video games. It follows the quest of Street Fighter character Chun-Li
, who is portrayed by Kristin Kreuk
. The story follows Chun-Li's personal history and her journey for justice. The film co-stars Neal McDonough
as M. Bison
, Chris Klein
as Charlie, Michael Clarke Duncan
as Balrog
, and The Black Eyed Peas
member Taboo
as Vega
. The film was released on February 27, 2009 to extremely negative reviews and poor box office numbers.
with her family. While practicing to be an aspiring concert pianist, she learns Wushu
from her father Xiang, a well-connected businessman. For a while, her life is perfect until one night, Xiang is attacked and abducted by M. Bison's henchmen in front of Chun-Li. She does not hear from him from that point on.
Years later, Chun-Li grows up and becomes a talented concert pianist. At the end of one of her concerts, she receives a mysterious scroll written in ancient Chinese
text. Shortly after, she loses her mother to cancer.
Meanwhile, at Shadaloo headquarters in Bangkok
, Thailand
, Bison announces his complete control of the organization before he has the other shareholders executed by Vega. It is also revealed that Xiang is still alive and working for Bison.
The next day, Thai detective Maya Sunee meets Interpol
agent Charlie Nash, when both are called to investigate the murder of several crime syndicate families in Bangkok. Nash informs Maya that this is the work of Shadaloo.
Back in Hong Kong, Chun-Li has the scroll translated by a wise old lady, who tells her she must travel to Bangkok and find a man named Gen. Chun-Li then leaves her home and travels to Bangkok, living homeless and searching for Gen for several days until a fight with a group of thugs leaves her exhausted and unconscious, and Gen appears and brings her to his home. Gen informs her that he was once comrades with Bison and he knows how to find her father, and for the next few days, he teaches her his style of martial arts. Chun-Li also learns more about Bison, who is operating Shadaloo publicly under the business name Esperanto Corp. and is holding the families of property owners hostage in order to force them to sign their property over to him. While spying on Bison's henchman Balrog, she overhears that a property owner is asked to hand over the rights to a docking harbor, allowing the shipment of the "White Rose".
Later that night, Chun-Li goes to a nightclub and confronts Cantana, one of Bison's secretaries. She obtains information on the location of the White Rose before escaping from Shadaloo's thugs and Nash and Maya. As a result of this incident, Cantana is used as a punching bag by Bison the next day.
Gen tells Chun-Li more of Bison's origin. The son of Irish
missionaries, Bison grew up an orphan and lived his entire life as a thief. Many years later, as a means of becoming completely evil, he killed his wife and transferred his conscience into his prematurely born daughter. After telling Chun-Li to go and fetch some food, Gen is attacked by Shadaloo soldiers before Balrog uses a RPG to blow up his house. Chun-Li runs off when she is attacked by Vega, whom she soundly defeats and leaves hanging by the side of a building.
The next day, Chun-Li interrogates a harbor employee into telling her the arrival time of the White Rose. She returns to the shipping yard that night, only to fall into a trap as Bison and his soldiers capture her. Tied up and brought into an undisclosed house, she is reunited with Xiang, only for Bison to break his neck. After Bison and Balrog leave the house, Chun-Li uses her skills to defeat the guards and escape. During the escape, she is shot in the arm by Balrog, but is reunited with Gen, who heals her wounds and continues with her training.
Despite being taken off the assignment, Nash is secretly asked by Chun-Li to back her up in taking down Bison. Nash and Chun-Li, along with Maya and her SWAT team, arrive at the shipping yard, where they engage in a shootout with Shadaloo forces. Maya is wounded in the shootout, but her SWAT team manages to dwindle Shadaloo's numbers. Meanwhile, Chun-Li enters a ship and discovers a girl who speaks Russian before leaving her to continue her search for Bison. On the other side of the ship, Gen faces off against Balrog until he impales him with a liquid nitrogen pipe. Bison takes the girl - who is revealed to be his daughter Rose - and flees the scene by helicopter.
Chun-Li, Gen, Nash and a SWAT officer arrive at Bison's headquarters, where Nash and the officer take Rose out to safety while Chun-Li and Gen face Bison. After a long battle, Chun-Li hits Bison with a bamboo pole and drops sandbags on him, stunning him. She then charges up a Kikoken and shoots it at him, knocking him off the scaffolding before she jumps and twists his neck with her legs. Nash tells Chun-Li to leave the scene as Thai police arrive.
Chun-Li returns to her home in Hong Kong and settles down when Gen pays her a visit. He shows her a newspaper ad for an upcoming Street Fighter tournament, telling her that a Japanese fighter named Ryu
might be a perfect recruit for their cause. She declines the offer, telling him she is home for now.
was originally cast as Gen but has been replaced by Robin Shou
, who played as Liu Kang
, the lead character in the Mortal Kombat films.
California, los angeles
The special First Run printed included a bonus DVD of the Udon Street Fighter Comic Series: "Round One FIGHT".
The film was not cinematically released in Australia but was released straight to DVD on January 14, 2010.
The film opened at #9 at the American DVD sales chart, selling 92,830 units in the first weekend. About 258,000 DVD units have been sold so far in the United States, bringing in revenue of $4.7m. This figure does not include DVD rentals/Blu-ray sales.
The film ranking website Rotten Tomatoes
gives the film a score of 20% based on 66 reviews.
It was ranked 44th in Rotten Tomatoes's 100 worst reviewed films of the 2000s, based on a score of 4% at the time of its review.
At Metacritic
, which assigns a normalized
rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the film has received an average
score of 17%, based on 10 reviews.
Amongst the more positive reviews, Rob Nelson of Variety
wrote that "Neither the best nor the worst of movies derived from videogames, Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li at least gives action fans plenty to ogle besides the titular heroine (Kristin Kreuk
)", while The New York Times
wrote that the film was "Reveling in the vivid Bangkok
locations, Geoff Boyle's photography is crisp and bright, and Dion Lam
's action choreography unusually witty".
Negative reviews focused on the screenplay and fight scenes. The Hollywood Reporter
wrote that "other than a few reasonably well-staged fight sequences, the proceedings are dull and visually uninspired. Justin Marks' solemn screenplay lacks any trace of wit."
Jeremy Wheeler of TV Guide
wrote that "Fight scenes, while admirable for shaking off the shaky-cam aesthetic of their big-screen brethren, neither inspire nor find a good balance between martial arts and FX-laden power punches".
IGN
gave the film 1.5 stars out of 5, saying "There's better staged and more enjoyable brawls between Peter and the Chicken on Family Guy
." They also felt the original live-action Street Fighter
film was more enjoyable than The Legend of Chun-Li.
Ryan Davis of GiantBomb said "It's a re-invisioning (of the source material) by people who can't see" and that Chris Klien's performance had him cringing by the end when ever he was on screen.
AskMen.com placed the film at #5 in their Top 10 Worst Video Game Movies, topically stating: "We don’t know about you, but in Street Fighter’s illustrious 23-year history we’ve never once seen Balrog fire a rocket launcher. If you paid money to see this -- even stolen money -- D, DF, F+HP yourself in the pancreas."
Chun-Li
is a video game character produced by Capcom. First introduced in Street Fighter II, she has since appeared as a player character in nearly all subsequent games....
, who is portrayed by Kristin Kreuk
Kristin Kreuk
Kristin Laura Kreuk is a Canadian actress and producer, known for her portrayal of Lana Lang in the American television series Smallville. She was also a regular cast member on the Canadian teen drama Edgemont, and has starred in movies such as Eurotrip and Street Fighter: The Legend of...
. The story follows Chun-Li's personal history and her journey for justice. The film co-stars Neal McDonough
Neal McDonough
Neal P. McDonough is an American film, television and voice actor.-Career:In 1991, McDonough won the Best Actor Dramalogue for "Away Alone". McDonough has made many television and film appearances since then, including Band of Brothers, Boomtown, Star Trek: First Contact, Minority Report and The...
as M. Bison
M. Bison
M. Bison, known in Japan as Vega, is a video game character created by Capcom. First introduced in Street Fighter II: The World Warrior, he is a recurring character in the Street Fighter series of fighting games, acting as the final boss and primary antagonist of the Street Fighter II and Street...
, Chris Klein
Chris Klein (actor)
Frederick Christopher "Chris" Klein is an American movie actor. He is perhaps best known for playing Chris "Oz" Ostreicher in the 1999 film American Pie and its sequel American Pie 2.-Early life:...
as Charlie, Michael Clarke Duncan
Michael Clarke Duncan
Michael Clarke Duncan is an American actor, best known for his breakout role as John Coffey in The Green Mile, for which he was nominated for an Academy Award and a Golden Globe.- Early life :...
as Balrog
Balrog (Street Fighter)
Balrog is a character from the Street Fighter fighting game series.Balrog is depicted as an African American boxer wearing blue trunks with white trim and a torn white shirt under a blue tank top. He wears red boxing gloves and boxing shoes...
, and The Black Eyed Peas
The Black Eyed Peas
The Black Eyed Peas are an American pop group , formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1995. The group includes rappers will.i.am, apl.de.ap, and Taboo, and singer Fergie. Since the release of their third album Elephunk in 2003, the group has sold an estimated 56 million records worldwide...
member Taboo
Taboo (rapper)
Jaime Luis Gómez , better known by his stage name Taboo, is an American singer, actor, and rapper best known as a member of the group The Black Eyed Peas.-Personal life:...
as Vega
Vega (Street Fighter)
Vega is a fictional character from the Street Fighter fighting game series. Vega is a masked, claw-wielding warrior from Spain who uses a personal fighting style combining Japanese Ninjutsu and Bullfighting, earning him the nickname the "Spanish Ninja".Vega first appears in the original Street...
. The film was released on February 27, 2009 to extremely negative reviews and poor box office numbers.
Plot
As a child, Chun-Li moves from San Francisco to Hong KongHong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
with her family. While practicing to be an aspiring concert pianist, she learns Wushu
Wushu (sport)
The sport of wushu is both an exhibition and a full-contact sport derived from traditional Chinese martial arts. It was created in the People's Republic of China after 1949, in an attempt to nationalize the practice of traditional Chinese martial arts...
from her father Xiang, a well-connected businessman. For a while, her life is perfect until one night, Xiang is attacked and abducted by M. Bison's henchmen in front of Chun-Li. She does not hear from him from that point on.
Years later, Chun-Li grows up and becomes a talented concert pianist. At the end of one of her concerts, she receives a mysterious scroll written in ancient Chinese
Chinese language
The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...
text. Shortly after, she loses her mother to cancer.
Meanwhile, at Shadaloo headquarters in Bangkok
Bangkok
Bangkok is the capital and largest urban area city in Thailand. It is known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon or simply Krung Thep , meaning "city of angels." The full name of Bangkok is Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahintharayutthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom...
, Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
, Bison announces his complete control of the organization before he has the other shareholders executed by Vega. It is also revealed that Xiang is still alive and working for Bison.
The next day, Thai detective Maya Sunee meets Interpol
Interpol
Interpol, whose full name is the International Criminal Police Organization – INTERPOL, is an organization facilitating international police cooperation...
agent Charlie Nash, when both are called to investigate the murder of several crime syndicate families in Bangkok. Nash informs Maya that this is the work of Shadaloo.
Back in Hong Kong, Chun-Li has the scroll translated by a wise old lady, who tells her she must travel to Bangkok and find a man named Gen. Chun-Li then leaves her home and travels to Bangkok, living homeless and searching for Gen for several days until a fight with a group of thugs leaves her exhausted and unconscious, and Gen appears and brings her to his home. Gen informs her that he was once comrades with Bison and he knows how to find her father, and for the next few days, he teaches her his style of martial arts. Chun-Li also learns more about Bison, who is operating Shadaloo publicly under the business name Esperanto Corp. and is holding the families of property owners hostage in order to force them to sign their property over to him. While spying on Bison's henchman Balrog, she overhears that a property owner is asked to hand over the rights to a docking harbor, allowing the shipment of the "White Rose".
Later that night, Chun-Li goes to a nightclub and confronts Cantana, one of Bison's secretaries. She obtains information on the location of the White Rose before escaping from Shadaloo's thugs and Nash and Maya. As a result of this incident, Cantana is used as a punching bag by Bison the next day.
Gen tells Chun-Li more of Bison's origin. The son of Irish
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
missionaries, Bison grew up an orphan and lived his entire life as a thief. Many years later, as a means of becoming completely evil, he killed his wife and transferred his conscience into his prematurely born daughter. After telling Chun-Li to go and fetch some food, Gen is attacked by Shadaloo soldiers before Balrog uses a RPG to blow up his house. Chun-Li runs off when she is attacked by Vega, whom she soundly defeats and leaves hanging by the side of a building.
The next day, Chun-Li interrogates a harbor employee into telling her the arrival time of the White Rose. She returns to the shipping yard that night, only to fall into a trap as Bison and his soldiers capture her. Tied up and brought into an undisclosed house, she is reunited with Xiang, only for Bison to break his neck. After Bison and Balrog leave the house, Chun-Li uses her skills to defeat the guards and escape. During the escape, she is shot in the arm by Balrog, but is reunited with Gen, who heals her wounds and continues with her training.
Despite being taken off the assignment, Nash is secretly asked by Chun-Li to back her up in taking down Bison. Nash and Chun-Li, along with Maya and her SWAT team, arrive at the shipping yard, where they engage in a shootout with Shadaloo forces. Maya is wounded in the shootout, but her SWAT team manages to dwindle Shadaloo's numbers. Meanwhile, Chun-Li enters a ship and discovers a girl who speaks Russian before leaving her to continue her search for Bison. On the other side of the ship, Gen faces off against Balrog until he impales him with a liquid nitrogen pipe. Bison takes the girl - who is revealed to be his daughter Rose - and flees the scene by helicopter.
Chun-Li, Gen, Nash and a SWAT officer arrive at Bison's headquarters, where Nash and the officer take Rose out to safety while Chun-Li and Gen face Bison. After a long battle, Chun-Li hits Bison with a bamboo pole and drops sandbags on him, stunning him. She then charges up a Kikoken and shoots it at him, knocking him off the scaffolding before she jumps and twists his neck with her legs. Nash tells Chun-Li to leave the scene as Thai police arrive.
Chun-Li returns to her home in Hong Kong and settles down when Gen pays her a visit. He shows her a newspaper ad for an upcoming Street Fighter tournament, telling her that a Japanese fighter named Ryu
Ryu (Street Fighter)
is a video game player character created by Capcom, the main protagonist of the Street Fighter series. Having premiered in the first Street Fighter in 1987, Ryu appears as the lead character from the game along with his best friend Ken Masters participating in the Street Fighter tournament...
might be a perfect recruit for their cause. She declines the offer, telling him she is home for now.
Cast
- Neal McDonoughNeal McDonoughNeal P. McDonough is an American film, television and voice actor.-Career:In 1991, McDonough won the Best Actor Dramalogue for "Away Alone". McDonough has made many television and film appearances since then, including Band of Brothers, Boomtown, Star Trek: First Contact, Minority Report and The...
as M. BisonM. BisonM. Bison, known in Japan as Vega, is a video game character created by Capcom. First introduced in Street Fighter II: The World Warrior, he is a recurring character in the Street Fighter series of fighting games, acting as the final boss and primary antagonist of the Street Fighter II and Street... - Chris KleinChris Klein (actor)Frederick Christopher "Chris" Klein is an American movie actor. He is perhaps best known for playing Chris "Oz" Ostreicher in the 1999 film American Pie and its sequel American Pie 2.-Early life:...
as Charlie Nash - Michael Clarke DuncanMichael Clarke DuncanMichael Clarke Duncan is an American actor, best known for his breakout role as John Coffey in The Green Mile, for which he was nominated for an Academy Award and a Golden Globe.- Early life :...
as BalrogBalrog (Street Fighter)Balrog is a character from the Street Fighter fighting game series.Balrog is depicted as an African American boxer wearing blue trunks with white trim and a torn white shirt under a blue tank top. He wears red boxing gloves and boxing shoes... - Moon BloodgoodMoon BloodgoodKorinna Moon Bloodgood is an American actress and model. She starred as "Lt. Blair Williams" in the film Terminator Salvation alongside Christian Bale and Sam Worthington. Bloodgood previously starred in the films Eight Below and Pathfinder.-Early life:Bloodgood was born in Anaheim, California...
as Detective Maya Sunee - TabooTaboo (rapper)Jaime Luis Gómez , better known by his stage name Taboo, is an American singer, actor, and rapper best known as a member of the group The Black Eyed Peas.-Personal life:...
as VegaVega (Street Fighter)Vega is a fictional character from the Street Fighter fighting game series. Vega is a masked, claw-wielding warrior from Spain who uses a personal fighting style combining Japanese Ninjutsu and Bullfighting, earning him the nickname the "Spanish Ninja".Vega first appears in the original Street... - Robin ShouRobin ShouShou Wan Por , known professionally as Robin Shou, is a Hong Kong martial artist and actor. Frequently appearing in numerous martial arts films, Shou was most successful for playing the role of Liu Kang in Mortal Kombat & Gobei with the late Chris Farley in Beverly Hills Ninja.-Career:Shou's first...
as Gen - Edmund ChenEdmund ChenEdmund Chen Zhicai is a Chinese Singaporean film actor, singer, television actor and host. He is the elder brother of Dr. Loretta Chen.-Career:...
as Xiang - Josie HoJosie HoJosephine "Josie" Ho Chiu-Yi is a daughter of Macao casino magnate Stanley Ho, and a singer and actress from Hong Kong.-Movie career:She was involved in numerous movies, TV commercials, TV dramas, and singing performances....
as Cantana - Elizaveta Kiryukhina as Rose
- Katherine Pemberton as Young Chun-Li
- Cheng Pei-peiCheng Pei-peiCheng Pei-pei is an actress best known for her performance in the seminal 1966 King Hu wuxia film Come Drink with Me. She continued to play expert swordswomen in a number of films throughout the 1960s...
as Zhilan - Chow MeinChow meinChow mein is a Chinese term for a dish of stir-fried noodles, of which there are many varieties.-Etymology:...
as Akuma sensei - Mayra Alejandra Moran as Chun-LiChun-Liis a video game character produced by Capcom. First introduced in Street Fighter II, she has since appeared as a player character in nearly all subsequent games....
- Ricardo Portillo as ching ching
Production
Rick YuneRick Yune
Richard "Rick" Yune is a Korean American actor, screenwriter, producer, and martial artist.Yune, a Korean American, was born in Washington D.C. He is the older brother of actor Karl Yune...
was originally cast as Gen but has been replaced by Robin Shou
Robin Shou
Shou Wan Por , known professionally as Robin Shou, is a Hong Kong martial artist and actor. Frequently appearing in numerous martial arts films, Shou was most successful for playing the role of Liu Kang in Mortal Kombat & Gobei with the late Chris Farley in Beverly Hills Ninja.-Career:Shou's first...
, who played as Liu Kang
Liu Kang
Liu Kang is a video game character in the Mortal Kombat fighting game series. First appearing in the series' first title, Liu Kang is portrayed as a Shaolin monk who enters the Mortal Kombat tournament to save his world, Earthrealm, from being destroyed due to having lost nine consecutive...
, the lead character in the Mortal Kombat films.
Shooting locations
- Hong KongHong KongHong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
, China - BangkokBangkokBangkok is the capital and largest urban area city in Thailand. It is known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon or simply Krung Thep , meaning "city of angels." The full name of Bangkok is Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahintharayutthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom...
, Thailand - VancouverVancouverVancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
, British Columbia, Canada - RenoReno, NevadaReno is the county seat of Washoe County, Nevada, United States. The city has a population of about 220,500 and is the most populous Nevada city outside of the Las Vegas metropolitan area...
, Nevada, United States - HerlongHerlong, CaliforniaHerlong is a census-designated place in Lassen County, California. It is located north of Doyle, at an elevation of 4114 feet . Herlong is located in southern Lassen County near the southeast edge of Honey Lake about north of Reno, Nevada, and about south of Susanville. The community is...
, California, United States
California, los angeles
Release
The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray on June 30, 2009.The special First Run printed included a bonus DVD of the Udon Street Fighter Comic Series: "Round One FIGHT".
The film was not cinematically released in Australia but was released straight to DVD on January 14, 2010.
The film opened at #9 at the American DVD sales chart, selling 92,830 units in the first weekend. About 258,000 DVD units have been sold so far in the United States, bringing in revenue of $4.7m. This figure does not include DVD rentals/Blu-ray sales.
Reception
Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li received overwhelmingly negative reviews and was not pre-screened for critics.The film ranking website Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
gives the film a score of 20% based on 66 reviews.
It was ranked 44th in Rotten Tomatoes's 100 worst reviewed films of the 2000s, based on a score of 4% at the time of its review.
At Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
, which assigns a normalized
Standard score
In statistics, a standard score indicates how many standard deviations an observation or datum is above or below the mean. It is a dimensionless quantity derived by subtracting the population mean from an individual raw score and then dividing the difference by the population standard deviation...
rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the film has received an average
Weighted mean
The weighted mean is similar to an arithmetic mean , where instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others...
score of 17%, based on 10 reviews.
Amongst the more positive reviews, Rob Nelson of Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
wrote that "Neither the best nor the worst of movies derived from videogames, Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li at least gives action fans plenty to ogle besides the titular heroine (Kristin Kreuk
Kristin Kreuk
Kristin Laura Kreuk is a Canadian actress and producer, known for her portrayal of Lana Lang in the American television series Smallville. She was also a regular cast member on the Canadian teen drama Edgemont, and has starred in movies such as Eurotrip and Street Fighter: The Legend of...
)", while The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
wrote that the film was "Reveling in the vivid Bangkok
Bangkok
Bangkok is the capital and largest urban area city in Thailand. It is known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon or simply Krung Thep , meaning "city of angels." The full name of Bangkok is Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahintharayutthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom...
locations, Geoff Boyle's photography is crisp and bright, and Dion Lam
Dion Lam
Dion Lam Dik-On is a Hong Kong action choreographer and actor.- Filmography :*The Hangman *Energetic 21 *Crazy Blood *Mistaken Identity *The Killer *Ghost Ballroom *Angel Enforcers...
's action choreography unusually witty".
Negative reviews focused on the screenplay and fight scenes. The Hollywood Reporter
The Hollywood Reporter
Formerly a daily trade magazine, The Hollywood Reporter re-launched in late 2010 as a unique hybrid publication serving the entertainment industry and a consumer audience...
wrote that "other than a few reasonably well-staged fight sequences, the proceedings are dull and visually uninspired. Justin Marks' solemn screenplay lacks any trace of wit."
Jeremy Wheeler of TV Guide
TV Guide
TV Guide is a weekly American magazine with listings of TV shows.In addition to TV listings, the publication features television-related news, celebrity interviews, gossip and film reviews and crossword puzzles...
wrote that "Fight scenes, while admirable for shaking off the shaky-cam aesthetic of their big-screen brethren, neither inspire nor find a good balance between martial arts and FX-laden power punches".
IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
gave the film 1.5 stars out of 5, saying "There's better staged and more enjoyable brawls between Peter and the Chicken on Family Guy
Family Guy
Family Guy is an American animated television series created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series centers on the Griffins, a dysfunctional family consisting of parents Peter and Lois; their children Meg, Chris, and Stewie; and their anthropomorphic pet dog Brian...
." They also felt the original live-action Street Fighter
Street Fighter (film)
Street Fighter is a 1994 American action film written and directed by Steven E. de Souza. It is based loosely on the same-titled video games produced by Capcom, and stars Jean-Claude Van Damme, and Raul Julia, along with supporting performances by Byron Mann, Damian Chapa, Kylie Minogue, Ming-Na...
film was more enjoyable than The Legend of Chun-Li.
Ryan Davis of GiantBomb said "It's a re-invisioning (of the source material) by people who can't see" and that Chris Klien's performance had him cringing by the end when ever he was on screen.
AskMen.com placed the film at #5 in their Top 10 Worst Video Game Movies, topically stating: "We don’t know about you, but in Street Fighter’s illustrious 23-year history we’ve never once seen Balrog fire a rocket launcher. If you paid money to see this -- even stolen money -- D, DF, F+HP yourself in the pancreas."