| Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Andrzej Bartkowiak |
| Written by | Justin Marks |
| Based on | Street Fighter byCapcom |
| Produced by | Patrick Aiello Ashok Amritraj |
| Starring | Kristin Kreuk Chris Klein Neal McDonough Robin Shou Moon Bloodgood Josie Ho Taboo Michael Clarke Duncan |
| Cinematography | Geoff Boyle |
| Edited by | Derek Brechin Niven Howie |
| Music by | Stephen Endelman |
Production companies | |
| Distributed by | 20th Century Fox |
Release date |
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Running time | 96 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $50 million[1] |
| Box office | $12.8 million[2] |
Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li is a 2009 Americanmartial arts[3]action film[4] based upon theStreet Fighter video game series produced byCapcom. Directed byAndrzej Bartkowiak from a screenplay written byJustin Marks, the film serves as a non-canonical spin-off and theatrical tie-in toStreet Fighter IV (2008). The story follows the quest ofStreet Fighter characterChun-Li, played byKristin Kreuk,[5] before the events of the originalStreet Fighter.[6] The film co-starsNeal McDonough asM. Bison,Chris Klein asCharlie Nash,Michael Clarke Duncan asBalrog, andBlack Eyed Peas memberTaboo asVega.
Produced by Capcom andHyde Park Entertainment, withKeiji Inafune (better known for his work on theMega Man franchise) as an executive producer,The Legend of Chun-Li was released on February 27, 2009, by20th Century Fox, and became a critical andcommercial failure. Areboot is scheduled to be released byParamount Pictures andLegendary Entertainment on October 16, 2026.[7][8]
Chun-Li moves fromSan Francisco toHong Kong with her family. There, she learnswushu from her father, businessman Xiang. The family lives an everyday life until they are attacked one night by thugs working for the criminal organization Shadaloo, with Xiang being abducted in front of Chun-Li. Chun-Li grew up and became a talented concert pianist. One day, she receives a mysterious scroll written in ancientChinese. Shortly after, she loses her mother to cancer. Meanwhile, at Shadaloo headquarters inBangkok, Thailand, crime boss M. Bison announces his complete control of the organization before having the other shareholders executed by one of his henchmen, Vega.
The next day,Royal Thai Police detective Maya Sunee meetsInterpol agent Charlie Nash, when both are called to investigate the murder of several crime syndicate families in Bangkok, with Nash determining Shadaloo perpetrated these crimes. In Hong Kong, an elderly woman translates Chun-Li's scroll and tells her to travel to Bangkok and find a man named Gen. Chun-Li leaves her home and goes to Bangkok. Living homeless, she searches for Gen for several days. A fight with local gangsters one night leaves her unconscious, and Gen appears and takes her to his home. Gen tells Chun-Li that he was once a comrade of Bison, and knows how to find her father. For the next few days, he taught her his martial arts style. Chun-Li also learns more about Bison, who is operating Shadaloo publicly. Holding the families of property owners hostage, he forces them to sign their land over to him. While spying on Bison's henchman Balrog, Chun-Li overhears a property owner being asked to hand over the rights to a docking harbor, allowing the shipment of the "White Rose".
Later that night, Chun-Li confronts Cantana, one of Bison's secretaries, in a nightclub. 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 later murdered by Bison. During lunch, Gen reveals more of Bison's past; he was born in Bangkok to Irish missionaries but was abandoned as an infant, grew up an orphan, and lived his life as a thief. He killed his pregnant wife and transferred his conscience to their prematurely born daughter. Shadaloo troops attack Gen, and Balrog blows up his house. Chun-Li is later attacked by Vega, whom she defeats and leaves hanging by the side of a building.
Chun-Li interrogates a harbor employee who tells her the arrival time of the White Rose. She returns to the shipping yard that night but is captured by Bison and his soldiers. Tied up and kidnapped, she is reunited with Xiang, whom Bison immediately murders. After Bison and Balrog leave the house, Chun-Li beats up the guards and escapes, during which she is shot in the arm while trying to protect a child. Angered Thai locals then attack Bison's henchmen. Chun-Li reunites with Gen, who heals her wounds and continues with her training.
After being taken off the assignment, Nash is asked by Chun-Li to back her up in taking down Bison. Aided by Maya and her SWAT team, they arrive at the shipping yard and shoot out with Shadaloo forces. Gen enters a ship and faces off Balrog, ultimately killing him. Meanwhile, Bison flees the scene after taking a Russian-speaking girl from that ship. She turns out to be his daughter, Rose. Chun-Li and the officers arrive at Bison's headquarters. The policemen take Rose out to safety while Chun-Li and Gen face Bison. During that battle, Chun-Li charges up aKikoken, shoots it at him, and knocks him off before she breaks his neck with her legs.
Chun-Li returns to her home in Hong Kong and settles down, and then Gen pays her a visit. He shows her a newspaper advert for an upcoming Street Fighter tournament and tells her that a fighter namedRyu might be a recruit for their cause. She declines the offer, telling him she is home for now.
In 2006,Hyde Park Entertainment andCapcom announced their intention to produce a film adaptation of the game series in a joint venture under the20th Century Fox banner, with the storyline to focus on aStreet Fighter origin story starting with one of its charactersChun-Li with screenwriter Justin Marks to write a script for the adaptation.[9] In 2007, Hype Park has chosenAndrzej Bartkowiak to helm as film director.[10] That same year, it was announced thatKristin Kreuk was cast as Chun-Li.[10]
In 2008,Michael Clarke Duncan,Chris Klein,Taboo,Rick Yune andNeal McDonough were cast as charactersBalrog,Charlie Nash,Vega,Gen andM. Bison withMoon Bloodgood,Edmund Chen,Josie Ho andCheng Pei-pei were also cast in roles as well.[11][12][13] In the interview withMTV,Jean-Claude Van Damme who playedGuile inthe 1994 film revealed that he was offered to reprise his role but turned down the movie.[14] Before shooting began Yune left the film for unknown reasons but was replaced byRobin Shou, who playedLiu Kang, the lead character in theMortal Kombat films as Gen.[15]Dion Lam and Jonathan Eusebio served as the film'sfight choreographers.[3]
Filming took place between March and April 2008. Shooting locations includedHong Kong, China;Bangkok, Thailand;Vancouver, Canada; andReno, Nevada andHerlong, California, United States.
Originally it was slated to be released to theatres sometime in the Fall of 2008, but because of the ongoingwriters strike at the time, the film was released in theatres in the United States on February 27, 2009. In Australia, the film did not receive a theatrical release, but a straight-to-DVD release instead on January 14, 2010.[16]
The film opened theatrically on its opening weekend on February 27, 2009, alongsideJonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience andMadea Goes to Jail (the latter on its second weekend). The film opened at #9 on its opening weekend at over $1.5 million.[2] The filmflopped at the box office, grossing $12.8 million worldwide against its $50 million budget.[1]
The film was released on home media onDVD andBlu-ray on June 30, 2009. with a Unrated/PG-13 version. The special First Run release included a bonus DVD of the Udon Street Fighter Comic Series: "Round One FIGHT."[citation needed]
The film performed at #9 on 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.[17]
Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li was not pre-screened for critics.[18] On thereview aggregator websiteRotten Tomatoes, 3% of 61 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 2.4/10. The website's consensus reads: "The combination of a shallow plot and miscast performers rendersStreet Fighter: The Legend of Chun Li a perfectly forgettable video game adaptation."[19] It was ranked 44th in Rotten Tomatoes' 100 worst reviewed films of the 2000s.[20]Metacritic, which uses aweighted average, assigned the film a score of 17 out of 100, based on 11 critics, indicating "overwhelming dislike".[21]
Film historianLeonard Maltin seemed to agree, stating that "The 1994 picture was one of the worst movies ever inspired by a video game; evenJean-Claude Van Damme fans couldn't rationalize this turkey, which should have been titledFour Hundred Funerals and No Sex. Yetthis pointless and inept action vehicle makes its predecessor seem likeGone with the Wind...Hopelessly contrived, with lamely-choreographed fight sequences; highlight is Chris Klein's cry of 'Bomb! Get out, now!' Our sentiments exactly."[22]
Among the film's more positive reviews, Rob Nelson ofVariety wrote: "Neither the best nor the worst of movies derived from video games,Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li at least gives action fans plenty to ogle besides the titular heroine (Kristin Kreuk)."[23] Jeannette Catsoulis ofThe New York Times wrote that the film was "reveling in the vividBangkok locations, Geoff Boyle's photography is crisp and bright, andDion Lam's action choreography unusually witty."[24]
Negative reviews focused on the screenplay and fight scenes. Frank Scheck ofThe 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."[21][25]Jeremy Wheeler ofTV Guide wrote: "Fight scenes, while admirable for shaking off theshaky-cam aesthetic of their big-screen brethren, neither inspire nor find a good balance between martial arts and FX-laden power punches."[26] Jim Vejvoda ofIGN gave the film 1.5 stars out of 5, writing: "There's better staged and more enjoyable brawls betweenPeter andThe Chicken onFamily Guy."[27] Ryan Davis ofGiant Bomb described it as "a re-envisioning [of the source material] by people who can't see."[28]
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