Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li

Most Street Fighter fans may remember the movie from the mid 90's. Those who do would rather forget it. This year, 20th Century Fox wishes to atone for that past atrocity. Talks of another Street Fighter movie have come and again since the original film, most shot down quickly. The video game series is still incredibly popular and widely regarded as one of the best franchises of all time.

The problem is the previous film. 1994's Street Fighter was so derided in its day, and continues to be derided. The film was just bad. Characters were flat and ridiculous, dialogue was campy, effects were flashy but cheap, and the cast. . . Well, let's just say there was one. The film has so many characters from the video games that it was impossible to develop even one of them. Guile, Cammy, Chun-Li, Balrog, Vega, Sagat, M. Bison, Deejay, E. Honda, Ken, Ryu, Dhalsim, Blanka, and Zangief all made appearances as major characters. The film featured Jean Claude Van Damme and Raul Julia, but neither carried the film to star-studded success. Raul Julia died not long after production wrapped, leading many today to claim "Street Fighter killed Raul Julia."

So with such a disastrous showing in 1994, is possible for a new film to make ammends? Well, successful Street Fighter movies have already appeared. Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie, Street Fighter II V (pronounced "vee," not the Roman numeral), and Street Fighter Alpha: Generations all met with popular acclaim. The difference? These were animated films.

But 20th Century Fox believes they can atone for the live-action film's mistakes. This time, they're taking it seriously. Instead of throwing the whole game series on screen, producers are picking one character to develop the story. That character is fan-favorite Chun-Li. The film, entitled Street Fighter: the Legend of Chun-Li follows the girl's life and her entrance as a fighter, showing her travel the world searching for justice. Other than this, plot details have been few and far between.

In the titular role, 20th Century Fox has selected actress Kristin Kreuk, the sweetheart from Smallville. Kreuk actually backed out of her contract last year to begin filming Chun-Li. Chun-Li is Chinese. Thus, the film needs either an Asian actress, or an actress who can feasibly pass as Asian. Kristin is Canadian, but has Chinese ancestry on her mother's side. She will do.

Other Street Fighter characters will appear, such as M. Bison, Balrog, Vega, and Gen. Michael Clarke Duncan will portray Balrog. As large as Duncan is built, he will fill that role perfectly. Taboo, from Black Eyed Peas, will play the Spanish cage-fighter Vega. An interesting choice.

It's a film billed by the talent, but only in part. The plot will make or break this film. It debuts on February 27, and we will see then whether Kristin and her co-stars can help us forget the previous film.