Chun Li Express

Yesterday I took in "Street Fighter: The Legend Of Chun-Li". I confess I had lost track of my Netflix queue. Had I remembered I had it up next, I might have pushed it back. I had picked it because I liked Jean Claude Van Damme's "Street Fighter" a lot. That's a fun movie, and I won't stand for those who impugn it. It's solid, problems though it might have. It's good enough that I was interested in another film inspired by the game, if that's the right word.

I doubt there's much connection to the earlier film. In that, the character of Chun-Li is a TV journalist who seeks revenge on M. Bison after he destroyed her village or some such thing. In this one she seeks revenge on M. Bison, but she's a concert pianist and something of a martial artist (as she was in the other, I admit). Then M. Bison was played by Raul Julia, who bears a certain resemblance to the videogame character. Neal McDonough, who plays the role here, does not. Nor does Taboo of the Blackeyed Peas much seem suited for his role.

That's kid stuff when it comes to this movie's miscasting. The title role calls for a Chinese woman. The film gives us a little Chinese girl who quickly grows into a lily white woman. It's rather unsettling when a white woman flashes back to being a Chinese girl, then snaps back. Most of the characters in this movie set in Hong Kong and Bangkok are white. It's shameful, really. We are left with Robin Shou and Michael Clarke Duncan to balance things out, which is too bad. It isn't as if there's a shortage of Asian actors who fit the bill.

Still, I love the movie. I found it very watchable. I credit the story with being reasonably simple and basically logical. Chun Li's father is killed and her mother is hospitalized evidently for life. She is contacted by an organization opposing that of the man responsible. They team up and go after the man while the clueless authorities are a step behind. It's about that simple, which lets you enjoy the reasonable action sequences and the actors (many of whom perform credibly and attack their roles with gusto). It's not perfect, but it's good.