When Capcom first announced their intentions to make a new live-action 'Street Fighter' movie, fans everywhere had horrific flashbacks of the 1994 Van Damme outing. When further news filtered through that this would in fact be a Chun Li origin story starring Smallville's Kristin Kreuk, it was just about enough to send a few hardcore gamers into cardiac arrest. So were the fans right to be afraid or is this finally the film to put the 'Street Fighter' franchise back on the Hollywood movie map?

As a young girl, Chun Li is a devoted daughter who enjoys playing the piano and practicing WuShu with her father. One night, her peaceful existence is shattered when the evil tycoon Bison abducts her father and assaults her mother. Years later, Chun Li has grown up to become a respected young woman as well as a talented concert pianist. Sadly though, her mother is slowly losing the battle with cancer and Li feels she is no closer to discovering the whereabouts of her father. However, the arrival of a mysterious scroll leads her to a man named Gen who happens to be the leader of a crime-fighting organisation. Gen tells Li that he can lead her to Bison and after a rigorous training regime, the two finally set out to seek justice for all of Bison's wrongdoings.

Okay so first up, lets take a look at the plot for 'The Legend Of Chun Li’, which veers quite drastically away from the original video game. Gone are the "minor" details such as Chun Li joining Interpol or entering Bison's tournament in an undercover capacity, and instead we are left to endure a very simple and exceedingly bland revenge saga. Essentially, it breaks down as nothing more than a spoilt little girl who sees her parents victimised (and eventually killed) by a businessman so she decides to exact her revenge.  Quite how they managed to dumb it down to such a preposterous level is beyond me but sufficed to say, there's no meat here and it's very easy to predict exactly how it will play out. The addition of a narration from the lead character to fill in the gaps also shows that their was a distinct lack of confidence in the story.

As if this wasn't bad enough though, the film appears to be equally lacking when it comes to developing characterisation.  This is instantly noticeable with Chun Li as no attempt is made to build up her personality and we are just expected to connect with her simply on the basis that she has endured such hardships. Unfortunately though, as any decent filmmaker will tell you, it doesn't quite work like this as the audience needs to understand a person before they can empathise with their predicaments.  Likewise, we need to feel the fear emanate from the bad guys but this isn't very effective when Bison is given one of the most laughable back stories in movie history. And of course, what turd would be complete without the stereotypical cops who serve no purpose whatsoever other than to look pathetic and helpless until they get some assistance from our heroine.

'The Legend Of Chun Li' also boasts the inclusion of a few recognisable faces so you may be excused for expecting it to do alright in the acting department. Unfortunately though, this simply isn't the case as the majority of the actors are either completely miscast or just not up to the challenge. In 'Smallville, I was a big fan of Kristin Kreuk (alright yes, maybe I had a little crush too) but on the strength of her performance here, it's clear that she's not yet capable of carrying a film by herself. She doesn't do anything particularly wrong but she just lacks the required gusto of a leading lady, which is so desperately needed for a film of this ilk. On the other side of the spectrum, Neal McDonough as Bison is completely wrong for the role and is about as fearsome as your local lollypop lady. As for the likes of Michael Clarke Duncan or Robin Shou, they really aren't on screen long enough for me to comment but the little impressions they do leave are fairly sour.

When it comes to the action sequences, 'The Legend Of Chun Li' should redeem itself but unsurprisingly it fails to take advantage of it's fighting roots. The main issue here is the over-reliance on wires as the film uses them in pretty much every scene, for everything from flying kicks to simple acrobatics. Director Andrzej Bartkowiak, the "genius" behind masterpieces such as 'Cradle 2 The Grave' and 'Romeo Must Die', doesn't help matters either as he uses the typical quick cut editing techniques and has an odd fetish for shooting everything from a top-down perspective. Much like it's 1994 counterpart, the film also overlooks the video game's over-the-top special moves and the closest it gets is with a crappy looking fireball and one use of the spinning birdkick, which does nothing more than show off Kreuk's granny panties.

Fifteen years to learn from their mistakes and they still make a bad 'Street Fighter' movie. Personally, I don't understand the constant need to alter the source material or avoid the obvious decision to make a basic tournament movie. Maybe next time they should consider the 'TMNT' CGI route because it's clear they are totally devoid of ideas when it comes to doing live-action.