For one of the most highly anticipated films of 2008 (and that's saying a lot), we have heard very little about the upcoming Street Fighter movie. In fact, the only piece of news Capcom has given us so far is that the movie will release at the same time as the highly anticipated Street Fighter IV game. They have released screenshots, videos, and trailers for the game, yet nothing so far on the film. Well, we here at CBM are a very impatient bunch. So we decided to do a little digging ourselves and here's what we found:
The bad news is that the movie appears to have a very small budget size, which can impact quality in a number of ways. Although many great projects have been created with tight budgets, the quality of visual effects may not be as high, and a cast of B and C list actors will probably have a negative impact on box office buzz. Here's a list of the major characters and actors:
Kristen Kreuk (CW's Smallville) as Chun Li
Moon Bloodgood (who will star in Terminator 4) as Maya, a new character who is a Bangkok homicide detective
Michael Clarke Duncan (Green Mile) as Balrog
Neal McDonough (Nip/Tuck) as Bison
Chris Klein (American Pie) as Nash
Robin Shou (Liu Kang from Mortal Kombat) as Gen
Taboo (Black Eyed Peas) as Vega
Secondly, the name Andrzej Bartkowiak on the director's chair does not inspire a lot of confidence, considering his past films were Romeo Must Die, Exit Wounds, and Cradle 2 The Grave. In fact, his last directorial credit was on the video game-to-film adaptation of Doom which was a failure both financially and among critics.
Even though he was offered more money this time around, Jean-Claude Van Damme turned down the role of Guile because he says he is choosing his roles more carefully now. I don't know what's worse, the fact that Van Damme read the script and said he's too good of an actor for this movie, or the fact that they thought it was a good idea to re-cast him as Guile again.
Despite these fears though, this movie has the potential to be an incredible success, and here's why it could work:
Some early storyboards show us that we will see a remake of the Vega Vs. Chun Li fight sequence which we first saw in the animated movie of the mid-90's.
The Air Force Lieutenant Nash (Known in the US as Charlie) is cast in the movie. If the film follows the Street Fighter continuity, then we know that Nash will be killed at some point by Bison. Guile's motivation comes from seeking vengeance for Nash's death, so it's a safe bet that Nash will die either in the climax of this movie or very early in the sequel and Guile's storyline will then continue from there.
Screenwriter Justin Marks counts himself among die hard fans of the franchise, so he had this to say about how he went about writing the movie:
It starts and ends with character. Everything else is just window dressing. Easter eggs (keep your eyes peeled…). Setups for a sequel. Moments that reference favorite moves from the game. They are all secondary to what a good movie should be about: the people in it.
And there are many great people in the Street Fighter franchise. Ryu vs. Ken is the obvious one. Sagat and his quest for honor is another. It was just a question of picking one hero to start it all, one who’s never really gotten her moment in the spotlight…
Chun-Li. She comes from nothing. She’s an unlikely hero. And then, against all odds, this little girl who everyone wrote off eventually saves the day.
You don’t get any better than that. She’s a movie legend waiting to happen. And believe me, if this movie finds its audience the way I think it will, fans should brace themselves for many more Street Fighter movies. This isn’t just another video game adaptation. This is the beginning of something we’ve never seen before.
Get ready for it. – Justin Marks
In terms of costumes, the storyboards show us that Vega will wear his traditional mask and ponytail. Chun-Li will wear the ox-horns hairstyle at some point in the movie, but we may not see her wearing the Qipao (traditional chinese dress from the games).
Recently, we learned that Kristen Kreuk decided to take on a much smaller role in Smallville's season 8 to work on her film career. So when the 25 year old signed on to play Chun-Li, she decided to launch her film career by taking on the overwhelming task of making us all forget the critically condemned film of 1994, alleviating growing concerns raised by the Street Fighter loyalists, playing a character so important to the gaming world that they named her "The first lady of fighting games" and being partially responsible for - quite possibly - the start of a highly successful film franchise, all without the help of characters like Ryu, Ken or Guile at her side. If she was looking to challenge herself, she picked the right place to start.