Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li

This will be one of those blog through the movie exercises.  My cousin and I were strolling through the library and picked up couple movies to watch.  I picked up Crank 1&2, he picked up this feature.  I was surprised to find that this film made it out last year.  I'm not a fan of the Street Fighter series, nor any of Capcom's titles, but it is interesting to see a translation.

The beginning isn't slow, but it isn't fast.  There is plenty of dialogue, and at least there is action here and there.  The casting is pretty fitting, but I can't say if they accurately portray the original characters.  Kristen Kreuk looks even younger in this film than in the Smallville series, that I've watched often in the past.  Most of the cast is oddly half Asian.  Acting is a little less than standard fare and dialogue is just too typical.

Some of the action is actually new and refreshing.  It's always hard to do something different in martial arts.  Jackie Chan pretty much set the bar and covered all that ground in his countless films.  I don't like the camera angles used during those sequences.  We do see some contacts between the fighters, but most of it is weak and can be seen as a facade.  

Music is quite out there.  Mostly Chinese melodies, and the use of woodworks, for the tension.  Although like most American films.  I won't be commenting on music. 

This movie is satisfying, regardless of the immense amount of material left out.  I liked the fight against Bison most.  It was quite professional.  Some story elements left my head scratched and scared.  Such as, the energy balls, those were never explained, but they're not a big deal.  Anyone can just accept it.  The detectives on case are what I would call the biggest side story ever.  I just see no reason from them to be included. 

The movie is about Bison getting his daughter, but just how he lost her and why the big deal was for him to obtain her was not explained.  That's where the movie failed in terms of plot.  We're dealing with a mafiatic maniac and we are not given much details as his motives, business(what the main characters father was doing?), and goals.  You can be leaving the movie enjoying the action, but then the actual story will be never realised.  It is worth the watch, just don't worry about deep plot because it will leave you hanging.

Jackie Chan Adventures- Season 1

 

It really amazes me that children programming is more entertaining than adults.  The character design is done by Jeff Matsuda.  A wonderful job he has done, even though they are not groundbreaking new designs.  Talented voice cast for targeting children.  Definitely, my favorite character would have to Uncle, played by Saburo Shimino.  Even though Jackie Chan is Chinese, I see a trend in hiring Japanese-Americans.

Opening episodes normally have either slow, rocky, boring, or non-thrilling sequences.  Though, Ep. 1 and 2, interconnected, grab you immediately.  Especially since we get introduced to most of the main characters.  It's amazing that 7-10 characters are usually played per episode, and with good to funny lines.  Of course, I would have considered this an adults show if that little brat Jade, would have stayed quiet throughout.  I don't like kids on tv.  Her voice is played well but she is just annoying.  Capn Black is your ordinary secret agent.  The Dark Hand organization leader Valmont is very fitting.  Sad he doesn't have very good henchman, especially if he is sad to be wealthy.  The demon sorcerer, Shendu, his talismans, and the Shadowkhan are very interesting and creative.  

A neat extra feature was the mini-interviews with Jackie Chan himself.  Not that great, but adds a little variety.  13 episodes, with nothing off track makes this first season strong.  Lots of action and comedy, to keep you hooked. Any scenes with Uncle or Shendu are what I repeat the most.

Initially, I thought there was only a few dvd's containing the episodes, but now I see that the whole season is on one dvd.  Yet I can't find it.  Though now with digital media, you can get through the Netflix subscriptions.  The clearest version you can find on youtube is from Crackle.  They have up to season three, but have those annoying mandatory commercials.