filmland / By Charlie Myers

The Massacre Remembered

Waltz With Bashir — a powerful meditation on memory and war

(March 5, 2009) Preview

Opening Friday, March 6, is the long anticipated Watchmen, the latest superhero film based on the comic book series written by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons. Directed by Zack Snyder (300), the story is set in an alternate history 1985 (Nixon is president) against the backdrop of rising tensions between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. At the same time, one superhero (Rorschach) is investigating the death of another (The Comedian), and what he discovers appears to be a plot to kill off the heroes themselves. The graphic novel made Time‘s list of 100 Best Novels. The cast includes Billy Crudup, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Jackie Earle Haley, Malin Ackerman and Patrick Wilson. Rated R for strong graphic violence, sexuality, nudity and language. 163m. At the Broadway, Mill Creek, Fortuna and Minor.

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Reviews

STREET FIGHTER: THE LEGEND OF CHUN-LI: Expectations for films based on video games aren’t extensive. Acting and script are mostly irrelevant; all that’s needed for the target audience is some good CGI, some well-staged fight scenes, and a lot of action with as little boring narrative development as possible. Nonetheless, I had higher expectations for this not-screened-for-critics release; I hoped for a film so bad it would be fun to review. Alas, yet another film that let me down.

Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li turns out to be merely an average example of the genre. The basic story seems overly familiar, turning as it does on a daughter’s search for her father who had been kidnapped by the bad guys. The somewhat slow opening sets the stage for the main part of the film. We see the young Chun Li (Kristin Kreuk, Smallville) on the road to being a concert pianist when the family moves to Hong Kong, where she learns Wushu from her father Xiang (Edmund Chen) while her admiring mother (not long for this world, as it transpires) looks on. When Xiang, an important businessman, is kidnapped by Bison (an absurd Neal McDonough) and his thugs, Chun-Li’s world is changed forever.

The rest of the film takes place in Bangkok after Chen-Li has grown and become a concert pianist. Unbeknowst to her, Xiang has been forced to help Bison in return for his daughter’s safety. But a scroll left after a concert directs Chun-Li to find someone named Gen (Robin Shou) in Bankok. She finds Gen, learns the truth, and the rest of the film writes itself, including the teacher/pupil relationship between Gen and Chun-Li, where she completes the inner training that will enable her to bring down the nasty Bison and his cohorts.

The martial arts sequences, too few, are decently choreographed but unfortunately overshadowed by the tedious gunfights. The dialog is laughable for the most part, including the irritating voice-over narration by Chun-Li, and the acting isn’t even up to the low genre standards. I can remember when McDonough used to try to act, as in the former TV series Medical Investigation, but here he gets a grip on caricature and doesn’t let go.

There is also a seemingly unrelated side plot involving Bangkok cops Charlie Nash (Chris Klein) and Maya Sunee (Moon Bloodgood), who are also after the cartel headed up by Bison, and I assumed the primary purpose of this storyline was to give the guys a lot of generous cleavage. But, as it turns out, Chun-Li hooks up with them in time for the climax.

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