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Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun Li Is Not For Critics

Posted by Nadia Oxford

There's a famous Penny Arcade strip—the very same strip that first introduces the quaint and chaotic cartoon duo Catsby and Twisp—that begins with Tycho making some remark about how Kevin Smith had decided that his film “Jersey Girls” was “not for critics.” Gabe responds, “Wow, I didn't know you could even do that.”

Seems you can. The latest film to shut out critics is “Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li.” That is to say, there won't be an exclusive screening for Ebert and his kin. If they want to review Chun-Li's searing soul-search, they'll have to get in line for tickets and popcorn with the rest of us mortal slobs. Chances are they won't.

But hey, no reviews mean that we'll go into the film with clear heads, right? Yes and no. “The Cutscene,” a Variety blog, confirms what even the most optimistic Chun-Li fans know deep in their hearts:

[I]n 95% of cases, not screening a movie is the studio's way of admitting critics are sure to hate it -- usually because it's bad, occassionally because it's a genre, like horror, that critics rarely appreciate.

This actually might not be a bad move on Fox's part. We already know this movie isn't going to go up for any Oscars. Leigh Alexander actually wrote an interesting column exploring the reasons why video game films will never thrive. Fans made fun of Resident Evil: Degeneration, but the film's story played out true to a Resident Evil game. Seems like there's a choice that needs to be made between being faithful to the source material, and appeasing an audience outside the gamerbase. Video game plots just aren't yet mature enough to strike a satisfying balance between the two.

On the other hand, the same was surely said about comic book movies, once upon a time.

Related Links:

Games to Movies: Why Is It So Gad-Danged Hard?
Watch Out Kids! Video Games Can Hurt You
Where, Specifically, Did The Street Fighter Movie Go Wrong?

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Posted Feb 20 2009, 12:23 PM

Filed under: street fighter, resident evil, penny arcade, game movies, nadia oxford, resident evil degeneration, the legend of chun-li

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