I had blocked from my mind the news that a new Street Fighter movie was being made - and then Variety came along with news of the recently announced cast. It turns out that Smallville star, Kristin Kreuk will take on the role of Ken, sorry, Chun Li, while Chris Klein will make a rather loveable Nash and Michael Clarke Duncan will bring his considerable bulk to the part of Balrog.
Also on the roster are Rick Yune (Die Another Day, Fast and the Furious) as Gen, plus Moon Bloodgood (best known from US TV series Journeyman), Taboo from the Black Eyed Peas, Singapore-born actor Edmund Chen, and veteran Chinese actress Cheng Pei Pei, perhaps best known in the West for her role as Jade Fox in Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon.
Despite countless hours of professional counselling, I have been unable to obliterate the memory of the original Street Fighter movie - and this cast seems marginally more appropriate than the satanic combination of Van Damme, Kylie and, bless his soul, Raul Julia. This is, however, possibly not the route to silver screen success that Kruek had mapped out for herself - it didn't work for Kylie; just as DOA didn't work for Holly Valance.
Anyway, what else do we know about this project? According to Variety:
Andrzej Bartkowiak ("Romeo Must Die," "Exit Wounds") is directing from a script penned by "Voltron" scribe Justin Marks. Hong Kong fight choreographer Dion Lam ("The Matrix") is handling the extreme fight sequences.
Dammit, I was hoping for Paul Thomas Anderson.
Also from the article:
Plot of the new pic is being kept under wraps but will focus on the Chun-Li character.
It is likely, however, that the 'plot' will remain an unfathomable mystery even as the opening weekend audience sits watching the movie, and later as they trudge away from the cinema, reflecting on 90 minutes of their lives that they could have spent embracing their loved ones or chatting to friends over a glass of cold lager. Or playing Street Fighter.
