DVD review (region 1 & 2)
Directed by Andrzej Bartkowiak
Starring Kristin Kreuk, Chris Klein, Neal McDonough, Robin Shou, Moon Bloodgood
Release date Out now (region 1); 5 October 2009 (region 2)

A loose adaptation of the classic fighting game, Streetfighter II…

It’s not often you see a film that redefines bad cinema in quite the same way as this adaptation of the hit video game. The last attempt to tap into the Streetfighter phenomenon was the atrocious Jean Claude Van Damme vehicle of the early 1990s. Compared to this new tale, that film looks like Citizen Kane.

Part of the fun of the videogame is the diverse array of characters. The elastic-limbed Dhalsim; the Russian wrestler Zangief; the Brazilian Hulk-a-like Blanka. While the first live action Streetfighter movie struggled to accommodate these characters, this version doesn’t even try, choosing to instead present a duff revenge tale combined with a useless subplot that is performed and shot like a Hong Kong crime thriller. It’s an abomination.

The greatest fight in the movie is for the position of Worst Actor. Chris Klein, who seems to think he’s Al Pacino judging by how highly he rates his performance on the audio commentary, is dreadful. Kristen Kreuk, who plays Chun-Li, is probably wishing she'd stayed in Smallville, and normally watchable actors such as Michael Clarke Duncan and Neil McDonough must fire their agents to save themselves (and us!) from this sort of nonsense. They (and we!) deserve better.

Moon Bloodgood continues her all out assault on the movie business, while barely registering in anything she appears in. She must be stopped. Between this, Pathfinder and Terminator: Salvation she has now had her three strikes. Hollywood producers: please don’t hire this atrocious actor again.

The extras are plentiful. I have to admit that I couldn’t actually stomach sitting through both versions of the film presented here. It might have killed me. The aforementioned audio commentary is hilarious to dip into, with the cast and crew seemingly happy with the results of their work. Also terrible is the side by side comparison of characters from the game to their movie counterparts which boasts not one convincing match. Gavin Lovely

VERDICT: 1/10
Pointless and abysmal stuff that makes you want to punch something: ideally the makers of this tripe.