THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, December 29, 1994 TAG: 9412290042
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E5 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Movie Review
SOURCE: BY MAL VINCENT, MOVIE CRITIC
LENGTH: Medium: 73 lines
ANY MOVIE that features Jean-Claude Van Damme as the head of a peace-keeping force is, at the outset, suspect.
``Street Fighter'' is based on the electronic game ``Streetfighter II'' and features most of the characters (players) prominent in this twirling and whirling effort to reach the ultimate foe, the tyrant Gen. Bison.
The best thing that can be said about ``Street Fighter'' is that it is fast and that it has a campy, laughable performance from Raul Julia as the wildly evil Bison. On the other hand, the film's frantic pace makes for an incoherent, nonsensical plot line.
Van Damme's fans will be disappointed, perhaps enraged, because he is barely in the film. He's missing for most of the first hour.
It's the first time he's appeared in a PG-13 film, which is aimed more directly at the kiddie audience. His usual fans may be irritated. Even more irksome to his female fans will be the fact that he never takes off his shirt.
Much of the action is left to two young adventurers, Damian Chapa and Byron Mann, who are assigned to infiltrate Bison's lair. Ming-Na Wen (from ``The Joy Luck Club'') is a TV newswoman with surprising martial arts skills.
A local expert at the video game who was excited about the film told me that it captures the rhythm of the game and that, after all, Col. Guile, the character played by Van Damme, is not the game's lone hero. To keep the quarters flowing, the game has many heroes as well as a series of villains leading to the ultimate goal of beating Bison. Most of the characters get perfunctory mention, including Sagat, Vega, Balroc, Chun-Li, Honda, Carlos Blanka, Ryu, Ken and Dhalsim. If you want to know who they are, you'd be better off playing the game than seeing the movie. In either case, they only make cameo appearances.
Van Damme, even with fewer scenes, has more lines than usual, which is a mistake. His Belgian accent is as thick as ever, and when reading a line, he looks as if he's straining to read someone's lips off camera.
That leaves Julia, in his last film, to carry the movie. He's so flamboyant that he almost brings off a campy, over-the-top show. Done up in an outfit that looks like a mixture of Darth Vader and Hitler, he swishes his cape and screams about taking over the world. In the finale, he uses his flying shoes to levitate and scream more about how he's a god.
Sadly, Julia's gaunt look was an indication of the toll taken by the cancer that eventually killed him. His distinguished career, particularly his performance in ``Kiss of the Spider Woman,'' deserved a more fitting finale.
``Street Fighter'' is no cheapjack entry. It was filmed partly in Thailand with several big army scenes. It is the directorial debut of Stephen E. De Souza, who wrote the script for ``Diehard'' and has some of that film's flair for continuous action.
``Street Fighter'' is loud and fast-paced but makes no sense. However, it should do well with the target audience. ILLUSTRATION: JIM TOWNLEY / Universal Pictures
Jean-Claude Van Damme plays commando leader Col. William Guile in
``Street Fighter.''
MOVIE REVIEW
``Street Fighter''
Cast: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Raul Julia, Ming-Na Wen, Wes Studi
Director and Writer: Steven E. De Souza
Music: Graeme Revell
MPAA rating: PG-13 (cartoonish violence)
Mal's rating: 2 stars
Locations: Movies 10 in Chesapeake; Janaf and Main Gate in
Norfolk; Columbus, Kemps River and Lynnhaven 8 in Virginia Beach
by CNB