Street Fighter wins worst film 2009 award

By Ellie Gibson Published 14 January, 2010

Average review score is 4%, says website.

Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li has won the Golden Tomato award for being the worst-rated film of 2009.

As revealed on RottenTomatoes, the movie racked up an average review score of just 4 per cent.

A few excerpts from those reviews: "boring", "bad", "vapid", "dull", "sloppy", "painful", "witless", "Quite simply an embarrassment that cannot crawl into ignoble obscurity fast enough." Never should have left Edgemont, Kristin.

What was your least-favourite film of 2009, readers?

Picture of Ellie.

About Ellie Gibson

Since joining Eurogamer in the mid 2000s, Ellie has written about subjects as diverse as the fall of Gizmondo, the rise of Hollyoaks actresses in Red Alert games and the noise a bear makes under NSFW circumstances.

Read more articles from Ellie by visiting the Ellie Gibson archive page.

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Comments (85) Latest comment 2 years ago

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  • Britesparc Verified Creative, ITV #1 2 years ago

    Probably Wolverine, although even that wasn't SO bad.

    But Street Fighter was on a hiding to nothing. It's very hard to remake classic films and have them live up to the peerless originals.

  • shotgun44 #2 2 years ago

    But the first street fighter film was terrible...

  • BM #3 2 years ago

    The anime version is ok

  • photoboy #4 2 years ago

    Bayformers 2.

  • telboy007 #5 2 years ago

    The first street fighter film still had its charms though, such as that "fireball" which was just a flash of light and all the pathetic casting decisions throughout.

    For me the worst film has to be Terminator Salvation. The plot holes, the things that didn't make any sense whatsoever - why not just kill Connor's father when they detect him there and then? Problem solved, why put him in a cell? Oh right, so they can shoe horn in a CGI Arnie. The fact they had to re-write the script just so Bale could have more screen time, the open heart surgery in the field during a time where resources are non-existent... oh what a horrendous mess that film truly is.

  • JohnnyWashnGo #6 2 years ago

    Truely the chun li film sucked. I will never get that time back :(
    Edited by JohnnyWashnGo at 14/01/10 @ 10:18

  • Ninja_Tino #7 2 years ago

    Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus was my most hated film. Sooooo boring. Closely followed by Transformers 2!

  • awb83 #8 2 years ago

    Avatar was the worst film of 2009, it was utterly dreadful and that is being kind.
    Edited by awb83 at 14/01/10 @ 10:23

  • Beek4257 #9 2 years ago

    Watchmen. Unless it suddenly got better after like an hour. I was sound asleep by then ...

  • Ryze #10 2 years ago

    Shite hollywood cash-in, as usual.

  • mingster #11 2 years ago

    Nothing is as bad as Twilight 2 - New Moon

  • Murton #12 2 years ago

    I didn't watch many new movies in 2009 and enjoyed all that I did watch, even GI Joe which though simple I really enjoyed for what it was, a brainless over the top American action movie, precisely what is should have been in my opinion.

  • Britesparc Verified Creative, ITV #13 2 years ago

    shotgun44 wins the Irony Detection Award. ;-)

  • Thunderbolt #14 2 years ago

    Thankfully I dont have time for bad movies but the worst of '09 was Wolverine not a bad film just very disappointing.

    And Avatar again not a bad film just pissed off at the price I had to pay to see it, if they want 3-D to take off then they will have to lower ticket prices.

    As for the new Street Fighter film can it be worse than teh diabolically bad one from the 90's?

  • shotgun44 #15 2 years ago

    Haha! Thanks Britesparc :/

    I'm gonna throw it out there, the Twilight series isn't THAT bad. I actually quite like it. Please don't hurt me.

  • robg #16 2 years ago

    "They [the director's children] really loved the game and told me I should make a movie based on it," says Amritraj. "I have them to thank for Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li."

  • shotgun44 #17 2 years ago

    God, I wish it was that easy for me to make a few hundred thousand quid!

  • DB2k #18 2 years ago

    yeah that was poor. im not sure if it was worse than wolverine tho which i just thought was so meh it night on stopped me breathing in boredom.

  • M_of_the_sys #19 2 years ago

    @telboy007

    I quite liked Terminator Salvation... but I am a glutton for punishment. *runs off to watch The Legend of Chun Li again*

  • Waffleaber #20 2 years ago

    Lesbian Vampire Killers. An utterly dreadful unfunny mess of a film.

  • metalmike25 #21 2 years ago

    Transformers 2 is probably the worst film i've seen in the last 10 years. I thought it was impossible to make a bad film about giant robots fighting but Michael Bay proved me wrong

  • robg #22 2 years ago

    I thought it was impossible to make a bad film about giant robots fighting but Michael Bay proved me wrong

    Twice.

  • BOBBYLUPO #23 2 years ago

    I'd have to second the nominations for Wolverine - just amazingly bad work all round. From the effects (claws in the bathroom - ugh!), the scraps of paper that passed for a script, lackluster direction and OTT acting, it was an all-round colossal turd. And surely it can't be a coincidence that both Wolverine and Street Fighter featured Black Eyed Peas 'acting' can it?

    EDIT - oh, and the game was far better than the film.
    Edited by BOBBYLUPO at 14/01/10 @ 11:20

  • Gartt #24 2 years ago

    Youre all forgeting the truely epic piece of Wayans brothers shite that was Dance Flick. Theres your winner right there.
    Edited by Gartt at 14/01/10 @ 11:21

  • miiiguel #25 2 years ago

    I was surprised with Avatar, quite good. It is a fable, everything was overdone, the baddy was theatrically represented with his comical rethoric of ultra-baddy, the hippy blue dudes are cute and heartwarming in the same proportion, but that it's what a fable is all about. The 3D was also well implemented, with none of that bs "in your face" effects. Good call.
    Edited by miiiguel at 14/01/10 @ 11:26

  • Stepharneo #26 2 years ago

    I'd assume no one was upset by Dance Flick because most people know to stay the hell away from a Wayan's brothers film. Transformers 2 was definitely the worst film and biggest let down....it's saying something when not even Megan Fox can save a film.

  • Gregory_Chuckleberry #27 2 years ago

    'Gamer' if it was possible to clean your own eyeballs with your mouth, I would do it.

  • spekkeh #28 2 years ago

    I thought all the running scenes of Megan Fox in Transformers 2 were pretty hot. Conversely, it was pretty telling that Michael Bay thought the same, when the camera shows the main character Shia LeBoeuf only very briefly, before it quickly cuts to another long take of Megan Fox. The rest of the movie was pretty dreadful and completely derivative.

  • MORZTAN #29 2 years ago

    @miiiguel

    Isn't a fable a tale with only animals acting like humans?

    Anyways, the worst movie of the year for me, given I only saw District 9 and Avatar, is Avatar.
    Edited by MORZTAN at 14/01/10 @ 11:43

  • Gazza_UK #30 2 years ago

    Terminator, Avatar, Wolverine? Either you didn’t watch a lot of films that year or you have some high standards. I’m not saying these were great films (I liked Avatar) Out of interest what do you guys think was the best film of 09. Maybe hype ruined your experiences, I try and just stay away from any talk about my most anticipated films (Clash of the Titans!)

  • spekkeh #31 2 years ago

    Oh and the first Street Fighter was absolutely ace.


    When drunk.

  • miiiguel #32 2 years ago

    Best movie I saw last year, though it is a 2008 one, and I suspect it was only distributed at some theatres around here because of Twilight (though, this one came out 1st!) as it is a Swedish movie was this: [link url=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1139797/
    ]http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1139797/
    [/link]

    It's a horror vampire movie with "true" European style (no, that's not prejorative).

  • MORZTAN #33 2 years ago

    @Gazza_UK

    Best movie? No doubt District 9. Best movie since Lord of the Rings. It's nigh on perfect!

  • miiiguel #34 2 years ago

    @miiiguel

    Isn't a fable a tale with only animals acting human?

    Well, my understanding of fable, and I'm going to accept wiki's help on this:
    "A fable is a succinct story, in prose or verse, that features animals, plants, inanimate objects, or forces of nature which are anthropomorphized (given human qualities), and that illustrates a moral lesson (a "moral";), which may at the end be expressed explicitly in a pithy maxim."

    And that's what happens in Avatar (well, in my brain at least). Avatar is all about nature, and in the end nature in the protagonist. And "moral" is the main issue.

    * - might contain "strange english", I'm in multi-tasking mode.
    Edited by miiiguel at 14/01/10 @ 11:50

  • Zebula77 #35 2 years ago

    Street Fighter was pretty naff, yeah. Overlong, boring and with bad fight scenes. Still, if you wanna see a truly, truly horrible, awful film - check out the Christian propaganda movie, 2012 Doomsday. Worst movie I've seen in probably ten years (and I watch several hundred every year!).

    Best movie was probably Up or Star Trek.

  • CountStiltzkin #36 2 years ago

    I don't think Avatar was the worst film of the year, but it was certainly my biggest disappointment...

  • NightAntilli #37 2 years ago

    No way... That movie wasn't that bad at all.. Especially when compared to Dragonball.. Now THAT was a HORRENDOUS movie..

  • swissorc #38 2 years ago

    Avatar was wack

  • dudefella #39 2 years ago

    Avatar, not the worst, most certainly the most overrated. Insipid, uninspired story that only gets marks for visuals (and by that I mean Michelle Rodriguez)

  • Steroyd #40 2 years ago

    Dragonball.

  • miiiguel #41 2 years ago

    For the worst I also vote for Wolverine, after the "not that bad, not that bad at all" rate of the previous X-Men movies, Wolverine was a major, major!, disapointment.

    Game's good, though, Quite good. (Bad call on this one, EG!).

  • muscleblade #42 2 years ago

    I didnt like either the Wolverine game or the movie. Batman AA was incredible though as was the movie The Dark Night.

  • Cadence #43 2 years ago

    The Legend of Chun-Li is so utterly awful that it's good though. Chris Klein's acting is so abominable that it makes the film worth sitting through just to see how bad his acting can actually get. Oh and it does get bad. Real bad.

  • Miths #44 2 years ago

    I didn't really watch any movies in 2009 I found thoroughly disappointing - I even thought Terminator: Salvation and Wolverine were both decent, if certainly far from remarkable (just watched both again on Blu-ray two weeks ago).

    I haven't seen Street Fighter, nor Transformers 2. The former I would expect to be horrible even without have read reviews or articles like this one, but the first Transformers was pretty solid as far as brain dead action blockbusters go. Supposedly number two was just a total mess though?

    As for Avatar - it's one of my favourite movies of the last several years. It's obviously stunningly pretty, but as far as stories go I didn't really have any complaints there either.
    Sure, it's an entirely unoriginal story that's been told many times before (actually it really only reminded me of Dances With Wolves, a lot - which I loved back in the 90s, and saw numerous times - as I've never seen or read any of the other stories it has been compared to, like Pochahontas and Fern Gully(?)), but I really didn't consider that a problem at all when it's this pretty and well executed.

  • BOBBYLUPO #45 2 years ago

    @Gazza_UK I'd go for UP, In the Loop, The Hurt Locker and District 9.

    Obviously there were worse films made than Wolverine and T4 but they aren't really disappointing follow-ups to once great film series. I'd say the wasted opportunity alone makes Wolverine my worst film of 2009. That and the fact it makes X3 look like Casablanca.

    I wasn't expecting much from T4, thanks to McG's involvement, so I wasn't really too upset or surprised when it turned out to be crap.

  • MrChuckles #46 2 years ago

    Seven Pounds... the most depressing film i have ever seen... I mean, why the hell would someone pay to go to the cinema to feel THAT bad?

  • Shrike #47 2 years ago

    Throwing my hat in the ring for X-Executive Meddling: Wolverine. My hat is full of poo and is on fire.

  • Hunam #48 2 years ago

    I thought it was ok :(

  • aidey6 #49 2 years ago

    I haven't seen this, but is any worse than http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DOA:_Dead_o...

  • Ninja_Tino #50 2 years ago

    Up is the best film of the year!

  • kangarootoo #51 2 years ago

    I didn't even know there WAS a Street Figher film in 2009.

    And I rather liked Avatar. I didn't believe the hype, as I rarely do, so I wasn't "let down". I thought it was a good fantasy romp with some amazing visuals, epic actions scenes, and even some touching moments. Not my favourite of all time, but certainly a Good Film.

    My worst film of last year? I'm not really sure. I tend to have a good sense for crap films and avoid them. I thought Eden Lake was Quite clumsy, and far worse than many reviews seemed to suggest it would be. I think I saw Shark Attack 3 in 2009, and that is pretty dire (though it saves a point for being a bonkers B movie).

  • kangarootoo #52 2 years ago

    @miiiguel

    "Let the right one in" is indeed f*cking brilliant. Loved it. One of my best films of last year in fact.

  • kangarootoo #53 2 years ago

    @aidey6

    Going by that poster, almost certainly. Every bad film can be saved a little bit by some tasteless partial nudity.

  • Psi #54 2 years ago

    I watched this film for a laugh, going into it knowing it would be awful.

    I was presently surprised at how terrible it was, laughing all the way through I actually enjoyed it.

    Don't write this film off, if you watch it in the vein of MST3000 its actually a laugh

    Chris Klein actually chews the scenery, I spent most of the film trying to figure out if he's having a laugh or really trying, this alone is grounds to watch it.

  • Markusdragon #55 2 years ago

    "As revealed on RottenTomatoes, the movie racked up an average review score of just 4 per cent."

    Er, no, as revealed on RottenTomatoes, the movie was praised by a mere 4% of reviews. Rottentomatoes doesn't use the metacritic law of averages, it compares numbers of positive and negative reviews instead.

  • LeSpank #56 2 years ago

    "I didn't even know there WAS a Street Figher film in 2009."

    Same! It must be pretty bad. Was it even out in the cinema? When!?

  • SirClive #57 2 years ago

    Chris Klein's performance in the Chun Li film is probably the worst performance by an actor theat I have ever seen. Ever.

  • SirClive #58 2 years ago

    @aidey- I liked the DOA film. At least it felt like it was relevant to the game.

  • Deckard1 #59 2 years ago

    did aliens vs predator vs dawsons creek: requiem come out last year?

  • linksdad #60 2 years ago

    I quite enjoyed Wolverine, and Avatar in 3d was engrossing, so I enjoyed that too.

    If you are going to watch a film of a comic book hero, you pretty much have to leave all your cynicism at the door and enjoy it for what it is.

    If a film keeps me occupied for its duration then it has done its job well. I'm not into watching movies again for a very loooong time so I never look for longevity or re playability.

    Edit: To be clear, In my opinion these films are not the worst of 2009. They arent the best either.
    Edited by linksdad at 14/01/10 @ 17:33

  • creepylizard #61 2 years ago

    Had to be Transformers 2. Had to be..
    Giant robot bollocks and jive talking ice-cream vans for fucks sake

  • Zebula77 #62 2 years ago

    ..."I'm positioned right below the...robot's scrotum" - I thought that was a funny line, tho. T2 was definitely a disappointment compared to the first one.

    Anyone in here seen this thing called Megashark Vs. Octopus (or something like that)? It's on youtube in fact. Got this one fantastic scene where the megashark jumps up and bites a passenger plane in half. Has to be seen to be believed! :p

  • miiiguel #63 2 years ago

    @link'sdad : Imo, you have fairly good comic book hero movies, and Wolverine is most certainly not one of them.

  • sevenforce #64 2 years ago

    Mega Shark Vs Giant Octopus was on Sci-Fi Channel over christmas. Its brilliant but yet total diabollocks at the same time, haven't laughed so much in a while at it's utter crapness and it had Debbie Gibson in it (remember her?)

  • geeza2020 #65 2 years ago

    I think my favourite film of 2009 has to be District 9. Truly spectacular stuff.

    Worst film? That i paid money to see, has to be Paranormal Activity, one of the worst horror films i have ever seen. I know the whole genre is predictable trash aimed at teenagers, but Jesus this film was just feckin awful.

  • Buenos_Estente #66 2 years ago

    [link url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=skYRZ_-RXtk
    ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=skYRZ_-RXtk
    [/link]

    This is the aforementioned shark attack, similar thing happened on my last flight... oh no it didnt I meant my last acid trip.

  • Britesparc Verified Creative, ITV #67 2 years ago

    I tend not to go see (at the pictures) films that I think are gonna be outright gash. So when I think of "worst film of the year", it's normally the most boring or disappointing. And I think 2009 would either be Wolverine or The Ugly Truth. Actually, yeah, The Ugly Truth's worse than Wolverine.

    As for the best film? No question, Let the Right One In. Almost perfect, and if anything even better than the book. Bubbling under - Coraline, Slumdog Millionnaire, The Wrestler, Up, District 9, and Avatar...

  • mcwildcard #68 2 years ago

    Kung Fu Flid.

    /end thread

  • sevenforce #69 2 years ago

    @mcwildcard; you should check out a film called 2 crippled heroes or it might be called the crippled masters. Kinda similar it is pretty awesome though.
    <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYYbvzz4RsU
    ">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYYbvzz4RsU
    </a>
    Edited by sevenforce at 14/01/10 @ 14:48

  • airjoca #70 2 years ago

    Worst movies:
    Street Fighter, Dragonball, Transformers 2, Terminator 4

    Best movies:
    Up, District 9, Moon, Inglorious Basterds, 500 Days of Summer, Watchmen, The Hangover.

  • LeSpank #71 2 years ago

    Worst film I saw in 2009 is Fame. By quite some stretch. Don't lie, you were all thinking the same you just didn't want to admit you went.

  • glaeken #72 2 years ago

    I bet I actually end up watching this when it turns up on Sky. I have a bit of a thing for Kristin Kreuk so I am sure that will easly override the crapness of the film

  • ZuluHero #73 2 years ago

    On no - and i just read this on the Shadow of the Colossus Wiki page!

    "In April 2009, it was reported that Sony Pictures would adapt Shadow of the Colossus into a film. Kevin Misher, producer of The Scorpion King, The Interpreter and the upcoming Dune film, is negotiating to produce. The script is being written by Justin Marks, who wrote Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li.[89] It was revealed that Fumito Ueda, the game's creator, will be involved in the film's production."

    from here:

    [link url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shadow_of_the_Colossus
    ]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shadow_of_t...[/link]


    Gah!
    Edited by ZuluHero at 14/01/10 @ 15:15

  • blackbriar101 #74 2 years ago

    Worst; Wolverine,Law Abiding Citizen,

    Best; District 9,Moon,Funny People,Bronson,Let the right one in,Johnny Mad Dog.

  • covfan #75 2 years ago

    Surprised nobody has mentioned 2012, one of the accidentally funniest films I have seen for years.

  • ciril #76 2 years ago

    Either she was crying in that movie, or talking to herself. The only positive thing about that movie was Liu Kang.

  • HenryFitz #77 2 years ago

    The worst film of the year is either a known unknown or an unknown unknown. All we are ever lucky enough to consume are the worst films that get a widespread theatrical release. There are hundreds, maybe even thousands of films so bad that they don't even merit that honour. And amongst those really bad films, there are probably some paragons of awfulness. There are probably films out there so spell-bindingly terrible that their very existence is only known to societies of ninja monks sworn to protect mankind from their evil. There are probably films so psychologically toxic that audience, cast and producers enter into a suicide pact at the premiere, that no memory of the travesty shall persist. There may even be films so disruptive to social peace and harmony that The Architect has to redesign The Matrix and liquidise all those infected by the spectacle. When faced with the comparatively benign incompetence and hamminess of Street Fighter, we should be thankful really, that this is as bad as it gets for us.

    The chilling thought is that computer games have the capacity to be even worse than the worst cinematic farrago of moronic plot and thespian disability. And you can't stop the signal.

  • hardtech #78 2 years ago

    @ZuluHero

    ...I think you've just stumbled onto Pandoas Box.

  • Rodriguez #79 2 years ago

    Forget this Street Fighter film, I never realised Jackie Chan had done a Street Fighter themed fight scene in one of his films!! Check this totally wacky scene out from a film called City Hunter!!

  • cherryuk #80 2 years ago

    Lesbian Vampires - wasn't even worth the free download from itunes. The women in it are fit, but not enough to save it, very very poor.

  • Xensor #81 2 years ago

    Megashark vs Giant Octopus.

    /thread

  • Slipstream #82 2 years ago

    +1 Xen, +1

  • 5h1nj1 #83 2 years ago

    It's astonishing how many people are so clueless about movies and are pointing out movies like Wolverine as the worst of the year. it would be funny if it weren't so sad.

  • Zebula77 #84 2 years ago

    True, Wolvie score something like a weak five out of ten in my book. Definitely disappointing considering the character and the source material (and I like Jackman ok in the role), but you just can't compare it to films like Megashark or some straight to dvd piece of sh*t horror film.

    In fact, truly awful films is a genre unto itself. Just look up movies like Troll 2, Hobgoblins, Manos the Hands of Fate, Plan 9 from Outer Space etc. Wolverine is like Citizen Kane compared to those movies. :p

    2010 was a lot of fun for me. I kinda saw it as an overdone parody/homage to disaster movies. I mean, the script followed every single cliché known to man. Plus, the scenes of destruction were awesome. Far from a great movie, but seriously entertaining.

  • ReaperOscuro #85 2 years ago

    Ah, but as bad as the previous Street Fighter film? Badder?