| Legend of Chun-Li Deleted Scenes were Deleted?! |
[Jul. 13th, 2009|08:46 pm] |
Oh, my mind has not been focused on many matters as of late beyond the personal. So here's a personal update, for the sake of both my sense of commitment and for the sake of writing in general! Ha!
Today, I tried something with my hair! You can't really tell, since my head is all black and shiny, but I wore a headband - not pictured - and spiked out everything that the headband didn't pull back. It's totally a lazy-person's version of Huang Zhong's awesome, awesome hair. Since I don't have long enough hair or the hours to put my hair into tiny separated streams, so I improvised. Tons of fun.
I bought The Legend of Chun-Li on DVD; and definitely the first thing I want to bring up are the deleted scenes, and the fact that my first reaction was "Why the frig did they delete these when they would have cleared up so goddamn much?". I mean, no - this does not make up for Chris Klein's performance, but wow did it add so much. All of it.
First of all; in about 5-10 seconds at most, they managed to add quite a bit of depth to Charlie's character. This sort of angst presented in integral to the archetype that Chris Klein plays; in order for this overacting tough guy who looks like a caricature to be taken seriously, we have to find out that the bravado is a caricature to cover up the pain. No, it's not an innovative archetype but the pain is necessary to make it at least a successful one. Why they removed this when it added depth to Nash and thematically linked him to Chun-Li in a way that actually mattered? Mind. Blown.
The most important scene cut was of Chun-Li and Gen conversing; having dinner and linking all of Chun-Li's various narrative ties together. First of all, it acknowledged the randomness of Gen's non-death openly; which totally would have helped in the actual acceptance of his return. But more importantly, it's this scene that ties together the Chun-Li of Hong Kong and the Chun-Li of Thailand - she's accepting the heritage of her father figures, and subsequently - of her own efforts and will - become a hero that synthesizes both the order of the Web and her father's teachings. She's the Spinning Bird; the hero of the streets who won't be caught. I love that so freaking much; my mouth dropped when I first saw this scene. Why on earth did they cut it out?!
Not all that was cut was beneficial to have in the film, though. Of course I'm talking about the pseudo-romantic lingering touch-gaze bit that Chun-Li and Nash had. That certainly didn't do anything for me; I'd much rather them develop the relationship into something similar in the film. Sibling-like, completely. I enjoyed that. I also don't mind that they ended up chopping out a return to Hong Kong to investigate the White Rose; since that would have downplayed her actual return home somewhat. Nash was the character who benefited the most from this scene, though. I also enjoyed seeing more Cheng Pei Pei. Her role was small but clearly badass.
Another scene that would have really solidified Chun-Li's status as a hero of the street was the scene with her stealing back the money from the thug in the clothing shop. The scene isn't notable in terms of execution or anything (though it is fun), but what it does do is show us the status quo. That was one of my issues with the film, we needed just one or two more scenes of Chun-Li being involved in these people's lives directly; and being a hero to them. We were told as such and there were offhand instances here and there, but a scene like that? It gives us a sense of solidarity with where she is now. Interspersing that scene within a scene of her training with Gen or the like would have benefited so much.
I just... I'm so glad I bought the DVD. I think I may buy another copy just because I enjoy this so much. Seriously. I can't believe how much I love this feminist camp Chun-Li. I was telling my best friend Catherine on the phone that I really think I may come to enjoy this Chun-Li alot more than my current affection for the traditional SF Chun-Li. Alot of it has to do with the combination of Chun-Li's feminism and activism, Kristen Kreuk's active feminism, and the fact that the movie advocates alot of principal that I love. It's such a clear deconstruction of Patriarchy. I love it dearly.
And I still want the Spinning Bird pendant badly; but that will clearly be one of those never-get-items. Ha! |
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