Noah Centineo and Andrew Koji lead a colorful ensemble of fighters in Street Fighter, a new live-action adaptation that combines martial arts, animated flashbacks, and familiar video game characters.
The Japanese video game franchise Street Fighter began almost 40 years ago and has sold 60 million units worldwide to date. Beginning in 1987, it eventually expanded into other media, including animated and live-action films and television shows, with the first major Hollywood live-action adaptation arriving in 1994 with Street Fighter, starring Jean-Claude Van Damme. Fans of the franchise seem to clamor for anything and everything associated with the game, so, of course, Legendary Pictures and Capcom decided it was time to make another live-action remake. Starring Noah Centineo (To All the Boys I've Loved Before) and Andrew Koji (Bullet Train) as Ken Masters and Ryu, respectively, this new version, Street Fighter, comes with all the old favorite characters and a bit of a twist that makes this latest film more interesting.
The year is 1993, and the evil M. Bison (David Dastmalchian; Oppenheimer) is attempting to channel power from some of the strongest warriors on Earth. However, when his plan doesn't work, he decides to set a trap for the best fighters in the world by hosting the second World Warrior Championship. He hires Chun-Li (Callina Liang; Presence) to locate and invite the best of the best to compete, which includes Ken Masters and Ryu. Initially uninterested, Ryu fights his inner demons and reconsiders when he finds out Akuma (Joe "Roman Reigns" Anoa'i; Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw) plans to kill the winner.
Street Fighter boasts an eclectic ensemble cast led by Centineo and Koji, along with Dastmalchian and Liang. Some of the other fighters in the tournament include Cody Rhodes (Arrow) as Guile, Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson (The Expendables 4) as Balrog, Orville Peck (Kiff) as Vega, and Jason Momoa (Aquaman), who also produces the film, as Blanka. Andrew Schulz (You People) as Ken's friend Dan Hibiki and Eric André (The Eric André Show) as announcer Don Sauvage round out this cast well. As with any solid ensemble, this group works together like a well-oiled machine, which is part of what helps the film.
Director Kitao Sakurai (The Passage) does a good job of moving the plot along at a decent pace and takes an interesting approach to the film by interweaving animated flashbacks between live-action scenes. The strong contrast between the animation and the live-action scenes gives the film some unique and fascinating moments that are initially a pleasant surprise and ultimately break up what would have otherwise been a monotonous film.
The fight sequences are well choreographed, requiring the talent to be agile and flexible to navigate the quick movements smoothly. The animated sequences are also well done, and Akuma's graphics seem real as opposed to quickly being added in post-production. Visually, the film looks good overall, and I didn't see any major flaws in the special effects.
The biggest issue with Street Fighter is the script. The jokes fall flat, which is unfortunate, as the film would have been more entertaining if they had landed as intended. The dialogue becomes predictable and uninspired at times and makes the movie seem cheesy and groan-worthy. They also don't use the signature phrases said by Ryu when he throws the fireball and Chun-Li when she kicks her leg really fast.
For people like myself who have never played or even seen the game Street Fighter, the film is merely decent and mildly entertaining but offers nothing earth-shattering or new in terms of a video game turned into a movie. For fans of the game, I'm sure they will enjoy much of the movie, especially the fight scenes and the various characters interwoven into the story.
I don't know why we needed this new version of Street Fighter, and if the team behind it thought they were going to reinvigorate audiences to the idea of another movie and perhaps even a sequel, I think they misjudged. This should be a one-and-done.
Grade: C-
