Street Fighter, the game series, at one point was a more grounded tournament adventure. The plot was simple, and the fights leaned more towards traditional martial arts, at least in the beginning.  Street Fighter 1, released in 1987, would probably be unrecognizable compared to where the franchise ended up.  The series doesn’t really get its visual identity and core characters until Street Fighter II.  I don’t really want to get into breaking down the lore, there are 17 different games divided into seven different…eras?  Street Fighter II alone had five versions. And do keep in mind that these were released in the early ‘90s, so not in the age of digital downloads. 

All of this is to say that there is quite a bit of story to pull from when crafting a Street Fighter movie.  In the bold tradition of fighting game movie adaptations, Street Fighter decided to go for a straightforward story presented in the most batshit way possible.  This is a movie that is either going to work for you and you’re going to have a blast, or you’re going to be in for a bad time. For me, I loved it, but I’m all about camp. Street Fighter delivers, in large part because of the incredible cast. 

• Directed by: Kitao Sakurai
• Written by: Kitao Sakurai. T.J. Fixman. Dalan Musson
• Starring: Noah Centineo. Andrew Koji. Callina Liang

Camp

The trick to good camp, is treating the ludicrous seriously.  The more seriously the cast takes the over-the-top sequences, the better. It’s the exact opposite of the self-referential “winking and nodding at the audience” humor we’ve seen as of late, which to be honest is a breath of fresh air in itself.  It doesn’t always land well though. Sometimes it’s awkward and unfunny. Some scenes go on for too long, and some characters aren’t given enough room. Thankfully, Street Fighter moves fast enough to not dwell on these issues..

If you don’t know the plot, there is a tournament to find the best fighter in the world, but it’s a trap laid by M. Bison to steal “Psycho Energy” from powerful people. Protags and “brothers” Ken and Ryu have to fix their broken past, stop Ryu from becoming evil, and prevent M. Bison from taking over the world. Easy, right?

You Either Get It Or…

This is a movie that does not care if you do not get it.  It was made for an audience that wants to see video game characters and fights brought to life. In that regard, it succeeds.  There will always be a disconnect between what players imagine the real-world versions of their favorites looking like and what shows up on screen, but for me I was pleased.  Not with Ryu or Ken, that’s easy.  It takes commitment to the bit to not tone down Guile’s hair or Dhalsim’s movements.  

The trend has been to take the “comic book” and “video game” out of their adaptations, starting with the first X-Men movie when they made their unforms black leather instead of yellow because it wasn’t “realistic” enough. Bleah. Street Fighter fully embraces the lack of realism. This starts by setting the tone with anime flashbacks that inform the audience that we are in a hypercolor martial arts fantasy that at times feels more like a music video than anything else. 

Every character is extreme. There are no “straight men”, and this statement may have multiple meanings. When you’re done watching, let me know where you land on this one. In any case it’s a celebration of friendship and brotherhood, of the importance of being there for each other when things get bad. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, in Street Fighter friendship can be magic. Or fire. 

Commitment to the Bit

And weirdly all this works because of a phenomenal cast. Andrew Kogi takes Ryu seriously, while Noah Centineo is the incredibly stupid-but-likeable Ken Masters. David Dastmalchian makes M. Bison his own while still paying tribute to Raul Julia. Cody Rhodes delivers some of the most insane lines with absolute conviction as Guile. I’ll be honest: Roman Reigns wasn’t given much to do as Akuma other than look menacing and beat the crap out of Ryu for a bit, but I’m good with what he did. I’m good with most things he does. 

There is a lot that doesn’t work with the structure of Street Fighter. The end is both long and abrupt. The pacing is uneven, and some fights are brilliant while others we don’t see at all. It’s a movie that assumes it will get a sequel, which is a bold choice in today’s movie landscape.  

It’s also hilarious and well worth the money and two hours to see it. H³ enjoyed it too and actually didn’t demand his usual “bad movie cake” afterwards.

Final Thoughts. 

Street Fighter is not going to be for everyone. It doesn’t have to be. It just needs to be fun. If you’re looking for serious martial arts action, boy are you in the wrong movie. If you want to see Chun-Li deliver her classic move set in her traditional outfit, yeah, we get that.