Film Review: Street Fighter
Review by Sam Waite
⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Street Fighter franchise of video games is so synonymous with the fighting game genre that its sophomore entry is often seen as launching many conventions of the genre. Naturally, a universe so beloved has been adapted across various mediums, and with varying success, with its newest adaptation hitting cinemas globally as a major release. Director Kitao Sakurai’s Street Fighter lands in a world where comic book and video game adaptations have been proven not only as financially viable, but even capable of critical praise – a shift from decades ago which offers both strong possibilities and stronger competition for Sakurai and co.
Opening with a flashback set in 1987, the year of the first game’s arcade launch, Street Fighter cuts swiftly to 1993, where training partners, adoptive brothers, and former best friends Ryu and Ken haven’t seen one another in years. In fact, no one has seen Ryu since shortly after he as crown the victor of the inaugural World Warrior tournament. Hoping to steal Ryu’s power for himself, cruel dictator M. Bison arranges for a second World Warrior tournament to be held in Metrolao City, and double-agent Chun-Li brings both Ryu and Ken on board to compete. What the others don’t realise is that she has also enlisted them to gain Bison’s trust, seeking her own revenge against him while behind the scenes an even darker threat looms.
The opening sequence, as well as several flashbacks throughout the film, came to be through the combined efforts of Sakurai, his co-writer T.J. Fixman, and the animation studio Titmouse. These scenes are universally strong, helping to introduce the more fantastical elements of the story and creating a clear distinction between the Ken and Ryu of the past and present, with their younger selves being seen only in these hand-drawn sequences. Admittedly, it helps add to their cohesion with the rest of the film that this may well be the most a mainstream live-action film has resembled action-adventure anime, with bright costumes, absurd wardrobe and hair choices, and a plot that exists mainly to set up the next action set piece.
Where this does backfire slightly is the moments where writers Sakurai and Fixman must slow down and offer exposition. An open-ended final scene makes it endlessly apparent that the hope here is to launch a new screen franchise, or at least wrap up the loose ends in a follow-up film. With that in mind, this film’s script needs to pack in a sufficient amount of lore, and introduce a host of characters who may or may not make further appearances, which can bog the film down in its middle third.
The firmest command over tone and pacing come in the first act, where Ken and Ryu’s separation allows for some fun contrasts to play out. Scenes focusing on Ryu seem to offer up an idea of what could have been, had this been a grittier, more self-serious take on the franchise, whereas Ken is given a comedic treatment that helps the goofiness of some designs and abilities from the game to translate to the screen. Noah Centineo absolutely shines in these moments, bringing what can only be called a “himbo” energy to Ken that not only allows for significant growth in the final act, but for the sometimes-tired humour to truly land. Many of the cast are having great fun leaning into the silliness of these games, and Centineo is possibly the finest example of this winning energy.
Andrew Koji acquits himself well to the role of Ryu, whose seriousness places him as the straight-man in many of his interactions. He and Centineo work well together, creating a nice contrast which helps sell their dynamic as it re-develops. As is all too familiar in this kind of film, the women suffer from little real development, but Callina Liang’s expressive face and game performance help to offset some of Chun-Li’s lack of dimension. Series icon Cammy, played here by Mel Jarnson, is less fortunate in that regard, becoming more of a set piece than a real character. It would be easy to criticise the film further for its occasional lingering over its women’s bodies, but that would be to ignore how much time it spends on the bodies of its men. Despite a lack of romantic plot threads, Street Fighter often feels deeply sensual, as if any two characters let alone could slip into a passionate embrace at any moment.
Among the supporting cast there are the likes of David Dastamalchian and Jason Momoa, with Momoa doing fine work and Dastamalchian chewing scenery in every scene where his M. Mison is present. There are also appearances by musicians 50 Cent and Orville Peck, presumably fans of the games, and wrestlers Cody Rhodes and Joe Anoa’i, better known as Roman Reigns. Both fighters do well with their roles, minimal as they may be, with Reigns bringing an imposing quality to the demonic Akuma, and Rhodes being given a solid comedy moment where his character is almost immediately eliminated from the competition. However, the most memorable supporting turns come from a pair of actor-comedians, wit Andrew Schultz a delight as put-upon sidekick Dan, and Eric André bringing boundless energy to commentator Don Sauvage.
The camera work is competent but rarely anything special, the shots often simple but never pulling away too soon, a real risk when there are so many fights to behold. While Sakurai does lose control of the tone as the film progresses, whenever a new combat sequence starts it becomes difficult to care, even as the mid-fight banter becomes less and less charming. Supervised by Sandra Balej, the visual effects are exciting and never look too cheesy – or, the real issue for a film like this, not cheesy enough. Most essentially, the fight scenes, coordinated by Anthony Rinna and performed by a small army of stunt performers, are thrilling to behold and the choreography for the combat is always strong.
Of course, it needs to be acknowledged that Street Fighter is, first and foremost, for the fans. Kym Barrett’s costumes do a fabulous job of bringing the characters as players know them to life on the big screen, with the hair and makeup team helping to complete the vision. Video game icons make appearances, jokes are cracked about their best-remembered qualities, and even as the plot falls by the wayside and even the central tournament feels under-represented, the whole thing feels like such a labour of love.
With Easter eggs left, right and centre, genuinely fantastic fight scenes, and a perfectly-pitched performance from Noah Centineo launching the whole affair, Street Fighter shines where it succeeds, leans into its possible failings, and ultimately proves impossible to hate. When Nicole Kidman told us we come to the cinema for magic, I'd be inclined to suggest that Street Fighter, for all its stumbling, captures some of that magic.
Street Fighter releases in UK cinemas on October 16th
Listings can be found at your local cinema or at https://www.streetfightermovie.co.uk
Images property of Legendary Pictures