Think back to the arcades you went to as a kid and the fighting games you played there. Chances are one of two comes to mind: Mortal Kombat or Street Fighter. For me, and for many others, it is Street Fighter. Just thinking about it takes me back to booting up the game as that iconic, adrenaline-pumping theme kicked in.
Enter Kitao Sakurai's new Street Fighter. The film stars Andrew Koji, Vidyut Jammwal and Jason Momoa, with cameos from rapper 50 Cent and WWE superstars Roman Reigns and Cody Rhodes. A cast this stacked tends to strike fear into fans, me included. It is a well-known curse that films built on big names rarely deliver.
That worry faded quickly. Early on, a short animated sequence sketches the backstory of the two protagonists, Ryu and Ken Masters. It returns throughout the film, gradually revealing the tragedy that binds them, fuels their rivalry and drives the story.
The film strays from many of the characters' established backstories, and not always for the better. The changes to Guile and Chun-Li in particular have left a bad taste in some fans' mouths. Personally, I liked Chun-Li's twist: rather than simply being an Interpol officer, she is working undercover for M. Bison. The rest of her story stays true to the core lore.
Guile's change left me more conflicted. Instead of a formidable, serious military fighter, he is reduced largely to comic relief. It suits the film's tone, but it does not sit right with me, as his fighting style makes him one of my favourites.
Shortcomings aside, the plot makes for an entertaining watch. Ken is invited to the World Warrior Tournament, which turns out to be a ploy by Bison to lure out Ryu and extract his power. As the fighters battle their way through the tournament, Ken wrestles with his envy of his brother Ryu and his hunger for the title, while Ryu fights the dark energy growing inside him – a thread tied back to their shared past.
Street Fighter has deep roots in gaming, with countless fans who, like me, grew up on it. So I went in expecting the near two-hour runtime to deliver at least an hour of fighting. Walking out of the cinema, I could not say it came close.
The humour woven through the film suits Street Fighter, a game about martial arts built on exaggerated, larger-than-life characters. But it is a double-edged sword. The film repeatedly breaks the tension of fights and emotional moments with a joke. It works a few times, but by the end the gags feel overdone.
Silly as it can be, Street Fighter has deep roots in gaming, with countless fans who, like me, grew up on it. So I went in expecting the near two-hour runtime to deliver at least an hour of fighting. Walking out of the cinema, I could not say it came close.
There are roughly four main fights and three smaller ones, and apart from the club fight, the side characters barely get a look-in. That mid-film brawl introduces much of the roster, but several characters all but vanish afterwards, turning up in a scene or two without throwing another punch.
That was frustrating. Many characters from the game are reduced to plot devices or support, despite being played by distinctive actors who are never given the chance to shine.
The sheer size of some of the names involved may be to blame. If their contracts ate up much of the budget, that would explain why their roles were prioritised, giving the film reach at the expense of depth. Some scenes even feel cut short to make room for the bigger fights with the bigger stars.
Still, the characters who do get screen time are handled well. The costumes are excellent, and everyone feels lively, even the non-actor celebrities. No performance falls flat, which is rare with celebrity casting, so the ensemble feels evenly matched.
The CGI impresses too, especially on Blanka, who is fully computer-generated with Jason Momoa's face mapped onto him. Special moves such as the Hadouken and the psychic powers look fantastic, adding to the attention to detail.
The music and sound design stand out as well. The soundtrack leans on retro techno and hip-hop in the spirit of the games, with even the hip-hop tracks given a techno twist. Game-style sound effects, from the fight announcer to the special-move noises, make the experience feel authentic and show real respect for the source material.
Street Fighter is deeply personal to me and many others, yet almost anyone can have a good time watching it. It is a film to put on with friends in your living room, reminiscing about the days you spent playing the games as kids – just hanging out and having fun without worrying about the technicalities.