Video game adaptations may be a dime a dozen, often met with disappointment and frustration from passionate fans of the games, but Street Fighter aims to not only please avid fans, but those who have never picked up the controller as well. Fortunately, this videogame film earnestly and feverishly embraces its source material to deliver an adaptation that brings the popcorn entertainment in spades.
Street Fighter, which is based of course on the beloved videogame franchise, centers on Ken Masters (Noah Centineo) and Ryu (Andrew Koji) who reunite after years of estrangement when they are recruited for the World Warriors Tournament. In the midst of the tournament, the two find themselves intertwined in a mysterious conspiracy all the while reconciling their turbulent past as they possibly face destruction and a shared enemy in M. Bison (David Dastmalchian), the organizer of the tournament.
Video game adaptations can live or die by the way in which they engage with their source material, many shying away and side-stepping the fundamental charms of their IP, a detrimental blunder. Fortunately, director Kitao Sakurai and the rest of this impressive cast lovingly lean into the inherent silliness and camp of the material, never losing sight of what has made the games such an enduring pop culture phenomenon. Fans are of course coming with their popcorn buckets filled to the brim and sodas in hand for the film’s fight sequences which thankfully do not remotely disappoint. Sakurai and his DP Ken Seng give the film a distinct and vibrant visual aesthetic, colors oozing out of the screen as they craft wonderfully visceral and playful fight sequences, utilizing a wide variety of visual flourishes to not only make them look and feel akin to the games, but give them a palpable energy and dynamic range that allows them to pop as they lean into zaniness of the material with a fiendish grin.
The stunt work and choreography is also wildly impressive, each fight tailor made to its surrounding environment and its fighters, radiating a singular energy to effectively showcase the wide variety of skills each fighter possesses as they square off against one another on screen. Sakurai allows these sequences to breathe, never shrouding or obscuring them with shaky cam, frenetic editing or an overabundance of close-ups. The sound design packs a sizable punch as well, utilizing the sound stage to its full potential, allowing the audience to feel and hear every punch, kick, slice and bone-rattling blow between the film’s fighters. The sound design, coupled with the playful, joyous and often brutal visuals, fully immerse the audience with effortless ease, especially in its sequence fitted for the IMAX.
The film also does an admirable job fleshing out the core relationship between Ryu and Ken, utilizing anime inspired visuals and storytelling to color in the lines of their shared traumatic past. Centineo and Koji are able to make their relationship feel well-rounded and lived-in, the two sharing easygoing and symbiotic chemistry with one another, their yin and yang dynamic becoming one of the film’s most sizable highlights and sources of entertainment. Centineo in particular is quite strong here, not only continuing to showcase a confident, charming and physically committed screen presence, but making Ken feel far more than just one note. He’s able to bring ample gravitas when the occasion calls for it, especially as he explores the fragility and insecurities of the character as he finally begins to become the man his master would be proud of. Koji is the compelling flip side of that coin, effectively conveying Ryu’s inner turmoil and anguish tied to his past as he tries to protect himself and those he loves from the darkness bubbling inside him that’s scratching to get out at all times.
The supporting performances are also delightfully lively as well. Dastmalchian in particular is relishing every second of screen time as M. Bison, the film’s insidious main antagonist. He can play sinister in his sleep at this point, but he refuses to make this iconic character forgettable in any way shape or form, crafting a malevolent and consistently magnetic performance that toes the line between menacing and campy with dexterity. Callina Liang, Cody Rhodes and Jason Momoa are also giving game, committed performances as Chun-Li, Guile and Blanka respectively, each fully understanding the assignment and laying all their chips on the table so to speak. In fact, each member of the cast is clearly on the same page, no outliers that seem aimless or uneasy with what they’re given.
However, as entertaining and polished as the film may be, it becomes readily apparent that it’s trying to throw as many fights and action set pieces as it can at the audience in order to distract them from the paper thin characters and story. Aside from Ken and Ryu, the supporting characters simply feel far too much like video game character avatars, devoid of depth or any noticeable layers. While these characters are certainly fun to watch on screen, they hardly make a lasting impact. It also doesn’t help matters that the film suffers from some truly lazy and dated humor that rarely ever lands. Jokes are flying consistently, but the vast majority of them fall thunderously to the ground with an audible thud. There are shades of a deeper, more emotionally compelling film, especially in regards to Shun-Li’s backstory and the core relationship between Ryu and Ken, but the film seems far more interested in shifting the focus to the fight scenes than the characters that share blows within them. This is a film that’s so densely populated with a litany of colorful, eclectic characters, but it never quite knows what it wants to do with them.
3 out of 5 stars.
Street Fighter is the kind of video game film that feels ripped straight out of the nineties, the kind of movie that teenagers would rent from Blockbuster on a Friday night and watch with a pizza and liter of Mountain Dew to enjoy with giddy delight. This is a handsomely made, energetic and very entertaining action film that should please dedicated fans of the games and those who are uninitiated as well. However, though this may be a film with a pretty face, it makes it abundantly clear that looks aren’t everything.
