Street Fighter, 2026.
Directed by Kitao Sakurai.
Starring Noah Centineo, Andrew Koji, Callina Liang, Cody Rhodes, Orville Peck, Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, Vidyut Jammwal, Olivier Richters, Hirooki Goto, David Dastmalchian, Eric André, Joe “Roman Reigns” Anoa’i, Andrew Schulz, Mel Jarnson, Rayna Vallandingham, and Alexander Volkanovski.
SYNOPSIS:
Street Fighters Ryu and Ken reunite when Chun-Li recruits them for the World Warrior Tournament. As they face a hidden conspiracy, they must confront each other and their past-or face destruction.
One could argue that director Kitao Sakurai’s Street Fighter (an adaptation of the Capcom fighting series of the same name) could have been given a sequential number. Essentially, the film follows the buildup to, and eventual carnage of, the second World Warrior Tournament, set in the 1990s, sometime after orphaned Japanese brawler Ryu (Andrew Koji) is crowned champion by defeating Sagat in the final round.
In an anime flashback (which recurs throughout the film to flesh out backstory, serving as a colorful and lively bright spot), the finale of that tournament is depicted, subsequently touching upon the aftermath in which Ryu split up from his long-time fellow orphaned friend, Ken Masters (Noah Centineo), a separation thought to be related to the death of their combat trainer, Master Gouken (Don Lee). This could have been its own movie, rather than what we get here, starting in the middle and dumping so many other characters and plot threads on the audience. It’s like walking into a story that started an hour ago and can’t help adding more.
Anyway, Ryu has disappeared entirely off the grid, whereas Ken has turned into an ESPN/MTV (both of which extensively cover the fighting, as the former currently endlessly analyzes WWE in real life, which is actually fitting given that there are professional wrestlers in some of the roles of these fighters) sideshow sellout more interested in publicity stunts (like, say, beating up a car with his fists in a throwback reference to one of the video game mini-games in between fights) and shameless promotions. Storing his master’s ashes and prancing around with his cornerman, Dan (Andrew Schulz), Ken is a bit of a disaster and an embarrassment to himself and the sport, seemingly lost on why his late trainer ever deemed it important for him to watch over and protect Ryu. For some misjudged reason, there are also weighty needle drops, like Black Hole Sun, as if the fractured friendship and the film need serious emotional gravitas.
Elsewhere, M. Bison (David Dastmalchian, entirely aware of how absurd all of this is and relishing the opportunity to put his own spin on some of Raul Julia’s most infamous line readings playing the character once upon a time) is pulling strings coordinating the arrangement of that second tournament in hopes of luring out Ryu and harnessing what could be divine or magical power (yes, there are Hadouken energy balls fired out of hands here), working with Chun-Li (Callina Liang), who is ordered to round up the participants but is also undercover with her own personal motives. Nevertheless, the filmmakers (including screenwriter T.J. Fixman and a story by Dalan Musson and Gary Dauberman) lean into the thunder-thighs fan service, sometimes self-aware of how hormonally juvenile it is, with one tremendous, visual transition to something straight boys and men might not want to look at.
Overall, the film is equally nostalgic, which explains the 1990s setting, synthesizer sounds, and treasure trove of fighters, even if most of them feel like glorified cameos with nothing to do. They are more so intruders, occasionally crashing the drama between Ken and Ryu, the latter of whom is found and coaxed out of solitude to fight. Essentially, there is a whole lot of setup here, and not much fighting on the streets or otherwise.
That said, once the action gets underway (also not on the streets, but in a coliseum inside a fictional metropolis), the film hits its sugar rush, neon-soaked footing, and delivers plenty of competently composed fight scenes. A standout moment comes when Ryu and Ken take on a bunch of henchmen inside a prison, where the inspiration feels less like a traditional fighter game and more like a co-op side-scrolling brawler. The filmmakers also use that 1990s setting better with a couple of popular but well-placed needle drops, ranging from The Offspring to White Zombie.
Street Fighter is also too much for one movie, even teasing a sequel. Granted, even with an obnoxious play-by-play announcer (Eric Andre), the fights suggest the filmmakers understand the spirit of what they are adapting, especially with flashbacks allowed to break free from grounded physics. At times, it also feels like an incoherent assemblage of editing focused on flashing everyone’s signature moves. The rambunctious, chaotic energy of the second half arrives too late, and within a movie that’s already overstuffed. That stretch instills hope that the filmmakers could get it right in the future, though.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★
Robert Kojder
