If you’re a fan of 90s fighting games, you’re onto a winner this year. Not only that we had Game mortal kombat ii this year, but the latest attempt to give us an identity A street fighter the film just hit the big screen. Does this one work or should it have stayed off the big screen? Let’s find out.
As a note, unlikely Mortal Kombat, I have no real experience or nostalgia for A street fighter. I may have played a bit of the former, but not much of the latter. I know some of the overall basics, and the design of many others due to their cultural impact, but for all intents and purposes, I’m not going into this as a fan.
A street fighter largely follows the story of Ryu and Ken, two best friends who were trained together in Japan by Master Gouken. Ryu is a natural talent and is the first World Warrior Championship winner, with Ken sitting out to be Ryu’s training partner. But soon after he won, he disappeared, and Ken has become a profiteer who makes easy fights only for fame and money. But when M. Bison launches the Second Tournament, fighters from all over the world are brought in to compete, and the question everyone is asking is: will Ryu and Ken face off in the end?
A street fighter it’s definitely a combination. It does some things really well, and some things feel a bit fake.
So let’s start with the advanced ones. The cast as a whole is pretty good for this stuff, with everyone seeming to understand the camp specification and zaniness. Ryu and Ken are definitely the leads, so they get the most to do, and the film often finds a good rhythm in exploring their relationship and the outcome. I really think the movie should have focused more on this aspect of the movie, as it is the heart and the most attractive aspect. The other fighters are pretty much right there in the background as one-sided inclusions, but they’re still on a level, especially Cody Rhodes as Guile; it just leans into all the stupidity. The costumes also feel like they’ve been nicely recreated from the games. The film also features 2D animated flashback sequences, and those parts are straight up managementto the point where I think the whole movie should be like this. They are far more realistic and engaging than the live-action series.
A street fighter set in the 90s and has a really fun 90s soundtrack too. It probably doesn’t make sense in terms of the years of release, since the movie takes place in 1993, but that’s a bridge I can cross if it means we get the likes of 2Pac, Offspring, 4 Non Blondes, Too $hort, and Soundgarden in the movie.
Although the cast may have understood their parts well, it is ironic that the best actor in the film is the one who struggles the most. David Dastmalchian plays Bison and he is definitely fake in the role. He doesn’t risk coming off as a scary villain, but he can’t dig the scenes enough to make him a fun villain either. It’s never fair to compare, but from what I saw of the 1994 version, Raul Julia gives a much more convincing turn as Bison, because he handled the role as he would any other role, with complete class. Dastmalchian’s revolution feels very one-sided, flat, and boring in comparison. It’s a shame, because Dastmalchian is such a great talent overall.
The film is also a mess in the editing. There were a few instances where the film would jump forward quickly without offering any context or explanation; there are just scenes missing in the movie, and we expect to find out why this same character who was captured one scene ago is now free, for example. The film also relies heavily on humor, much like the one Masters of the Universe movie, and sometimes it can cancel the movie. There is an awful lot of Eric André in this movie, at the expense of many of the other fighters, for example.
There isn’t a lot of competition either, with most of these fights happening off-screen, and that feels like the same mistake in 2021 Mortal Kombat game done. I would have focused on the competition and the relationship between Ryu and Ken, rather than the whole quest of Bison looking for Psycho Power. There’s a lot going on in this movie, between Chung Li’s (Callina Liang) recruitment and secret mission, Ryu’s darkness, Ken’s return, Bison’s master plan, and the more supernatural element of the demon Akuma (Roman Roman). A street fighter it also ends abruptly, not even with a cliffhanger perse, but it builds momentum and just pulls the chord to a baffling place. I guess the studio is hoping for a sequel.
So I’d say if you’re a fan of the games, or if you’re game for a 90s throwback movie in both style and execution, you might have some fun after checking your brain at the door. There’s style, and some fun camp to be had, but I also feel like it was messy and was trying to do too many things at once.