Good movies can be many things. They can be thought-provoking; they can be well-written, well-directed, and well-acted; they can be genuinely sincere adaptations of something beloved; or they can just be sheer dumb fun… Street Fighter being all of the above was not what I expected.
Now, I’m not saying I was expecting it to be bad. But I certainly wasn’t expecting something like this to deliver a balanced story featuring no less than three protagonists, each on their own journey, while also tackling brotherhood, vengeance, legacy, and even depression.
But somehow, it’s a movie titled Street Fighter that does it all. Go figure.
Admittedly, everything about the movie has always looked fun. But fun doesn’t usually promise much more than a quick-but-forgettable two hours. Even the recent Mortal Kombat 2 (based on my preferred game franchise) rarely went beyond being simply fun, largely thanks to the flawless Karl Urban as Johnny Cage.
Like many movies of this genre (including the aforementioned Mortal Kombat 2), Street Fighter’s greatest strength comes from embracing its somewhat goofy roots. If there was ever the temptation to succumb to the pathetic-ness of the early 2010’s need to make things dark and “gritty”, Street Fighter shows no stain of it, leaning entirely into its dorky origins, playing it up at every turn like a Guardians of the Galaxy sequel done right.
Admittedly, the movie does feature a fair bit of stunt-casting with the likes of WWE’s Cody Rhodes and Roman Reigns, as well as the oddly-cast but properly-used Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson. However, at no point does the movie allow their presence to overtake the characters actually driving the plot forward.
Noah Centineo, Andrew Koji, and Callina Liang all pull off their roles masterfully with wildly varying levels of seriousness. Even relative Hollywood stars like Jason Momoa and Don Lee are kept well within measure. Most importantly, David Dastmalchian proves himself a worthy heir to M. Bison’s throne, delivering something truly iconic beyond just moves.
Also, who’d have thought it’d be Andrew Schulz as Dan Hibiki being the show-stealer?!
To seal it all, animation studio Titmouse, Inc.’s animated sequences are nothing short of perfect. It’s a testament to both the cast and Titmouse, Inc. that I cannot decide if I’d have liked Street Fighter as an animated movie or as the live-action that it currently is. But perhaps, the true genius here is that we no longer have to choose between the two.
Between this year’s Mortal Kombat 2, Resident Evil, and Street Fighter, it truly seems like video game movies just may have a fighting chance.
Street Fighter is out now in theatres, and deserves to be more than just a cinematic pitstop before the inevitability of Dunesday.