As we see the fallout of Marvel and Star Wars’ former successes that compelled studios to buy the film rights to whatever IP appeals to millennial men with income, I try not to let my senses get flash-banged by slavish renditions of things I loved at thirteen. Jingle the nostalgia keys, and I will yearn for when dumb presidents had decorum. Watching Mortal Kombat II, all it took was Liu Kang and Kung Lao fighting in the portal stage to get me clapping like a seal.
I loved Masters of the Universe too, to the chagrin of my coworkers who refuse to believe me even now. I’ve studied Soviet filmmaking and the French New Wave and came up during the indiewood boom of the 1990s and 2000s. I advocate to anyone who will listen to seek out independent and foreign cinema.
And I’m a fan of Stephen Chow, whose oeuvre of anarchic cult favorites like Kung Fu Hustle and Shaolin Soccer is obvious touchstones for what I’m about to talk about. So it’s with a heavy sigh I admit that Street Fighter, terrible as it is, is incredibly stupid fun. In theaters now, Kitao Sakurai’s Street Fighter is the latest video game movie of the month, hot on the heels of Zach Cregger’s acclaimed Resident Evil (also based on a Capcom property).
It’s a remake/reboot/whatever of the seminal arcade franchise about a global martial arts tournament with competitors who can shoot fireballs, perform twelve-foot vertical suplexes, or stretch their limbs. There was a memorably bad movie in 1994, with Jean-Claude Van Damme as the lead and Raul Julia as the evil M. Street Fighter 2026 is similarly bad, but rather than render a cartoon world into a realistic one like its predecessor, it doubles down on the hyper-unrealism of martial artists capable of superhuman feats and poor taste in haircuts.
This time, the movie stars a bevy of underrated heavy-hitters, like Warrior’s Andrew Koji as main character Ryu, a monk-like champion, and recurring Christopher Nolan/Denis Villeneuve player David Dastmalchian, whose villainous M. Bison comes off as a mad dictator coded with sexual deviancy. (In one scene, he crushes an underling’s head with his bare hands; when blood spurts, his eyes roll back in ecstasy.) There are also familiar faces meant to draw in the Gen Z cohort. Noah Centineo flexes his ab muscles as Ken Masters, Ryu’s former best friend and rival, and controversial comedian Andrew Schulz as Ken’s assistant Dan Hibiki (a joke character in the lore), who winds up the unexpected heart of the whole thing.
There are also noteworthy newcomers that Street Fighter might well turn into stars by Monday: Callina Liang as the iconic Chun-Li, an undercover agent with lightning kicks, and Mel Jarnson as sexy henchman Cammy. (Street Fighter’s strongest assets are, without a doubt, its women, and this movie will inspire a lot of young boys’ first crushes.) Throw in random famous people like 50 Cent and Orville Peck, professional wrestlers Cody Rhodes, Roman Reigns, and Hirooki Goto, and Eric André cashing a paycheck as a grating emcee, and Street Fighter is basically a celebrity cosplay group photo at San Diego Comic-Con. Street Fighter reaches for emotional heft in its story about brotherhood and estrangement. Ryu and Ken came up as fellow students and loved each other like brothers until envy, jealousy, and the murder of their master—carried out by Akuma (a TERRIFYING Roman Reigns), a warrior from the underworld—drove them apart.
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