Street Fighter (2026)
Kitao Sakurai
Fight is the operative word here, stylishly accounting for 50+% of the screen time. If you like the video game franchise and are amenable to cheesy fun, it's a strong recommendation. Otherwise: a classic popcorn flick with great casting and great music (see: HEALTH).
Filed under Movies
Theater · Martial arts action · ~120 mins
This Street Fighter movie gives you what you want. Cool characters well casted. Constant fighting for a well paced 2-hour runtime. And solid comedic chops with excellent music (HEALTH, 50 Cent, et al) to wrap it all together for a very fun movie.
No familiarity with the game franchise is needed, but the Easter eggs are certainly there for those who may be so inclined to enjoy.
And despite all this, the movie may not be your cup of tea.
- Are you a purist who decries any deviation from the lore? Might Chun Li's thighs not be big enough for you, or perhaps Bison's iconic "Tuesday" line delivery deviates from your imagination? You may struggle with this one not matching up to your hopes and dreams. And I suspect that's true with life in general for anyone with that brand of intellect, often missing the forest for the trees.
- Do you hate classic action movies with fit actors and a simple story that functions on deus ex logic in exchange for fight-centric, highly stylized scenes perfect for munching popcorn? This is peak cool action. Some folks who are so cerebral that their brainpower loops all the back around and up their ass may struggle to appreciate from their perspective.
If you're exercised in the art of dynamic brain states and can turn down your voices to drink deep for shallow entertainment purposes, I think you'll find this one to be excellent. The fight scenes aren't groundbreaking but they're plenty generous in all regards and constant throughout. And if there's "critical" dialogue, it's delivered during the fights (or in the well-animated, also-stylish flashbacks).
The casting is pretty perfect, whether it's David Dastmalchian bringing Bison's comedic freakishness to life, 50 Cent providing the perfect campiness for a mid-boss-fight, the WWE wrestling talent extending into pure acting, or the up-and-coming stars showing what they got. The Jason Momoa CGI was... not a highpoint. But in a movie this stupid it still worked in spite of that.
Making a movie based on an iconic video game franchise is no small feat. But they pulled it off for a fun one that has me hoping for more.
P.S. The soundtrack's most excellent "NEGATIVE EDGE" by HEALTH flowing into the film's credits is well worth a listen.
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