Movie Review: “Street Fighter” Knocks It Out of the Park

The moment Street Fighter begins, it tells you what kind of movie it is and how to receive it. It opens with a flashback sequence fully animated in anime style, packed with all the drama and a brutal fight scene that pits Ryu against Sagat while Ryu’s training partner and best friend, Ken (Noah Centineo), and their master Gouken (Don Lee), watch. Ryu is getting his butt served to him, but he activates a Hadouken that awakens the demon Akuma (Joe “Roman Reigns” Anoa’i). It’s overly dramatic, amplified by the anime styling, and tells us right away that this film will lean into these elements. 

As the film moves to its present timeline, it is 1993 and Ryu and Ken have parted ways. Ken has become a flashy fighter, getting endorsement deals through his manager Dan (Andrew Schulz) and becoming a joke to the fighting community. Ryu, meanwhiles, has gone off grid, unseen after winning the first World Warrior Tournament. Ryu and Ken are now estranged, there’s bad blood and a history that is not revealed until much later.

Meanwhile, in the nation of Shadaloo, the dictator M. Bison (David Dastmalchian) is conducting human experiments to extract chi, or power, from humans to boost his own psychopower. But it’s not enough.

He decides to host the second World Warrior Tournament in order to lure the world’s best fighters, including Ryu, so that he can extract their power to increase his own. He employs Chun-Li (Callina Liang) to recruit the competition’s participants, but M. Bison doesn’t know that Chun-Li has an agenda of her own.

Director Kitao Sakurai and screenwriters T. J. Fixman and Sakurai lean into the campy elements of the video game the film is based on, doubling down on the ’90s setting with its use of music and lighthearted tone that integrates so easily that the cast and creative team can have a lot of fun with the material.

The plot follows three main characters – Ryu, Ken, and Chun-Li – and no matter where their stories go, the overall aesthetic and tone allow for easy comprehension of the film’s narrative. The plot goes everywhere, but you don’t care because it’s just a lot of fun. 

Street Fighter is not afraid to make fun of itself and to have fun by being whimsical and left-of-center. But when the fight scenes begin, it goes full throttle, delivering geniunely enjoyable fight sequences with sharp choreography and camera coverage that feels as brutal and relentless as the anime flashback that prologues the film.

The editing is quick and fast-paced, yet leaves enough space for you to see that the actors are doing a lot of their own stunts. What makes it equally enjoyable is how it blends live stunts, wirework, and CGI effects to bring game-accurate moves to life, like Chun-Li’s kicks, Ken’s Shoryuken uppercut, Ryu’s Hadouken, and so on.

And surprisingly, despite all the fun they are having, they still manage to push for a really strong brotherhood storyline between Ken and Ryu. Their estrangement and complicated relationship have a full arc that takes its time before reaching its conclusion. It’s not rushed; it’s given its due, and it allows Koji and Centineo to get some acting work in, aside from showing their moves and their insane physiques.

They seem to have a lot of fun playing to the audience’s expectations when it comes to the characters and the fight scenes – with Centineo going full comedy in most parts of the film – but when it comes to the scenes depicting Ryu and Ken’s relationship, they take it seriously enough to give the film its beating heart. 

The cast is enjoyable to watch, with Centineo, Dastmalchian, and Schulz really hamming it up for full effect. Meanwhile, Koji and Liang possess powerful screen presences, operating on the exact right frequency to act in that they make the film’s tone work seamlessly. 

Street Fighter is an absolute blast and a total joy to watch on the big screen with friends who know the lore and can spot all the Easter Eggs. It’s a solid martial arts film that doesn’t demand much, yet offers so much in return. And out of the many times “What’s Up?” by 4 Non Blondes has been used across any form of media, the film delivers yet another good use of that timeless song.

My Rating: 4.5 Stars

Hadouken your way to the nearest theater! Don’t miss out on all the action, camp, and ’90s nostalgia. Gather your player twos and click here for Street Fighter showtimes.