They have always existed together, in sync, like brothers. Of course, one could only be referring to the two legendary fighting game series "Mortal Kombat" and "Street Fighter." While the latter was introduced five years before the former, once they both hit arcades at the same time, they were sympatico. One was more violent than the other, one had more realism (so to speak), and both incited schoolyard arguments of which was better and which characters could take on the other. So, just as each got their own live action films in the 90s, they are both getting live action reboots in the 2020s. We had "Mortal Kombat" a few years ago and "Mortal Kombat 2" just a few months ago, so now it's time for "Street Fighter"... again.
The film follows best friends Ken Masters and Ryu, played by Noah Centineo ("Black Adam," "To All the Boys I've Loved Before") and Andrew Koji ("Warrior," "Bullet Train"), years after the pair parted ways after Ryu won the 1987 World Warrior tournament. Now, six years later, Ken is a celebrity fighter taking on publicized stunt fights while Ryu is in hiding due to being sought out by Akuma, played by Joe "Roman Reigns" Anoa'i. After M. Bison, played by David Dastmalchian ("The Suicide Squad," "Murderbot"), declares a new World Warrior tournament in the hopes of luring Ryu out of hiding, the friends reunite and team up with Chun-Li, played by Callina Liang ("Tell Me Everything," "Presence"), to stop him from stealing Ryu's power.
When it comes to bringing the world of "Street Fighter" to life, that's the one aspect of co-writer/director Kitao Sakurai's ("Bad Trip," "The Eric Andre Show") new film that is undoubtedly a knockout. It seems as though virtually every cent of the budget was spent on building the world up with elaborate practical sets and costumes, and it shows. The film bursts with color in every scene, and neon purples and reds pop off the screen with reckless abandon. Cinematographer Ken Seng ("Deadpool," "Terminator: Dark Fate") frames the fights clearly, keeping the over-the-top action at the center as it dances back and forth around the environments. It completely nails the aesthetic and feeling of the games, right down to showcasing any flashbacks using hand-drawn anime style sequences from Titmouse Inc. Even the score from composers Leo Birenberg ("Weird: The Al Yankovic Story," " Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man") and Zach Robinson ("Weird: The Al Yankovic Story," " Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man") is above average, with chunky electronic retro beats mixed with some somber strings.
Sakurai's cast does a mostly good job keeping things together with a campy tone, but the mileage between each member varies wildly. Centineo has surprisingly good chemistry with Koji, and the pair are at their best when they're on screen together. Koji is more serious than one might expect, but it works opposite the wackier elements of the world. Dastmalchian is cheesy, but wavers between being miscast and the best part of the film. Liang, like Koji, is more serious than the plot around her, but it works less with her story than it does with Koji. The supporting cast mostly consists of wrestlers turned actors hamming it up, and things are fine enough on that front. No one is expecting an Oscar winning performance from Cody Rhodes as Guile. Andrew Schulz ("Benders," "Tires") and Eric André ("Man Seeking Woman," "Disenchantment") also appear as Ken's manager Dan Hibiki and fighting announcer Don Sauvage, respectively. Schulz plays the slimy manager role well and is a decent highlight, while Andre appears, does his loud and obnoxious thing, and then disappears from the film.
If the sets look great, and the actors are decent, then it stands to reason sitting at the bottom of that pile is the script. Unfortunately, co-writers Sakurai, T.J. Fixman ("Carry On," "Ratchet and Clank (2016)"), Dalan Musson ("Iron Sky: The Coming Race," "Captain America: Brave New World"), and Gary Dauberman ("IT (2017)," "Until Dawn (2025)") have packed as much into the film as possible with little success. Anything with Ken and Ryu's brotherhood is engaging, but the rest is a mishmash of overly explained plot points, underdeveloped characters, or confusing moments. Why, in a movie about fighting, are so many of the tournament fights off screen? Characters go from being kidnapped to free to kidnapped again within a matter of moments, and characters vanish as soon as they can't be used for punching bags. It feels like three different drafts of the script were thrown into a blender and spat onto the screen. It also has an obnoxious, frat bro sense of humor that permeates the entire film. There are jokes that are amusing, but it's mostly a lot of cursing and jokes that feel ripped right out of a 2003 high school comedy.
If you watched it on mute, there's a lot to enjoy about "Street Fighter." That mostly comes down to its cast embodying the characters well, and every visual aspect firing on all cylinders. You might miss the fun musical score, but you'd at least be saved from an incredibly poor script and maddening plot. It runs right through you with its blistering colors and nonsense events, leaving you feeling like you're the one who just got beaten into oblivion. While it certainly is goofy and gamey, it's hard to call this a film that knows what it is. Because it thinks it's cool. It wants to be cool. It isn't. 2/5
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