Street Fighter is no stranger to having their games adapted as movies. Since 1994, the franchise has released several films. Although historically a majority of the films did not perform effectively well — including the first and infamous 1994 Street Fighter, which was rated 20% for critics and audience scores on Rotten Tomatoes — it’s only a matter of time to see if this film can break the cycle.
The setting for Street Fighter revolves around street fighters Ryu and Ken (played by Andrew Koji and Noah Centineo) entering the next World Warrior Tournament — a brutal clash between fighters — after being recruited by the mysterious Chun-Li (played by Callina Liang). Behind this tournament lies a deadly mystery following Ryu’s choice of being at peace and Chun-Li’s pursuit on antagonist M. Bison (played by David Dastmalchian).
According to numerous media outlets including Deadline, Street Fighter was originally projected to debut with an estimated $31 million for its domestic opening weekend in the US. With the net production budget being $82M, Street Fighter has had a strong start, earning $51M+ worldwide and becoming No. 1 during the weekend above ‘Whalefall’ and ‘Sense and Sensibility’.
So, what do the review websites think about this film?
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film currently sits at a score of 42% for Critics and 79% for Audience reviews. Over at IMDb, the film remains at 6.3 / 10, whereas Letterboxd has the film debuting with 2.8 stars.
It’s not an Oscar-winning and critically-acclaimed movie that deserves 90%+ on Rotten Tomatoes by critics but it is a film that can be enjoyed by movie-goers and gamers.
Fans of Street Fighter will be thrilled to know that this film has plenty of easter eggs and references to other games from the series. For example, during a montage sequence, Ken is beating up and destroying a car, a reference to a famous Street Fighter II bonus stage, where you could do the same for extra points. There are also references to the 1994 Street Fighter movie as well, including a famous line delivered by M. Bison to Chun-Li. However, it’s also a film that you don’t need a lot of knowledge about and you don’t have to be a die-hard fan to watch this film.
At first glance, the casting was quite odd as it had a mixture of well-known names like 50 Cent, Jason Momoa and Roman Reigns, and lesser-known names in the cast. But, this whole film makes up for it with decent humour, great character portrayals & interactions and above all deliver some epic fighting sequences.
The soundtrack and the overall choice of songs used is what you would expect for a video game adaptation; songs that are a nod to the original games, including Guile’s Theme from Street Fighter II (1991) which was used in the film, and popular songs from artists including 50 Cent, Soundgarden, 4 Non Blondes, The Offspring, and more. Although the choice of songs is enjoyable to listen to, the soundtrack could have been better by referencing other themes from characters of the series, including Ken’s Theme, from Street Fighter II (1991), which seems to be absent from this film.
The film provides a nostalgic experience with comedic relief in between. Although it may not win the critics’ high expectations of being a high-class and impactful film that deserves seven nominees at the Oscars, this film has definitely won the hearts of many for being a fun and entertaining film.
