'Street Fighter' review: Big characters in need of bigger fights
MANILA, Philippines — Capcom goes for a third attempt at a live-action film adaptation of its popular "Street Fighter" video games, hoping that nostalgia will carry the company to cinematic success.
The film focuses on Ken Masters (Noah Centineo) and Ryu (Andrew Koji), the latter hailed champion of the first World Warrior tournament but his victory awakens the dark villain Akuma (Roman Reigns) who kills the adoptive brothers' master Gouken (voiced by Don Lee).
Gouken's death sees Ken and Ryu go their separate ways. Years later Chun-Li (Callina Liang) recruits the two and several other martial artists for a second World Warrior tournament in the fictional city of Metrolao as organized by David Dastmalchian's Lord M. Bison.
The tournament however is merely a ploy by Bison to lure Ryu out of hiding in order to extract his fighting power, something Ken refuses to believe having lived in Ryu's shadow all his life.
Video game adaptations can really be a hit or miss, and Capcom is mostly 0-for-2 when it comes to "Street Fighter" given the commercial success but critically-planned 1994 attempt and the much worse "Legend of Chun-Li" from 2009.
Director and co-writer Kitao Sakurai is given the task of steering the ship out to sea, but the result is a hashed divide of conjuring a story from a tournament-based game and promising references that will excited longtime fans.
Animated flashback sequences give the new "Street Fighter" some promise even though it takes up much of the more graphic combat scenes, just bordering on the point of distracting from the main storyline.
But there begin the film's pitfalls, as fight sequences are overshadowed by the assembled cast's characterizations, which demand much bigger and more exciting battles.
RELATED: Noah Centineo reveals co-star Andrew Koji as diehard 'Street Fighter' fan
Koji and Liang are very capable as Ryu and Chun-Li, executing iconic moves like Spinning Bird Kick and, of course, the Hadouken. Even Centineo does his part by bulking up and portraying an insecure, himbo-like man from the '90s.
The supporting cast are all larger than life, especially Dastmalchian — chewing it up like the villain Bison is — and Cody Rhodes as the unintentionally funny Guile.
But all these fighters, whether backed by Bison or not, deserved grand match-ups. Instead, they are affected by a disjointed story that is cooking too many things in the pot.
No doubt fans will enjoy the easter eggs snuck in or iconic moves that Filipino-American stunt coordinator and second unit director Jon Valera included for sequences.
Just to name a few, the movie displayed Ken's Shoryuken, Guile's Flash Kick, E. Honda's Hundred Hand Slap, and Bison's Psycho Crusher.
However it is really box office success that will dictate whether a sequel can be expected and perhaps something more coherent and streamlined.
"Street Fighter" is enjoyable to a point, but the fight is mostly over before Round 2 even begins.
RELATED: Fil-Am stunt choreographer breaks down 'Street Fighter' action
- Latest
- Trending
