STREET FIGHTER has ’90s Kicks, but not a KO

by Cole McNamara

Like a casted fireball, the film is quick fun yet is fleeting without substance. Street Fighter comes as advertised and what it (largely) should be: a turn-your-brain-off action flick that’s caked in ’90s aesthetics and never once wants the audience to take it seriously. Andrew Koji plays Ryu, a fighter haunted by giving in to his darkside that summoned an evil spirit that killed his sensei on a dark night in 1987 (the same year as the original Street Fighter). Noah Centineo plays Ryu’s longtime friend/rival/training mate Ken who responded to the tragedy by giving in to the hedonistic & bright neon temptations that the early 90s has to offer. Together, they’re lured into a fighting “tournament” that’s actually a trap to capture Ryu’s fighting power for the evil M Bison. 

The story is predictably corny and meant to serve as a conveyor belt for each of the series iconic fighters who come and go depending on who the movie wants to feed to Ryu, Ken, or Chun-Li. The action scenes are in fact fun and mostly steer clear of many of the traps that make modern day fight scenes feel boring or stitched together. It’s no John Wick or The Raid to be certain, but that’s still a win in my book.The camera (mostly) keeps to the action and plays to the various fighter strengths to make the core fighting feel engaging. Audiences won’t feel cheaped out on fights from a Street Fighter movie.

A special shoutout must be given to the ’80s flashback scenes which are animated in tribute to the ’90s anime film and given a rich detail even with these scenes being too few in number. The main drawback of the film is so much of the comedy revolving around Ryu’s manager, the joke fighter Dan played by comedian Andrew Shultz. Those outside the main trio are only given sparse time and it would have been nicer to have given more time to them than have so much of the comedy fixed to this one bland character. Especially since most of the other fighters are forced to interact with Dan with remarks about their disdain for him. All told, a movie that is fun enough.

3/5 stars