Here’s my Street Fighter review from Paramount Pictures Philippines directed by Kitao Sakurai and stars Andrew Koji, Noah Centineo, Callina Liang, Roman Reigns, Cody Rhodes, Jason Momoa and many more! It’s now showing in cinemas!
The film is based on the 1990s hit game Street Fighter II from Capcom which basically kickstarted the whole fighting game community and craze in the early 90s. The film follows the story of two fighters Ryu (Andrew Koji) and Ken Masters (Noah Centineo) who have grown apart after the death of their master at the hands of the mysterious and demonic Akuma (Roman Reigns/ Joe Anoai). Meanwhile, despot and terrorist M. Bison (David Dastmalchian) continues to look for more powerful fighters to power up his “Psycho Drive”. He initiates a second World Warrior tournament in the hopes of luring back Ryu, who has disappeared after winning the first competition back in 1986. The beautiful and deadly Chun-Li (Callina Liang) has been dispatched to invite the warriors to compete including Ken who has become a washed-up fighter and MTV icon.
The film revolves around three main plots namely M. Bison and his plans, Ryu and Ken’s plot, including a potential showdown with Akuma, and the authorities’ attempts to track down and arrest M. Bison. Which is one of the biggest qualms people have about the film, it’s got too much plot points that its become so tightly packed. Honestly, I have to agree with that aspect. One or two of the main drives of the film could have powered us to the end probably Bison’s evil plans together with Ryu’s self-doubt and guilt AND Ken’s issues. One thing I appreciated with Street Fighter is they know what’s coming next and they already paved the road for a sequel with the way they ended things in the film including that mid-credit scene.
Photo credit: Paramount Pictures
For me, one of the highlights for Street Fighter were the several anime scenes that have been peppered throughout the film. The longest and most important one also happens to be the opening minutes of the movie detailing the first World Warrior finals in the 1980s with Ryu winning against Sagat after tapping into the dark Hado. Later we also see the nail that ended the friendship between Ryu and Ken through anime and towards the third act, some few seconds featuring origins for Chun-Li and Blanka.
I’m not sure what people should expect from the casting choices for the film but for me, these were sound choices. Most of the cast has background in combat sports or had gone through some action films and some are just straight up wrestlers. Andrew Koji, who plays Ryu has done several big-budget projects in the past, including “Warrior” where I first noticed him and later as the second live-action Storm Shadow in that G.I. Joe Snake Eyes movie. Noah Centineo who plays Ken has background in action movies even one time being attached to play the role of He-Man in the Masters of the Universe movie. We also have Roman Reigns and Cody Rhodes, who play Akuma and Guile, respectively. Both are WWE champions and even headlined one of the best Wrestlemanias in the past decade – Wrestlemania XL. Point is, the casting ranges from OK to really good.
Except for Dan Hibiki , but that I can forgive.
The VFX and CGs are hot too. I feel like they did a pretty good job and I’m not going to nitpick on the small details that may have been missed. The Hadouken was so good to see in an IMAX screen so was Guile’s Flashkick, Chun-Li’s Hyakuretsukyaku, Most of the attacks from the main fighters have appeared in the film too. Later, with Akuma appearing and kicking ass, we even get a very accurate Raging Demon.
There are so many references in Street Fighter that actual fans and casual fans can enjoy. That classic Toyota car that needs to be destroyed is here; there’s even a reference to the opening of Street Fighter 2 with two fighters punching each other before the title screen. 
There are also some dialogues that fans of the 90s games would be familiar with like Guile’s end screen remarks about going home and being a “family man”.
The humor for me is OK. There were some that was really good, especially in the delivery but there were some that might be considered crass. I kind of half-cringed when Jason Momoa’s Blanka smelled his armpits and said “hotdogs”. Koji’s way of delivering his lines also work and Centineo got a ton of the funny moments which might not work for some fans but I totally get why they placed those in his lap.
Photo credit: Paramount Pictures
The musical choices and needle drops were also good to a certain point. I loved the use of 4 Non Blonde’s “What’s Up” as well as Soundgarden’s “Black Hole Sun”. The use of each character’s theme music also helped heighten the experience like when Ken delivers his finishing blow or Guile’s classic music blaring when he makes his first appearance in the film meeting Ken and Dan in the hotel lobby.
Also wanted to leave a special note for Callina Liang who plays Chun-Li in the film. Not only did she bulk up her thighs for the part, she actually contributed actual fighting prowess in her scenes. Thick thighs definitely save lives.
RATING – 8/10
Turn off your brain, get your Guile-themed popcorn bucket and enjoy Street Fighter for what it is. No need to look for Oscar worthy dialogue or plots because the source material is crazy and convulted as hell. They distilled all the good parts that fans would know and appreciate and ran with it, which is important in the overall sense. We don’t need dramatic takes like that Kristin Kreuk version nor do we need a one-to-one reinterpretation like what they did with the Jean Claude Van Damme movie. We just need a Street Fighter movie that knows that we were there for the fights, the references and those cool moments and Kitao Sakurai’s version was PERFECT.
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