Street Fighter Movie Review
The Allied Nations comes together to take on the evil dictator Bison. Capcom’s beloved arcade fighter comes to life, in this 90’s action movie, with very disappointing results.
Street Fighter (1994) 102 minutes (SPOILERS)
Adapting a video game with very little story is hard to do, but with this 90’s action movie Steven E. de Souza gave it go, and boy did he fuck up! That’s why I’m not surprised to find out that he also wrote another video game movie, Tomb Raider Cradle of Life. Based mostly on Street Fighter 2’s various version, this movie tries to follow the same outline as most of the games characters, with creative liberties taken with a few to fit the movies premise. The main character on this story is Guile, with everyone around him bending to his will, or being an adversary. One major flaw with this movie is making Guile not American, which is a big issue a lot of fans can get round. While also side lying fan favourites Ryu and Ken to conmen, how are nothing like they video game counter parts.
Let’s talk about nation represented in this movie, is all over the place. With Kylie Minogue playing British fighter Cammy. It’s like the casting people heard her accent and thought, Australian and English accents seem close enough. However, that isn’t the only faux pas with this movie. As Japanese Honda is Samoan, okay, and fellow Japanese character is played by Chinse man (Asian is Asian I guess). I could hark on by the mistakes in casting of this movie, but we’d be here all day. After re-watching the movie many times in almost thirty years, I can help but think that someone mixed up the black characters. If that is true whoopsie!
The bright spot of this movie is Raul Julia as M. Bison. In certain scene there is clear over acting and hamming it up, but to the movies credit it really does sell Bison as the megalomaniac he is meant to be. Another high light thought out the movie, we are given nods to the many different costume colours of Bison from all the different version of game, nice touch.
As video games movies go, this one doesn’t really help to give them the good name they needed. Set designers were very clever in incorporating various game elements into the background. Such as the laying statue in Sagat’s office, refencing his stage. While also having Bison’s desk be the control stick from the arcade.
Even though this movie has a cast of character from around the world, its just a shame that we never get to see any of it. In the game with go from country to country fighting, but sadly everything takes place in one location, Shadaloo, referencing the Bison shady criminal origination.
On every re-watch of this movie, I class this movie as bad one, but it’s so bad it’s good. This is because it has some funny moments. Zangief’s “Quick change the channel” comes to mind. With more of his quips played for laughs, but some of the line delivery in this movie can also come across very funny, even though it’s not supposed too. One joke that is very poor taste in modern times, is the four Asian characters watching Honda and Zangief fight through a model city while Godzilla noises play. It’s really not funny.
Watching this movie with modern eyes is also quite hard, as most of the men in this movie all sexualize Chun-Li. Which is also another thing that’s hard to watch, as you realise that Bison takes her as a sex slave, okay! While during the whole movie being objectified by Guile.
I’ve not got to the point where I need to point out some the dumb things that make no sense in this movie. Ryu name is on the match board before its announced, even though both him and Ken are in the ring and waiting to be picked. Guile is lying in the morgue with a sheet over his head, alone hours after his faked death for reasons. Cammy and T-Hawk let Chun-Li escape even though they both have guns. In Bison’ command centre there is a random brick structure. Zangief can pose with the others at the end because he held open a door?
After re-watching this movie with a critical eye in mind there are very few positives, I can say about it. I can say it’s nice that most characters end up in their costumes by the end. Other than that, I can really say anything nice about it, than I already have. The less said about what they turned Blanka and Dhalsim into the better. While also down grading the mighty T-Hawk, to a character that gets punched in the face at least three times unexpectedly in this movie.
This movie is only one in a long list of video games movies that tried something and it didn’t work. They took a simple fun fighting game and tried to make into something that didn’t exactly work. All the characters are meant to be fighters of some kind, but never actually see any one really fighting. Most are just given once scene to fight in then, are they’re just their for fan service. To say this movie is a missed opportunity is an understatement, it was a cash grab of a hot property that worked at making $99,423,521 worldwide. I view this movie as something of my childhood, and something I thought was okay then, and now I view it more as a product of its time. The same way many video games movies followed.
If you’re a fan of Street Fighter 2 and haven’t seen this movie, I’d recommend you watch to see the butchery of the source material. While also having laugh of this very goofy movie. If you’re not a fan of video games or Street Fighter you won’t enjoy this move at all, I recommend you dont watch it. If you do want to see this car crash of movie, and the time of writing it is currently available on Amazon Video, if you are subscribed.
Now I’m going to play some Street Fighter, to see how I could have made a better movie.
