Video game memories are the best. I wasted countless quarters on STREET FIGHTER II at the arcade and spent endless hours beating it on my Super Nintendo, and the joy I got out of it has lasted a lifetime. In 1994, Hollywood made a failed attempt to get STREET FIGHTER onto the big screen. The only positive outcome was seeing Raul Julia in one of his final roles as M. Bison. After the 2009 flop STREET FIGHTER: THE LEGEND OF CHUN-LI, the franchise has sat waiting for another filmmaker to bring it back.

Cue director Kitao Sakurai (from THE ERIC ANDRE SHOW and BEEF) to bring his chaotic style to the latest adaptation. And while STREET FIGHTER is a serviceable adaptation, it doesn’t hit nearly as hard as audiences expect from a violent video game film. See Zach Cregger’s RESIDENT EVIL for the new gold standard.

STREET FIGHTER doesn’t completely work for three reasons:

The Script. I know, I know. I’m complaining about a script in a video game film. Yet in my defense, this one is an absolute mess. It has so many montages, main quest ball drops, and pushes some of the most beloved characters of the franchise to day-players.
The Villains. Eric André may be hilarious, but he is out of place in this movie. Every time he’s on the screen, the film comes to a screeching halt and becomes boring. The same can be said for David Dastmalchian’s M. Bison, a cartoon villain who gets way too much screen time.
The Tone. It’s all over the place. A director’s job is to maintain the tone of the film so people feel each character’s journey, and in that respect, Sakurai fails. The movie jumps from cartoon violence, comedy, and product placement (I see you, 4 Non Blondes and MTV) to heartfelt trauma. The results? A jumbled ride.

With that said, what holds this entire film together is the fun the leads are having: Andrew Koji as Ryu, Noah Centineo as Ken, Callina Liang as Chun-Li, and Cody Rhodes as Guile. Whenever one of them is on the screen, the film tends to be better than it deserves to be.

Final Thought: For a film that preaches “To live is to fight, to fight is to live,” STREET FIGHTER does far too little fighting.

It’s in theaters now.