"I never saw a wild thing sorry for itself" -D.H. Lawrence
http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/feature/77803/street-fighter-movie-review
I can't claim to be a huge fan of the Street Fighter franchise; I honestly haven’t played it since 1992. But the fact that the latest live action movie felt familiar speaks not only to the brand's endurance and appeal, but the film’s challenging balance between being a videogame recreation versus being a popcorn movie in its own right.
Honestly, much of one’s experience with Street Fighter (film) will be shaped by how much grace is afforded its early acts as it rapidly builds its world while paying generous homage to the source material. You don’t need to have played the videogames to get it, but you DO need to walk in open to the idea of a martial arts power fantasy with its own form of magical realism. Fire balls, spirit worlds, demons, "psycho power", and the occult-fascist organization Shadoloo are all gaudy dressing for the film’s setting and story.
Street Fighter escapes these flights of fancy, and the danger of being a rote retelling of its own lore, by focusing on its dynamic collection of characters, especially the arc of Ryu and Ken’s brotherhood. The movie is not a story of who can beat who (the film sidelines its "tournament" setup as soon as the best action starts happening outside the ring), but whether you can run from, or deserve rescue from, fate. Noah Centineo as Ken carries the central thread of the narrative, and while Andrew Koji’s Ryu is technically the champion, Centino does an unflinching job convincing us that his Ken can make the journey from dissolution to self-actualization in order to save his friend/training partner/adoptive brother.
The rest of the Street Fighter gallery of characters add their own energies to the party without hogging the spotlight. Callina Liang’s Chun-Li, almost as much a protagonist as Ken and Ryu, enters a third of the way in and is absolutely glorious when her quest for vengeance is finally transmuted into unrelenting rage and violence. Cody Rhodes as a surprisingly humorous Guile and Vidyut Jammwal’s happy, charming Dhalsim make an impact with their smaller screen time.
David Dastmalchian renders primary villain M. Bison as a megalomaniac and creep, and he receives help from a villain side that is as much an ensemble cast as the heroes, with the Street Fighter characters Balrog, Vega, and Juli all playing henchman duty. Blanka, Jason Momoa emoting as a big green CG "monster", is not technically a villain but IS an obstacle that must be overcome.
M. Bison also has a villainous and psychotic lieutenant in the character of Cammy (Mel Jarnson), but her antagonistic attitude towards Chun-Li never pays off with any actual fight time between the two. This is perhaps the largest disappointment for fans of the characters. Maybe there just wasn't any space left in the script or the healthy 120 minute run time.
It’s worth noting that there are a handful of times when Street Fighter does veer into more childish and puerile humor (objectifying Chun-Li, or Ken’s manager Dan protesting that his friendship with Ken isn’t anything more). That this almost always comes through side characters who are either blatantly unlikable or are wrestling with insecurity next to a cast of martial arts super heroes adds some context, but viewers may choose to be less generous.
Visually the movie is as playful as the medium it came from. The first thing you see is not live action, but an animated prologue of the first "World Warrior" tournament where Ryu earned his stripes (and gave Sagat his, IYKYK). The film returns to 2D animation for several flashback scenes, and it’s almost as if there is a whole new Street Fighter Animated that could have been. However, in a couple live action fight scenes this energy temporarily manifests as frenetic cameras and fast editing, a visual overload that obscures the blow-by-blow details whenever it’s applied.
Similarly playful is the soundtrack, which is colored by the fact that the movie is canonically set in 1993. Thankfully, when obvious pop hits of the era show up, it’s always there to accent the onscreen action, not overpower it.
At the end of the day, Street Fighter is not really about winning a martial arts tournament; it’s about facing destiny and chasing justice through the toolset of really cool punching and kicking. That’s silly, but it’s also fun. Think of it like a really wild roller coaster: You don’t have to buy a ticket, but if you do, at least be honest about what you’ve signed up for.
7.5/10
Topic: Street Fighter (Movie) Review (Read 10 times)
