Street fighter (2026)

 

Street Fighter (2026)

6/10

 

Starring             

Noah Centineo

Andrew Koji

Callina Liang

David Dastmalchian

 

Directed by Kitao Sakurai

 

Look, I won't lie to you, I enjoyed this film.

The effects hit, the fights absolutely shine, and the range of it all goes from comedic to sad to straight-up insane.

But here's the real thing, you know this movie has a story problem. It keeps cutting away from what works to remind you how many characters exist in this franchise.

Ryu and Ken are obviously the emotional centre, the film knows it and we know it. And somehow, they still managed to slim it down to focus on those two, but not before wasting time on half the roster.

The cartoon intro was cool to watch, and I enjoyed seeing Sagat get that scar from Ryu's Shoryuken. It told you everything about where this Ryu has been, from winning the first World Warrior tournament to the dark power taking hold and him disappearing.

We get a deep dive into his past, how he tried to keep the darkness away and watched his master die because he refused to use the Hadouken.

Ken became this celebrity show fighter who was more annoying than needed, making his path to glory predictable. Ken's whole down-and-out punk phase gets over-flogged to the point where you're like, can these two get over themselves and actually get into the movie? The animation already covered the wanderer and the fallen friend, the film didn't need to loop over that same ground.

Anyways, the movie is about Bison's desire to harness the power of the Hado to boost his powers. So he created another tournament to draw Ryu out and sent Chun-Li to gather everyone for it. The whole thing is set in 1993, when Street Fighter II hit arcades, and the bones are there.

Oh, did I mention Guile was in this movie? He was just a total waste of a character, and I don't even recall seeing him fight.

Anyways, you get the comedic moments, though. They come right when the thing's getting too cocky for its own good.

So what's underneath?

It's a film about reconnection and the damage of walking away.

Ken and Ryu split after that first tournament, and the movie builds everything around finding their way back through this conspiracy Bison cooked up. That's the heart, and that's what I wanted more of.

The acting goes everywhere, which strangely helps. One minute it's almost slapstick, the next it's mourning a dead master. You fall for it because it isn't pretending to be one thing.

But I'm not going to pretend the padding isn't there. They had time, they just chose to spend it on characters who didn't need their own beat.

So go watch it for Ryu and Ken, the Shoryuken intro and the fights, but don't ask the plot to carry everyone it tries to carry.