Street Fighter Review: The Third Attempt To Bring the Classic Fighting Game To The Big Screen Is A Big Game Over
Images courtesy of Paramount Pictures.
40 years ago, the release of Street Fighter made waves across video games and mainstream media, leaving a huge impact on anything it touched. 24 hours ago, Street Fighter (2026) premiered and I’m struggling to think of anything that made it unique.
The movie follows world champion fighter Ryu (Andrew Koji) coming out of self-imposed exile after the death of his mentor. Ryu answers the call to participate in another championship in order to protect his adopted brother Ken (Noah Centineo) from a prophecy foretold by the demon haunting him, Akuma (Roman Reigns).
The film is ‘directed’ by Kitao Sakurai (The Eric Andre Show, Bad Trip), however it’s in inverted commas as every part of this film feels as though it was directed by the studio. For a flashy action movie, it lacks any individual flair and takes no stylistic or narrative risks. Every line, shot, and plot development feels like it was voted on by a board and informed by demographic statistics on what would make the most possible money. The constant licensed needledrops every five minutes, the pandering to the audience, the egregiously unsatisfying sequel-bait ending and the inexplicable split second cut to Australian YouTuber LazarBeam flossing during a fight scene all just turn an otherwise OK film into a blatant cash grab.
The visuals range from the better end of serviceable to laughably bad, and while it’s a very vibrant and colourful film, the lighting feels angled only towards looking colourful;, a lot of shots are too strongly backlit, or harshly lit without matching the context of the scene. The film is intercut with fully animated flashbacks, and while they only make up around five minutes total, they’re arguably the best looking part of the film. They offer incredibly fluid and engaging scenes in a compelling and consistent art style, something that the rest of the movie lacks.
When it comes to the fight scenes (of which there is no shortage), the choreography is tight, exciting, and sometimes even ingenious, but it’s often done a disservice by the camerawork or overediting. There are plenty of scenes that look like they cost a lot of money, but the constant harsh soundstage lighting and flat cinematography make them feel like they’re designed to be posted on Instagram with a comparison to the game they’re from instead of actually being watched on the big screen. In the movie. That they’re in.
The plot is derived from a game where you fight different guys in different countries, so there was a pretty low bar to start with, however TJ Fixman’s script limbos underneath the bar with ease. A bad script would be expected, fine even with its tired tropes of an ex-champion coming back for “one last job”, but the most grating part is its distrust of the audience. There are black and white flashbacks to scenes that happened less than five minutes earlier, and dialogue constantly refers to what’s currently happening in the story so audience members can stay updated while they’re looking at their phone. The writing is occasionally funny in a crude way, but most jokes end up being post-ironic, self-referential quips. The celebrity cast, to their credit, do their best with what they’re given, with standouts (good) being Codey Rhodes, Callina Liang and Eric André, with standouts (bad) being Jason Momoa and Roman Reigns.
Despite the film’s predictable plot and uninteresting aesthetic, it did manage to surprise me at least once; it puts a greater emphasis on the song “What’s Up” by 4 Non Blondes more than the He-Man movie that came out this year.
Street Fighter opens in cinemas October 15th. For tickets and more information, click here.
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