The new Street Fighter movie isn't just flashy — it's faithful. And that matters.
Noah Centineo’s Ken Masters doesn’t just look like a video game character — he fights like one. And that’s thanks to stunt coordinator John Valera, who spent months reverse-engineering the combat styles of over 150 Street Fighter characters to make sure every punch, kick and special move in the new Paramount film lands with authenticity.
The movie, set for an October 16 Imax release, isn’t just another action flick. It’s a choreographic homage to a franchise built on pixel-perfect precision. Centineo told GamesRadar+ that Valera didn’t just study the moves, he studied the backgrounds. ‘Every character comes from a different background, pretty much, right?’ he said.
That meant researching how a martial artist from Japan (Ken) would fight differently than a Brazilian jungle warrior (Blanka), or a flamboyant Spanish swordsman (Vega). The result? Fights that don’t just feel real. They match the game.
The signature moves are there: Ken’s Hadoken, Chun-Li’s Spinning Bird Kick, Akuma’s Shoryuken. But they’re not just slapped in. They’re earned, executed with the rhythm and weight of their digital origins. The cast is stacked, Jason Momoa as Blanka, Joe Anoa’i as Akuma, Vidyut Jammwal as Dhalsim, 50 Cent as Balrog.
But it’s the attention to detail in the fight choreography that’s turning heads. Kitao Sakurai, who co-wrote and directs, has leaned hard into the source material. This isn’t a remake with a new coat of paint. It’s a translation.
And if the trailer’s first two minutes are any indication, the screen is about to explode with stylised violence that respects the rules of the game. So yes, the fights are insane. But more importantly, they’re correct. Now, the real test begins: will audiences care about the fighting style, or just the fight itself?
The answer comes in three days.
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