Kitao Sakurai's live-action take on Capcom's fighting game franchise screened at the TCL Chinese Theatre on Monday, and most critics who saw it came out grinning, though a few called the tone a mess.
The Street Fighter reboot had its world premiere at the TCL Chinese Theatre IMAX in Hollywood on Monday, October 12, and the first wave of reactions suggests Kitao Sakurai has pulled off something fans weren't expecting: a video game movie that actually lands.
The film is set in 1993 and follows estranged fighters Ryu (Andrew Koji) and Ken Masters (Noah Centineo), who get pulled back into the ring when Chun-Li (Callina Liang) recruits them for the next World Warrior Tournament. Behind the fighting, per the official synopsis, sits a conspiracy that eventually puts Ryu and Ken on opposite sides. The cast also includes David Dastmalchian, Eric Andre and Cody Rhodes.
Chris Killian of ComicBook.com described it as "Bloodsport on horse steroids," praising the film's willingness to send up the machismo of 80s action cinema while also indulging in it. He singled out the hand-drawn animation sequences scattered through the film, calling them some of the best Street Fighter animation he's seen, and said he couldn't picture a more faithful, more bombastic take on the material.
That Hollywood Show's Junior Felix called it a blast, campy and hilarious, and said Centineo and Koji "understood the assignment" as Ken and Ryu. He singled out Liang's Chun-Li as the film's standout, alongside what he described as a strong 90s soundtrack. Daniel Baptista went further, calling it the biggest surprise of the year, while Anthony Gagliardi said Sakurai had hit "the perfect combo of style, energy, and fun."
Not everyone came away convinced. Christopher Rates It of Nexus Point News argued the film doesn't fully commit to a single tone, and said that indecision works against it by the time the plot catches up with the action. He flagged the characterisations of Cammy, M. Bison and Guile as unrecognisable from the games, though he credited the film's focus on Ryu and Ken as found brothers for keeping it grounded. Tessa Smith of Mama's Geeky was the harshest of the bunch, writing that the dialogue lets the cast down and that the jokes rarely land, even as she praised the 2D animation and said Dastmalchian and Andre got the biggest laughs from her.
That split is worth noting given how badly the genre has struggled lately. Live-action video game adaptations have a patchy record at best, and the two recent Mortal Kombat films didn't exactly convince skeptics that fighting games translate to the screen. If the bulk of these early reactions hold up once general audiences weigh in, Sakurai's film could end up being the one that breaks that pattern, at least among the people who grew up feeding quarters into a Street Fighter II cabinet.
The film opens in theatres this weekend. Whether the glowing word of mouth survives contact with a wider audience, and whether Capcom's other characters get more room if a sequel happens, are the two questions riding on the opening numbers.
Be the first to comment
Join the argument. No password, just your email or a passkey.