{"id":55596,"date":"2026-10-21T16:39:02","date_gmt":"2026-10-21T20:39:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/?p=55596"},"modified":"2026-10-21T16:39:02","modified_gmt":"2026-10-21T20:39:02","slug":"street-fighter-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/2026\/10\/21\/street-fighter-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Street Fighter [2026]"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Fighters from around the world compete in a tournament while a villain tries to steal power from one of them in Kitao Sakurai\u2019s disjointed, frustrating, and annoying Street Fighter, an adaptation of the Capcom game series.<\/span><\/p>\n


\nIt\u2019s almost unfair to try to compare the two recent Capcom video game adaptations. With Resident Evil,<\/a> Zach Cregger<\/a> had a strong game story to draw from and translate. Street Fighter has less story and more punchy action to draw together for Kitao Sakurai’s film. But it also highlights how differently the two films work, and why one succeeds and the other falls flat. Cregger transforms the video game experience into a compelling narrative, building it with the care of a film and making it one of the year’s best. However, Sakurai and T.J. Fixman’s script for Street Fighter barely seems to understand how film works, with a scattershot, half-done script translated dully into a visual medium, failing to add a compelling story to the fighting game.<\/span><\/p>\n

Yes, I\u2019m aware there\u2019s a ton of lore built up over dozens of games and other media since 1987. I\u2019m coming in first and foremost as a film person, watching a movie; I don’t need deep background knowledge to enjoy a film. My knowledge is mostly geek knowledge, mainly the first film and vague memories of the myriad Street Fighter II<\/a> editions in the mid-90s (when I was a teen). \u201cIt\u2019s made for the fans\u201d is a weaksauce excuse; as is \u201cit\u2019s aimed at young children.\u201d But if one will go this route, shoving in references and direct game notes without trying to make it cinematic, at least make it entertaining rather than facepalm-worthy.<\/span><\/p>\n

I might have to turn in my critic badge and film degree, but I honestly enjoy the 1994 Street Fighter<\/a>, starring Jean-Claude Van Damme<\/a> and directed by his frequent collaborator, Steven E. DeSouza<\/a>. It\u2019s knowingly cheesy, leaning into a silliness and large, cartoonish chutzpah. And it has Raul Julia\u2019<\/a>s go-for-broke, much-memed, final performance. He elevates all the silliness. True, punch for punch, the movie isn\u2019t GOOD. But damn, it\u2019s enjoyable. Unfortunately, Street Fighter 2026 mostly lacks fun or energy, except for a few moments. No, it need not be a goofy, fun sort; it can absolutely be serious and work through, even if it might clash with the colorful nature of the games; but it\u2019s clear Sakurai\u2019s film is intended to be comedic and energetic, even if it falls flat. For a more serious take\u2026well, there was another. But the less we talk about 2009\u2019s The Legend of Chun-Li,<\/a> the better. I bet you forgot about that one until right now, didn\u2019t you?<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>As it is, 2026\u2019s Street Fighter is an ugly, annoying film. It\u2019s a total mess in tone, fighting, character, and plotting. Now I shouldn\u2019t slam the named creatives so hard; Street Fighter screams studio and producer notes, forced rewrites, and edits that cause the film to clash and fight with itself. But I won\u2019t speculate; I’ll just report on the nearly two-hour result I sat through.\u00a0 The story Street Fighter follows is of Ken and Ryu, former best friends who grew up together. Ryu won the 1987 tournament, defeating Sagat by tapping into a darker nature, which brought about the demon Akuma. After Akuma kills their master, they separate, with Ken becoming an over-the-top stunt fighting icon and Ryu vanishing. In 1993 (for 1987 and 1993 were the years of the first two games, a set of dates that makes no sense with the references made to pop culture and stating current slang \u201cproblemantic\u201d and \u201clock in\u201d, indicating a late in the game add), M. Bison is trying to make himself powerful and sets up a new tournament to lure Ryu out and gain his power for his own.\u00a0 A tournament that does not matter at all, treated like a necessary evil for the film. It\u2019s barely seen, with various off-screen fights and drop-outs for\u2026 reasons, it seems. It’s a plus to leave it off, since that means fewer annoying Eric Andre (Sakurai directed The Eric Andre Show) announcer scenes.\u00a0 At least they have it, unlike the 2021 Mortal Kombat<\/a> that is pure prologue. But Street Fighter also leaves off incomplete, with an inane cliffhanger that is less of intrigue and more of \u201coh, we\u2019re done? But the story isn\u2019t over yet! Did they run out of money or lose the last 12 pages of script?\u201d Along the way, Chun-Li, a mole in Bison’s organization, tries to take down M. Bison for killing her father; Ryu figures out his issues; and Ken comes to terms with being a loser.<\/span><\/p>\n

But they all are. The characters are weak and sad; hobbled by the film. Yes, one expects growth and character arcs, but this doesn\u2019t work, with half-idealized traumas to work past. That is, when they aren\u2019t fully underwritten, like Balrog and Zanglief, they get nothing. Guile gets a few notes, as does Dhalsim. Vega\u2019s swishy, stylish Spaniard nature is treated as an extended gay joke. These happen often, not just with Vega, but throughout. They do not fit in 2026. As does the reductionist Asian fetishism put on Chun-Li, especially in a creepy turn by Kyle Glover.\u00a0 A final punch-down in the writing notes that the humor is awful and grating, even beyond the outdated jokes. Prepare to see jokes like Ken\u2019s clumsiness 4 times in a row; also, did you like “What\u2019s Going On” used in the trailer? Prepare to hear it 7 times. When Masters of the Universe<\/a>, a film that does have a meme connection to the song, is restrained with its use, but Street Fighter forces the joke, it\u2019s an issue.<\/span><\/p>\n

Street Fighter also falls into the issue of many video game adaptations: references for reference’s sake, in ways that don\u2019t truly affect the plot. A fight between Ryu and E. Honda does nothing; Jason Momoa\u2019s Blanka is a throwaway. It\u2019s forced and awkward. To be fair to these sequences, the film is so disjointed that you could remove any specific element and it wouldn’t really change the film. This includes Ken and Chun-Li, let alone Andre\u2019s announcer or Grover\u2019s Interpol agent. It\u2019s so disjointed.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

It\u2019s not all for naught. Some parts of Street Fighter work. The animated sequences from Titmouse work like gangbusters. They have an energy and drive. The animation is amazing; it moves and feels alive. It\u2019s a strong choice to do these flashbacks this way, whether it’s Ken & Ryu, Chun Li and Bison, or Blanka. It makes me wonder why they didn\u2019t do the whole thing this way. I\u2019m aware there are other animated Street Fighter films, showing it works.\u00a0 Some parts, such as a prison break and Cammie firing a bazooka, have a wonderful, colorful, knowing B-movie feel. When the prison-break sequence started, it felt like another director stepped in for five minutes. I was enthused, perking up with a new jolt. Until it goes away and back to the drab. I liked a particular joke about the useless tournament and how a specific character works through it. Some of the easter eggs are fun.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The performers are mostly fine, doing their best with what they can. Noah Centineo tries real hard as Ken. Andrew Shlutz is annoying as Dan Hibiki. Orville Peck\u2019s mask gimmick continues to play Vega. Callina Lang seems unsure how to approach Chun-Li (the writing for her is all over the place). Andrew Koji,<\/a> as Ryu, is an actual martial artist, and that goes a long way. It\u2019s too bad Cody Rhodes, playing Guile, doesn\u2019t get much fighting time. With many of the cast being actual fighters, there are flashes that show it, even if the fights are shot terribly, fast and quick, with little time to let the punches and kicks land. Nearly all are done quickly (for the title, about 30 seconds on a street). But I have to mention David Dastmalchian<\/a> as M. Bison. Dastmalchian is a wonderful actor, one of my favorites, and I love to see him. But he\u2019s supremely miscast as M. Bison. He doesn’t have the sheer power of will Bison needs; yes, Raul Julia set a very high bar (and referencing a specific line proves the point; if you don\u2019t want me to compare, don\u2019t include that line). Having him say \u201cI\u2019m too small\u201d as his first line sets a bad precedent that never gets overcome. He\u2019s as weak as the rest.<\/span><\/p>\n

My review is a little bit of a mess. But the film is, too, which makes it hard to explain concisely why it falls flat. Bad editing, characters, plotting, and just all-around annoyance. Street Fighter is mostly a failure, with some bright spots: an occasionally cheesy tone, some good fights, and awesome animated sequences. It\u2019s a film that doesn\u2019t quite know what it is and how to play its game. Don\u2019t put any quarters in.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Fighters from around the world compete in a tournament while a villain tries to steal power from one of them in Kitao Sakurai\u2019s disjointed, frustrating, and annoying Street Fighter, an adaptation of the Capcom game series.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[58],"class_list":["post-55596","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-movie-reviews","tag-action"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55596","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/32"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=55596"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55596\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":55597,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55596\/revisions\/55597"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55596"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55596"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55596"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}