Street Fighter (2026) review – Dragon punches above its weight

When it comes to unapologetic video game film adaptations that embrace the silly goofball nature of their source material for a fun time, Paul WS Anderson’s 1995 take on Mortal Kombat has been the champion for many years. But here comes a new challenger! In Street Fighter, writer/director Kitao Sakurai brings to screen Capcom’s long-running historic fighting game series with wild abandonment. It is by no means “Perfect!”, with many a misstep, but its reckless and relentless “button mashing” energy sure is infectious.

Take note though: this may look like an adaptation of the Street Fighter video game (or more specifically, 1991’s genre-defining Street Fighter II: The World Warrior) but it actually draws most of its inspiration in story and tone from 1994 anime feature film Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie, 2005 anime feature film Street Fighter Alpha: Generations, and… the 1995 Street Fighter live-action movie. Yes, the really bad one with a coked-up Jean Claude van Damme and iconic scenery-chewing Raul Julia (more on that later).

The anime inspirations are very obvious from the get-go as Sakurai’s film opens up with an incredible hand-drawn animated sequence. Set in 1987, this is the first of several jaw-dropping cartoon flashback scenes throughout the movie, which shows young fighter Ryu (voiced here, and played in live-action, by Andrew Koji) beating Thai powerhouse Sagat to win the first World Warrior martial arts tournament. To accomplish this, though, Ryu was forced to tap into a vast power – the Dark Hadou – much to the concern of his master Gouken (Don Lee) and adoptive brother/fellow student Ken Masters (Noah Centineo). This power – and the demonic presence drawn to it – scares Ryu to the point that he disappears from the world to instead live a life of quiet anonymity.

Fast forward to 1993, Ken is now a global superstar, but more for his product endorsements and celeb party boy antics than for any real combat accolades. His friend/manager Dan Hibiki (Andrew Schulz) can just barely keep him on track. Ken’s care-free life is interrupted, though, by the arrival of the no-nonsense Chun Li (Callina Liang), who comes bearing a message. A second World Warrior tournament is being organized in Metrolao City, hosted by the power-hungry dictator M. Bison (David Dastmalchian). Eight of the best martial artists in the world have been invited and Ken is finally one of them after not being picked for the first tournament. Secretly, however, this is all an elaborate ploy by Bison to place Ken in danger and lure Ryu out of hiding so that he can claim the Dark Hadou to charge up his own Psycho Power. And if you only rolled your eyes a tiny amount during that last sentence then you will probably have a good time here.

As the heart of the story, the reunion/rivalry between Ryu and Ken has the most weight in the film. And while Koji and Centineo won’t be winning any awards for dragon-punch-to-the-gut emotions, they know how to insert just enough drama and levity to make it work. Shout out to Centineo for also keeping up with a well-established martial arts star like Koji. Sakurai shoots the dynamic action scenes with appreciably focused cinematography, so there aren’t many edits to hide behind. Liang also deserves some credit. Chun-Li serves as essentially the film’s third protagonist, on a quest of personal revenge, and here Liang holds her own very well in both the drama and action (Plus, bonus props to the relative newcomer for her physical preparation to play the leggy Chun Li).

Outside of those three, Sakurai populates his film with some of the franchise’s most well-known characters and tosses them together in various situations – some martial and some comedic, all visually exciting. We get US Air Force pilot Guile (Cody Rhodes), stretchy Indian guru Dhalsim (Vidyut Jammwal), hulking Russian wrestler Zangief (Olivier Richters), claw-wielding Vega (Orville Peck), brash boxer Balrog (Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson), darkly evil Akuma (Joe “Roman Reigns” Anoa’i), and more. Here’s where things get a little wonky though.

While some characters are perfectly realized (I want more Dhalsim ASAP!) others have awkward and strange spins put on them (Bison has a foot fetish???). Guile suffers the most here, not just because he’s presented as a loud-mouthed weirdo for some reason, but also due to Cody Rhodes’s lack of thespian skill when it comes to selling the gags. Some characters, such as Cammy (Mel Jarson), don’t feel like they serve any purpose at all. And then you have Blanka, the electrified green mutant fighter from Brazil played by a CGI Jason Momoa, who looks amazing in action but then rambles on about armpits smelling like hotdogs. Sakurai clearly let his wilder filmmaking flourishes get away from him at times. When he manages to walk the fine line between cool and cartoonish, though, Street Fighter is a blast! The most notable example is when the film does something rather revolutionary with its characters: Just let them do their ridiculous fighting moves on screen without having to rationalize them. Crazy idea, right? I grinned in childish glee when Ken did a double backwards roll to toss somebody out of a ring, or when Ryu landed a hurricane kick on another opponent, complete with the half-garbled shout of “TATSUMAKI SENPUKYAKU!”.

Moments like that abound, showing Sakurai’s love for the franchise. Some scenes are inserted as unabashed fanservice and I was totally there for it, including a cheeky spin on one of Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie’s most famous moments. Similarly, the filmmaker lifts one instantly recognizable line of dialogue almost verbatim from the 1995 Street Fighter movie. In fact, it’s clear that David Dastmalchian’s performance here is intended to be a direct love letter to the late Raul Julia’s version of Bison; however he never reaches the latter’s level of unforgettable theatricality. He comes across as just plain creepy instead of enjoyably villainous.

In the end, though, Sakurai’s Hadou-can-do attitude is what wins out over individual failings like these. He doesn’t always hit his mark, but inspired touches like the animated sequences, a pumping musical score, and eye-catching visuals elevate Street Fighter creatively. And much like the combatants around which this story swirls, the film moves with consistently high energy levels, barrelling towards that inevitable setup for a sequel. Hopefully, it gets its “Round two!”.

Street Fighter is in cinemas from 16 October.