Street Fighter movie review: "This reboot is far from a perfect knockout"

Sakurai’s live‑action reboot launches with a star‑studded roster—Andrew Koji as Ryu, David Dastmalchian as M. Bison, Jason Momoa as Blanka, Eric André as Don Sauvage, Cody Rhodes as Guile, 50 Cent as Balrog, Vidyut Jammwal as Dhalsim, Orville Peck as Vega, plus newcomers Ken Masters and Dan Hibiki. The film’s pacing mirrors TikTok cuts, cramming three movies’ worth of plot into two hours and ending without resolving the central conflict. While the animated interludes evoke classic ’90s anime and the slap‑slap fight set‑pieces generate occasional laughs, the CGI‑heavy brawls look stiff, and the relentless joke‑driven script leaves little room for character development or visceral combat that fans expect from the franchise.

The release arrives amid a surge of video‑game adaptations that have begun to set new quality benchmarks. Zack Cregger’s Resident Evil proved that a faithful yet cinematic approach can draw both critics and box‑office dollars, raising expectations for Capcom’s next move. Meanwhile, the Mortal Kombat movies have leaned into over‑the‑top gore to mask choreography flaws, a tactic Street Fighter eschews in favor of a family‑friendly, joke‑heavy tone. Capcom’s recent gaming slate—titles like Resident Evil: Requiem, Pragmata, Onimusha, and the latest Monster Hunter Stories—has been a commercial high point, but the studio’s film arm now risks diluting that momentum by overloading a single feature with too many fan‑service cameos.

If the franchise continues on this trajectory, the sequel bait embedded in the unfinished climax could backfire unless the follow‑up delivers a tighter narrative and more polished fight work. Audiences may respond better to a streamlined focus on core characters such as Ryu and Ken, or to a fully animated format that already proved visually compelling. Box‑office performance in the opening weekend will likely dictate whether Capcom invests in a multi‑film roadmap or rethinks its adaptation strategy, especially as streaming platforms vie for exclusive gaming IP content.