Street Fighter movie crashes with critics, averaging 45

The new Street Fighter movie has debuted to poor scores from the press. Metacritic already has 22 reviews and the average sits at 45 out of 100. GameSpot gives it a 5 and IGN, a 6.

Directed by Kitao Sakurai, the film adapts the Capcom classic with a cast full of familiar faces: Noah Centineo as Ken, Andrew Koji as Ryu, and Karina Liang as Chun-Li. The problem, according to several reviews, is not the cast, but that the movie can't shape all that material into a story that works.

Chun-Li, one of the most wasted characters according to critics.3dmgame.com

IGN's review admits the film has energy and a chaotic spirit that can be entertaining. But it also points out that Sakurai fails to blend that wild tone with the action and comedy. There are too many characters for such a thin plot, and in the end it feels like a movie swinging at the air and only landing a hit now and then.

A directionless Ryu and a wasted Chun-Li

The story starts in 1993. Ken lives alone and Ryu has been missing for years. The last time they saw each other was when their master Gouken died at the hands of Akuma, awakened by Ryu's power during the first world tournament. Since then, Ryu hides as a homeless ramen cook.

That bond between the two fighters is the best part of the movie for critics. Centineo and Koji hold the relationship together well, and the animated flashbacks showing their friendship are among the highlights of the runtime. The problem comes when the main plot kicks in and the movie becomes a race to cram every iconic character into the tournament.

Ryu and Ken star in the best moments of the movie.3dmgame.com

Chun-Li comes out of it especially badly. Her revenge story over her father's death was already in the source material and just needed a bit of care to adapt. Instead, the movie reduces her to a flat character with no development. Karina Liang looks uncomfortable on screen, and the script's male gaze doesn't help. For GameSpot, she is the most disappointing part of the whole film.

A tone that never commits

The humor is another big stumble. The movie alternates jokes that don't fit together and never decides whether it wants to be an absurd comedy, an action movie, or a 90s homage. That indecision also affects Dan Hibiki, played by the controversial podcast host Andrew Schulz. His character has no story or motivation, and the attempts to show his friendship with Ken feel forced.

The soundtrack doesn't help keep the setting either. The movie uses 90s tracks to create nostalgia, but then drops a song from 2000 for no reason. Small details that break the illusion of being in 1993.

The fight scenes are the most faithful to the video game.3dmgame.com

Where it does deliver is in the fights. The classic moves are there: the Hadoken, the Tatsumaki Senpukyaku, Blanka's electricity, and Zangief's spinning grabs. The PG-13 rating trims the violence, but the choreographers do solid work with varied fights and flashy stunts. Still, you miss more duels between secondary characters, something the tournament format was begging for.

In the end, critics agree this is the best live-action Street Fighter movie to date. But they also remember that the previous two, the 1994 one and 2009's Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li, were box office flops. Clearing that bar wasn't hard, and even so the movie only gets halfway there.