It is a lively, jam-packed affair. No regards for non-fans, though.

Ken Masters may have been raised by a martial arts master, but he prefers now to be a public performer. But when a major fighting tournament invites him, and his old friend Ryu re-emerges from the shadows, his happy-go-lucky persona is about to be seriously tested.

This adaptation of the popular 1990s video game is directed by Kitao Sakurai. It stars Andrew Koji (Bullet Train) Noah Centineo (Black Adam) Callina Liang, and David Dastmalchian (Late Night with the Devil). The Street Fighter franchise, which began life in 1987, wears the fact it has an international cast on its sleeve. The movie does reasonably well in reflecting this in its exhaustive casting. The film is also very flashy, fast-paced, and has a manic energy. Also befitting its video game originator.

Does it succeed like other recent video game adaptations? Or is it wallowing like the 1994 live action movie adaptation?

The film follows the two protagonists of Ryu and Ken. Two adopted brothers of a martial arts master. Ryu (Koji) vanished after a terrible power threatened to overwhelm him, while Ken (Centineo) flunked out, and sold himself to entertainment circles. But when Lord Bison (Dastmalchian), under nefarious purposes, starts a tournament, Ken sees a chance to redeem himself. But when Ryu returns, the duo find themselves battled from within and without, against a cast of opponents.

Video game adaptations are the new gold mine for Hollywood. Resident Evil’s new adaptation, two Mario animated movies, and (topically) Mortal Kombat movies. It is important to state early on that this Street Fighter is a Skydance Paramount production. The weight that fact provides is notable to many.
What is also important to note is that Street Fighter is very different from Mortal Kombat. The movie adaptations are suitably different as well; this isn’t “Street Fighter movie does Mortal Kombat movie”. It is trying its own thing. While Mortal Kombat is largely about a vicious extra-planar tournament that literally kills you… Street Fighter is a more pulpy affair. No pun intended.

Perhaps leaning into the negatives first: all of this is to say that Street Fighter does nothing for non-fans. The first Mortal Kombat movie (that is, the one from 2021) was actually quite lenient. While the Resident Evil adaptation from 2026 was a unique story from the games. This movie though… not really.
It barrels through a lot of story and gives different and quite exclusive plots to several characters. We have a tournament, an ancient evil, an evil scientist dictator, an Interpol investigation… and Ken. It is spinning enough plates for two movies, crushed in a two hour runtime. If you aren’t remotely familiar with these characters, you won’t understand anything going on. I have a passing knowledge of Street Fighter lore, which was enough to enjoy the movie.

It also uses a lot of licensed music, which does work for effect; further itching the millennial nostalgia. But the movie is set in 1993 and some of these songs weren’t released before that year. But then we are dealing with people shooting fireballs from their hands. This is clearly not our universe.

An overstuffed plot is quite a hefty negative. It is compounded by the movie literally stopping in its tracks; this is the first of a two-parter. No question. Which makes this film a bit disappointing when the lights come up.

But, it is quite good fun overall. It was pleasantly surprising when the film opens with a 2D-animated backstory for Ryu and Ken. In fact, all of the flashbacks are in 2D animation, which is very neat. Street Fighter has a history of animated content (including an impressive animated movie in 1994) The characters are well cast, they are charismatic (and easy on the eye) with good chemistry between them. Ken’s layabout, happy-go-lucky attitude goes perfectly with Ryu’s seriousness. While Dastmalchian cannot fill the boots of Raul Julia’s M. Bison, he acquits himself all right. The costumes are video game accurate, too.

The combat, which is what we are here for besides the characters themselves, is pretty good. Unfairly, The Furious came out this year, which had incredible fight choreography. Street Fighter has enough explosive combats to be rewarding. Most importantly it showcases a lot of the characters’ fighting styles well, from E. Honda to Dahlsim. Even I noticed some of the moves and gestures taken straight from the video game’s animations. Very fun to see.

It is a generally entertaining movie. It is up at the top of the video game adaptation ranking, mostly because of its irreverent tone and wild characters. Flashy visuals and decent combat. The script for the sequel is being written, but production has not been green-lit.

With Paramount now under new management… the jury is out whether it will be or not.