Our Editor was a big fan of Street Fighter back in the day to such a degree that he set out to film his own low budget version but his lack of money and let’s face it talent too, he took his hi-8 camera, not to a neon lit world of dedicated cos players, but instead decided to film his version down the Old Kent Road late one Saturday night. He spent the following week in Guy’s Hospital in traction. But 2026 has seen several video game film adaptations and the latest is Street Fighter that mercifully is a world away from the 1994 Jean Claude Van Damme & Kylie Minogue starrer.
Where Street Fighter begins…
Starting with a 1987 Thailand set prologue the film settles in 1993 where former friends and brothers in battle Ryu (Andrew Koji) and Ken Masters (Noah Centineo) are now estranged from each other and living their own lives. But whereas Ryu has kept a low profile, Ken (possibly as fearsome a name as Nathan) is something of a drink addled party animal that, if he was thirty years younger, the role would have been ideal casting for Paul Gascoigne.
But whilst the two are away the World Warrior Tournament is going on and the enigmatic Chun-Li (Callina Liang) recruits them for that battle royale. Except behind the tournament there’s a conspiracy that will see them have to fight one another as well as the demons of their past all set to a banging 90’s soundtrack.
Who’s behind it all ?
Helmed by director Kitao Sakurai he’s gathered a load of great talent to take on the iconic fighter roles in the game which includes 50 Cent as Barlong and Jason Monoa in typically rip roaring style as Blanka. Sakurai has cast his regular favourite Eric Andre as Don Sauvage, a name more akin to a knock off after shave sold from a trestle table on Oxford Street, who is reliably entertaining having worked together on the very funny Netflix film, ‘Bad Trip’ that was one of the few highlights of us all being locked up during the pandemic.
Never taking itself too seriously courtesy of Centineo and Cody Rhodes as Guile (and we’d liked to have seen more scenes with him) this live action version of Street Fighter gets the tone right with its set piece punch ups and smack downs that will please the army of dedicated gamers ( there’s endless Easter eggs that make the film re-watchable for those in the know) even if the plot comes perilously close to derailing. Street Fighter is a load of kick ass fun.
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Andrew Koji, Noah Centineo & Callina Liang take us behind the scenes of Streetfighter…….
Director Kitao Sakurai on Street Fighter : Inside the new movie | Exclusive Interview……..
Here’s the trailer…..
