10 Street Fighter Details That Suggest The Movie Honors The Games

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10 Street Fighter Details That Suggest The Movie Honors The Games

Ever since the new Street Fighter movie was announced, its reception has been kind of a mixed bag. Some fans feel lukewarm about what was revealed, while others are pessimistic, but such things are to be expected in today’s age of online discourse. Many fans are actually eager to see the latest big screen adaptation of one of the most successful fighting games of all time.

10 Strongest Fighter Characters of All Time

We have gods and demons throwing hands in the streets.

And honestly there seems to be a lot to take in this time around. Many of us are old enough to remember the first “masterpiece” directed by Jean-Claude Van Damme. It’s the kind of thing you can only appreciate for its irony, but at least it had some value. More than can be said for Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li. It’s probably best if we all forget the movie exists.

However, this time around, things look like they might be going in a different direction in the new Street Fighter movie. And the main reason for that is that it feels like it’s focusing on the right things and making an effort to be true to the source material.

10

Biblically Accurate Fake Hair

Manscaping for the family

Let’s face it, there are a lot of oddities in the Street Fighter cannon, and Guile’s physics-defying flat haircut is high on that list of oddities. But who doesn’t love an iconic look that only he can pull off. And honestly, it’s the only thing that makes Guile stand out as a character. Without that tower of gray hair he would have been just another soldier. He removes Guile’s hair, and suddenly he’s the noise of the training camp.

When you see Cody Rhodes playing the iconic doo in the trailer, it lets you know they’re taking it all seriously. I’m not sure how big the budget for the Street Fighter movie was for the hair products, but I’m sure it was worth it.

9

The setting

Going Old School

The Street Fighter movie takes place in 1993, just two years after the original release of the Street Fighter 2 video game in 1991. For those of us who grew up in the 90s and spent all our lunch money on SF2 arcade cabs, the setting will be very exciting. The fact that they had Ken sing a drunken karaoke rendition of the 4th Non-Blonde classic “What’s Up?” honestly one of the most 90s things they could do.

The fact that they keep the story in that period shows that they are not trying to modernize it or remake it. It also gives younger audiences a laugh at everything their parents or young grandparents grew up enjoying again. I really hope they throw some grunge in there too.

8

Camp

It’s Not Easy Being Cheese

We’ve already talked about Guile’s glorious locks, but other than that there’s always cheese in the world of Street Fighter. Dan as an actor is a great example of a campy character made into a joke, but he somehow became a fan favorite. I think his inclusion in the film will be more for the corny, campy moments than anything else.

Also, how can you have characters like the humanoid Blanka, E. Sumo Honda, and a giant bear with a mohawk like Zangief in anything and not include the whole pig in the camp factor? Do I want the field to move like the first live action Street Fighter? No. But, I want it to not take itself too seriously and try to be something it’s not.

7

Imitation

They Got The Look

If you look at the Street Fighter cast, it’s a mix of real wrestlers, MMA fighters, musicians, and actors. It would be easy to dismiss some of it as stunt simulation, but there are a lot of good options here. My highlight is Andrew Koji as Ryu.

Koji starred in an amazing show called Hero that everyone should check out. It really shows off his acting chops and fighting skills. His acting shows that they put thought into what they do. And Jason Momoa as Blanka looks like a picky eater too.

6

They hit the car

Bonus Round

street-fighter-movie-2026-ken-beats-up-a-car

Street Fighter 2’s bonus stage where you hit a poor man’s car and make a bunch of metal has become its own meme. It’s just an iconic moment in gaming history at this point, and I’m glad they showed the car explosions in the trailer. I want to see more dumb things like this in the movie. If E. Honda or Chun-Li coming in and putting punches and super fast kicks to work on the sedan at some point in the movie, I’ll get into it.

I’m not sure if we’ll see any barrel breaking moments in the new Street Fighter movie, but the fact that they’re including a car is a real nod to fans of the old school game. Also, I’m curious to see if the car on the trailer has an owner who doesn’t enjoy maintenance work.

5

Supporting characters

Doing Heavy Lifting

Having characters like unknown Street Fighter host Don Sauvage in supporting roles, shows that they are reaching outside the roster to help the rest of the world. We’ve already seen El Fuerte dive into the ring, which leads me to believe that we’ll be seeing more of the show’s characters appear in the shows at the same time.

Including characters like Juli and Joe, they also seem like interesting choices to me, and I wonder how they will fit into the overall main story. They’re not big, famous characters, and I’m curious to see how they end up fitting into the larger story.

4

Hats

Fisticuffs Fashion Fits

We’ve already talked about Guile’s amazing hair, but on top of that we also have Key and Ryu sporting their gi, Chun-Li’s green dress, and Cammy’s -ahem- cheekiness. Everyone is wearing a very accurate facsimile of their video game outfits, and they look good in them. It sounds like David Dastmalchian’s costume for M. Bison sits somewhere between the game and the original live-action Street Fighter movie, but that may just be how he lives.

Even Akuma gets his prayer beads in the Street Fighter trailer. As silly as it may seem at first, I like that the movie doesn’t stick to video game costumes like the real live action does. Most of those outfits were for the corner rather than the game.

3

The Moves

Fireballs and Flash Kicks

We have already seen some of the actors showing off their character’s signature moves in the trailer. Zangief appears to deliver what appears to be an Atomic Blaster and Guile unleashes a flash kick. We even see Ryu throwing a fireball out while shouting “hadouken” in the latest teaser. It’s reassuring to know that the movie won’t back down from a big move, even if it’s not a real one.

Hopefully, we’ll see more signature moves in the full movie, as we’ve yet to see Blanka pull off any electric shock moves or how Dhalsim’s stretchy limbs will work yet. We could end up seeing some funny fights go down depending on which characters are involved and how they’re done.

2

The story of Chun-Li

Revenge

In the story of the Street Fighter video game, Chun-Li works as an Interpol agent trying to hunt down M. Bison and avenge his father’s death. In the trailer for the film, he is seen working for Bison and Shadaloo to recruit candidates for the next tournament. But the implication seems to be that he is an undercover agent trying to take out the organization from the inside and put an end to Bison’s evil schemes.

Chun-Li is and has always been one of Street Fighter’s standout characters and Capcom blundered badly when they made her so easily forgettable in a solo live action movie. This upcoming film may be his lifeline, so to speak.

1

The story of Ryu and Ken

A True Bromance

While Ryu may be the star of the Street Fighter series, his friend Ken has been along for the ride and their friendly competition has helped them both push to new levels of power. That friendship seems to be front and center in the upcoming cinematic reboot as it should be. Of course, there will be everything that prevents M. Bison to take the world thing, but that has not been focused on the trailers.

Ryu and Ken both seem to have a road to redemption to follow in this film. How that ends up saving the world remains to be seen. Still, I’m sure we can expect at least one training montage as they return to Street Fighting mode.