Let’s talk about Street Fighter.
Kitao Sakurai’s new adaptation was one of those movies that piqued my interest without making my most anticipated list for 2026. I was curious. I just wasn’t sure what we were going to get. I went in with an open mind and came out entertained, even if the movie gave me plenty to pick apart.
For many of us, the big-screen reference point is still the 1994 film starring Jean-Claude Van Damme and Raul Julia. It was an earnest attempt and remains a guilty pleasure, but I wouldn’t call it a good movie. There was also 2009’s Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li, so this isn’t the franchise’s first attempt at a theatrical reset.
Hollywood was still trying to crack the video game movie formula back then. Look at the live-action Super Mario Bros. or the first Mortal Kombat. Whatever affection we might have for them, I wouldn’t call either a truly great adaptation. Street Fighter had the characters and an audience that kept showing up for the games. Getting that same appeal onto a movie screen was another challenge entirely.
And, as a side note, I’m still waiting on a live-action Grand Theft Auto. There’s a lot of meat on that bone.
What really got my attention here was the casting. Some of it felt inspired: 50 Cent as Balrog, Roman Reigns as Akuma, and “The American Nightmare” Cody Rhodes as Guile. Callina Liang would play Chun-Li, while Andrew Koji and Noah Centineo looked like a good fit for Ryu and Ken Masters. Andrew Schulz as Dan Hibiki initially struck me as an out-of-left-field choice. More on him in a minute.
Beyond those announcements, I wanted to go in cold.
The film opens with an animated backstory, which initially gave me pause. But Sakurai returns to animation several times to fill in the history, and it works. It’s a creative way to handle exposition without making us sit through another conversation explaining everything that happened before the movie began.
Then we’re in 1993, right in the thick of the Street Fighter II era. M. Bison, played by David Dastmalchian, organizes a tournament with his sights set on drawing Ryu out of hiding and harnessing his power. Chun-Li helps bring the fighters together, assembling familiar faces like Zangief, Balrog, Dhalsim, Guile and Vega, along with UFC fighter Alexander Volkanovski as Joe.
At the center are Ryu and Ken, who trained together like brothers before their lives went in different directions. Ryu disappeared after winning the first tournament, while Ken embraced exhibition fights and spectacle. That includes fighting a polar bear and, in a moment Street Fighter II fans will appreciate, beating up a car. With the threat of Akuma hanging over Ryu, the two have to repair their relationship.
Let’s address this up front: Andrew Schulz is one of the best parts of the movie.
As Dan, Ken’s assistant and manager, he is funny, inappropriate and right on time. The comedic ability is obviously there, but what impressed me was how often he elevated a scene with exactly the right joke. The casting choice I questioned became one of the movie’s biggest strengths.
Cody Rhodes is another standout. After his small role in last year’s The Naked Gun, he gets another chance to show how funny he can be. His Guile really worked for me. I would have liked to see more of his athleticism on display, and at times I wondered whether some of his material had been left on the cutting room floor. What we get, though, is entertaining.
Some of the biggest names get surprisingly little screen time. I’d be surprised if 50 Cent has more than five minutes. Eric André also delivers laughs, but the performance that gave the movie its heart came from Liang.
For me, Chun-Li’s story was more compelling than the Ryu and Ken dynamic. She wants to get close to Bison to avenge her father’s death, using her cover as a journalist to pursue him. Liang brings an emotional subtlety I wasn’t expecting. In a movie this loud and over the top, her quieter moments give us a welcome chance to breathe.
They also remind us why we care about these characters beyond their ability to beat somebody up. Chun-Li gave me something to connect with. For my money, Liang is the true star of the film.
The action is highly stylized and often entertaining. This may sound strange in a review of a movie called Street Fighter, but I occasionally felt there was one fight too many. The issue is the rhythm: a fight, a short scene giving us a little character development, then right back into another fight.
Too many of those sequences return to the same beats. Slow motion. A punch to the face. Somebody turning and spitting out blood and saliva. It works the first few times. Eventually, though, I felt we had gone to that well once too often.
I would have traded some of that repetition for a clearer understanding of why Ryu disappeared after winning the first tournament. The movie gives us an explanation, but it never feels fully developed. I understood the outline of his motivation. I wanted more of what was underneath it.
The tone also never feels entirely settled. Sometimes the movie is cheesy and over the top, and other times it wants to be grounded and emotional. Both can work, but the shifts don’t always feel natural. I appreciated the sincerity Liang brought to Chun-Li. I just wasn’t always sure how seriously the movie around her wanted me to take it.
My biggest disappointment was Bison. Dastmalchian’s version never felt particularly intimidating to me, which is a problem when you’re the main villain. I understand the idea of a character chasing power he doesn’t yet possess, and perhaps a follow-up will give that arc a stronger payoff. But I’m reviewing this movie. In this one, he was among the weakest elements.
Jason Momoa’s Blanka also left me with mixed feelings. I associate the character with a wild, vicious presence, and that only comes through briefly before he becomes more of a source of comedy. Some of those moments are funny, and I welcomed the laughs. I just wanted more of the Blanka I remember from the games.
Even with those issues, Street Fighter is an easy, entertaining watch. I can see the 18-to-35 crowd having a particularly good time with its humor, action, muscle-bound supermen and gorgeous superwomen. When the movie leans into that absurdity, it’s a lot of fun.
There are clear hints of another round, although I won’t spoil the ending. Whether we get it will depend on how this one performs. For now, if you want a couple of hours of dumb fun and a chance to forget about your problems, I recommend Street Fighter. I wanted more from a few of its characters and a little less repetition in its fights. But I laughed, I enjoyed myself, and I’d come back to see what happens next.
