Earlier this year, a campy Masters of the Universe won over fans of the beloved ‘80s toy franchise but still bombed at the box office. Now Street Fighter (2026) is following a similar path: another affectionate, over-the-top ‘80s throwback that fans are eating up, yet may once again prove a box office dud.
After winning the first World Warrior Tournament in 1987, Ryu (Andrew Koji) awakens the demon Akuma (Joe “Roman Reigns” Anoa’i) who kills his sensei Gouken (Don Lee).
Six years later, Ryu has withdrawn from the fighting world entirely, while his adoptive brother and fellow fighter Ken (Noah Centineo) coasts as a washed-up playboy, picking up cash from fake wrestling gigs and whatever sponsorship he can get. M. Bison (David Dastmalchian), a dictator obsessed with increasing his power by draining the energy of elite fighters, sends his emissary Chun-Li (Callina Liang) to invite competitors to the second World Warrior Tournament in hopes of luring Ryu out of exile.
Credit: Street Fighter (Legendary Picturesm Paramount Pictures)
Ken, looking to prove himself as a champion, and other fighters from around the globe accept, but will Ryu return and finally face what happened all those years ago?
Pure Camp, No Apologies
Video game adaptations, especially in the Street Fighter franchise, are notoriously bad, yet Street Fighter works by ditching any pretense of realism and leaning hard into the campiness of the source material. Characters like the masked, clawed Vega, the long-limbed yogi Dhalsim, and the American army hero Guile with his ridiculous haircut are absurd on paper as live-action figures, but the film treats them with complete sincerity, and that’s why they land.
The same authenticity shows up in the costumes: the filmmakers largely resist toning them down or censoring them (well, except for the omission Dhalsim’s skull necklace, most likely to appease the Chinese market). Callina Liang looks striking in Chun-Li’s bright blue qipao and brown tights, her buns adorned with silk and ribbons, while Cammy shows up in her blue bodysuit with a comically tiny yellow tie. It’s ridiculous, everyone knows it, and the movie invites you to just roll with it.
With a Street Fighter movie, you come for the combat and it overdelivers with a one-two punch. Packed in the two-hour film, nearly every scene has some sort of confrontation: 1v1s fights, 1-vs-many, group brawls, tag-team battles, ambushes, and boss showdowns.
Credit: Street Fighter (Legendary Picturesm Paramount Pictures)
Like the games, the film creates a variety of situations for these characters to battle, not only in the tournament, but also in locations such as a dance club, hotel room, and of course, in the street. The action scenes are loud, vibrant, and obnoxious. You will get to see all of your favorite characters duking it out one way or another.
Here Comes a New Challenger: Animation
An unexpected highlight is the ‘90s anime-style, hand-drawn animated flashbacks created by Titmouse. These sequences bridge the games and the film while further amplifying the already heightened visuals and tone. They also give the filmmakers a clever way to showcase the characters’ signature moves—Ryu’s Hadouken, Ken’s Shoryuken, and the duo’s Hurricane Kicks—fan favorites that might have looked silly or awkward if attempted purely in live action.
Credit: Street Fighter (Legendary Picturesm Paramount Pictures)
The throwback ‘90s setting is the perfect stage for a fun romp: gorgeous women, electric colors, and a killer soundtrack.
The epic, pulse-pounding score drives the momentum for every fight sequence, while the rest of the soundtrack never misses a chance to flood the auditorium with classic 90s jams, perfectly setting the nostalgic mood. That is, except for the final song, a bizarre choice that ruins the mood of an otherwise decent time.
Miscasts, Missed Arcs, & Third-Act Fatigue
Mirroring the games, the film is heavy on spectacle and thin on plot and character development. David Dastmalchian is horribly miscast as M. Bison. Instead of the imposing powerful boss from the games, he’s a diminutive sniveling worm.
Jason Momoa‘s Blanka fares even worse: the character is pathetically infantilized, with Momoa’s face awkwardly mapped onto an electric green CGI body.
Noah Centineo as Ken Masters in the Street Fighter Trailer – YouTube, Paramount Pictures
While the rest of the cast found ways to embody their larger-than-life personas—Callina Liang building Chun-Li’s iconic thunder thighs, Andrew Koji bulking up his biceps, and Noah Centineo diving headfirst into martial arts training—it should have been no sweat for the already towering, burly Momoa. Instead, his Blanka ends up as less believable and more of a joke, doing a disservice to the beloved character.
Screenwriters T. J. Fixman and Kitao Sakurai make a half-hearted attempt to give these fighters some emotional depth, but any progress is quickly drowned out by the nonstop barrage punches, kicks, and special moves. Outside of Andrew Koji’s stoic, quietly intense Ryu, almost no one of these one-dimensional characters evolve in any meaningful way.
Callina Liang as Chun-Li in the Street Fighter Trailer – YouTube, Paramount Pictures
Ken, the loser boarding-school reject, practically begs for a redemption arc that could have elevated him to the level of Ryu, an emotionally satisfying end for the brothers, yet he only receives a mild, squint-and-you-miss-it transformation.
By the third act, the film’s incessant flurry of fisticuffs starts to go stale. Despite being in the heat of the climax, it was easy to nod off during these sequences. Cutting 20 to 30 minutes (or even a character or two) would have resulted in a tighter film. The movie also prematurely tees up a no-brainer Street Fighter II sequel and abruptly ends on a goofy note, leaving you in a perplexed state as the credits roll.
Final Verdict
Street Fighter is a campy, high-octane melee that overstays its welcome. When director Kitao Sakurai zeros in on the Ryu-Ken brotherly bond, the movie hits a perfect combo. But too much fanservice and goofiness turns it into button-mashing madness.
RATING: 6/10
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