Cheesy movies based on popular video games have always been favorite sacrificial victims among hungry critics and often deservedly so for being the rotten tomatoes that they are. Such obvious examples include Double Dragon, Super Mario & to a lesser extent, Wing Commander. Street Fighter suffers from the very same flaws plaguing most other VG based movies from its off-key plot, obvious inconsistencies & bad acting. Firstly, unlike the game ( or the anime version ), the movie has absolutely nothing to do with street fighting but rather it focuses more on the affairs relating to a UN-like organization’s attempt to rid Thailand of a dictator called Bison through use of military force. It’s like watching a South East Asian version of Operation Desert Storm where Saddam Hussien gets replaced by some nut played by Raul Julia. This can only mean one thing. You’d probably see more gun play here than actual street fighting itself. Hundreds of goofily dressed marines in blue running around with their M-16s isn’t exactly what I’d call reflective of a movie themed after the once great video game.

The movie also takes a huge hit with its off-key storyline, which doesn’t quite follow that of the game. The decision to turn Guile’s best friend, Charlie into Blanka through painful genetic mutation just doesn’t seem at all right. This weird little twist alone would have certainly annoyed the likes of both Blanka & Charlie fans worldwide. But Blanka wasn’t the only problem here. Other lesser characters from the game were given equally inferior roles. Need examples? Then check out Dhalsim who’s now a wimpy scientist & part time punching bag for Bison’s minions. With the exception of Zangief ( Andy Bryniarsky ), Cammy ( Kylie Minogue ) & Chun Li ( Ming-Na Wen ), none of the other actors in the movie seemed at all fit to play their characters. The late Raul Julia was not a good choice to play Bison for obvious reasons. I’d have to give the guy credit for his acting but I would have liked it better if they given the role to a real martial artist.

Van Damme was being his usual wooden self, no thanks to that unshakable Belgian accent. I have absolutely no idea how anyone could have chosen him as a candidate to play an all-American military man like Guile. After seeing how the writer had gotten away with turning Charlie into Blanka, Guile’s wooden accent would have looked like small potatoes on Street Fighter’s table of complaints. Fans of Ken & Ryu are in for the biggest disappointment of them all after seeing how the movie had butchered, dumbed down & twisted their characters beyond all hope of redemption. Sorry kids, but Ryu isn’t the cool, calculative fighter he was in the game & Ken isn’t blond anymore. But that’s not all, folks. You won’t get to see them use any of their special moves from the game but in its place however, you get a lot of screaming & yelling, as seen during Ryu’s final battle with Vega. The movie even made a mockery of their infamous ‘Ha-Dou-Ken’ move, which looked more like quick camera flash than an actual fireball.

As a consolation though, the movie tries to be funny by incorporating some cheap humor derived solely from Zangief’s clear lack of intelligence. Much like Bruce Campbell’s quirky one-liners from his Evil Dead flicks, Zangief’s dim-witted comments add spice to the film’s yucky flavor. But Street Fighter was just so bad that not even a couple of supposedly funny, dim-witted lines could save it from a fate similar to other more well known failures like Ishtar. As a fan of the game, I am utterly disappointed at how bad the movie turned out. As much as I’d love to give this movie a 3 star rating based on how much I liked the game, I am however unable to as the film was really that bad. I believe it would have fared better if it had taken the Mortal Kombat ( alright, MK wasn’t made yet at the time ) route by focusing more on actual street fighting itself rather than just mindless gun play & excessive military bravado. Overall Rating: D


Recommended:
No

Viewing Format: VHS
Video Occasion: Fit for Friday Evening
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children up Ages 8