Di new Street Fighter movie don land for cinema, and e dey clear say di film dey try balance nostalgia with action, but critics no gree say di story hold well. Di movie, wey Kitao Sakurai direct, go dey theaters on October 16. E follow Ken Masters wey Noah Centineo play and Ryu wey Andrew Koji play, two martial artists wey train under same teacher before their relationship spoil.
For di plot, Chun-Li wey Callina Liang play recruit di pair to compete with other elite fighters for di World Warrior tournament, wey crime boss M. Bison organise. Di cast get about 15 characters from different parts of di game series, and di film full of references and Easter eggs.
The Guardian review call Street Fighter “a garish and incoherent mess” wey dey amuse “in fits and starts” and barely improve on di Mortal Kombat movies. Di review talk say fans no go mind, because dem dey come for nostalgia and di film roll out iconic characters and moves, including E Honda’s hundred-hand slap and Guile’s flash kick. E also praise Callina Liang as Chun-Li, say her performance formidable and her physicality for fight scenes impressive. Di review call Cody Rhodes as Guile funny, and Vidyut Jammwal as Dhalsim captivating.
IGN review talk say infectious and celebratory energy dey inside di film, but di movie increasingly feel disconnected from reality, even from its own reality. IGN talk say Street Fighter never let good sense get in di way of a good time. Di review also mention di anime prologue wey set up Ryu and Ken, and how M. Bison, wey David Dastmalchian play, lead Shadaloo crime organisation and stage tournament to try collect enough Hado power, or Psycho Power, for himself.
BBC Newsbeat talk to cast members Noah Centineo, Callina Liang and Andrew Koji. Noah Centineo talk say di film “absurd” and “wild” and e “doesn’t take itself too seriously.” He talk say everybody wey make am love Street Fighter world and grow up playing di game. He call am “a movie made by fans for fans” and talk say e dey extremely important for di film to stay faithful to di series, with meticulous attention to detail. Noah Centineo also talk say di stunt team study each character’s video game movements to make sure dem show signature moves correct.
BBC Newsbeat note say video game fans just get two big screen adaptations, Resident Evil and Street Fighter. E talk say Resident Evil, Zach Cregger’s movie version of di horror game series, impress critics and fans, and e seem to break di curse. Street Fighter, di arcade classic fighting game wey don dey separate fans from loose change since 1987, now try do same thing.
