Long time readers of this website will know that we really love Street Fighter. The Kelleher Brothers have been playing Capcom’s flagship fighting game series since it burst onto the scene in early 90’s. We picked up the home console port of every SF game we could get hands on—from the three iterations of SF2 on the SNES, to SF Alpha 1, 2, & 3 and SF EX on the PS1, to all three SFIII’s on the Dreamcast, plus SSF2T Revival and SFA3 Upper on the GBA, to SF Anniversary Collection on PS2, etc., etc., etc.—and sitting down to play an hour or so of 3rd Strike became a nightly ritual for Mike and Luke in particular.

In addition to the games themselves, we’ve also checked out plenty of ancillary SF media; the movies, animated series, comic books inspired adapting the stories of the games. Earlier this year, of course, we took the time to review every film adaptation of SF to date, so that probably comes as no surprise. And now we’re ready to review the latest attempt to bring our favorite game series to the silver screen, with the live-action Street Fighter (2026). So exciting!

Leading up to this movie’s release, I must say (Luke speaking) that I’ve tried to remain skeptical. Like, as a youngster I was super pumped for the 1994 film with Jean Claude Van Damme and Raul Julia, and that wasn’t really a good movie. Then, in 2009, I had pretty low expectations for The Legend of Chun-Li, but that movie was such an utter train wreck, it was just impossible to enjoy. Having been burned by Hollywood’s attempts to bring SF to the big screen twice now, could I really get into the hype for yet another one?

The announcement of the cast was exciting, but also left me rather confused. Andrew Koji playing Ryu did sound legitimately awesome! He played the lead role in the TV show Warrior, which is one of my all-time favorite shows. Warrior’s wonderfully realized historical drama, unbelievably good fight choreography, and totally gratuitous sex scenes immediately won me over, but the show managed to get even better with each season. (If only we could get a Season 4!) If you’ve never seen Warrior, you should definitely check it out.

Noah Centineo playing Ken was more of a curveball. I mostly recognized him from playing teen heartthrobs in “To All the Boys I've Loved Before” and “The Perfect Date”, both on Netflix. So his ability to play a convincing Ken Masters was not exactly a foregone conclusion. The gigantic man playing Zangief (Olivier Richters) looked great. The Japanese heavy playing E. Honda (Hirooki Goto) looked great. The ridiculously handsome Indian man playing Dhalsim (Vidyut Jammwal) looked great. But when they cast not one, but two professional wrestlers to play Guile and Akuma respectively, that gave me pause…

Then I saw the trailer using the song "What's Up?" by 4 Non Blondes, and I began to wonder if this movie might actually work. Focusing on the relationship between Ryu and Ken was certainly a great start. But setting the film in 1993 was a stroke of brilliance. Suddenly it felt like the filmmakers had a real vision for their own unique SF movie, and—assuming they didn’t completely fall on their faces in production—maybe they could make the live-action version of Street Fighter we had always wanted.

So now that it’s here, how is Street Fighter (2026)? Well, I’m happy to report that it’s actually pretty good! The film is not perfect by any means, and the story structure feels particularly weird. But this movie is definitely a good time, and I can wholeheartedly recommend it. This one really feels like a movie made with Street Fighter fans in mind. Without a doubt, this is the best live-action SF movie we’ve ever had.

Although, funnily enough, it is not entirely live-action. This film actually includes multiple animated sequences, done in a kind of clean, modern anime style. It is all real, hand-drawn animation, by the way, with the film’s director assuring the public that no AI was used in the animation process. Multiple flashback scenes are done in animation, it turns out, and this is actually how the movie begins. Yes, this live-action martial arts film opens as an anime, showing Ryu’s epic battle with Sagat to decide the winner of the first World Warrior tournament in 1987. This is, of course, a retelling of the events of Street Fighter 1—a game no one played—and also the first scene of Street Fighter 2: The Animated Movie. Our film only transitions to live-action when we catch up with our protagonist(s) in the current day (i.e.; 1993).

I genuinely enjoyed the animated sequences, especially that opening fight with Sagat. The quality of animation looks great and I personally liked the style they went with. Now including animation in your live-action film is an interesting choice. Because if the animated segments are bad, then you probably shouldn’t have put them in your movie. And if the animation is really good, then it kind of begs the question: Why didn’t you just make this whole movie an anime? It seems like a kind of lose-lose situation. That said, I think their bold choice does pay off here, and the animation works way better than it really should.

As mentioned in my other SF movie reviews, I think a good SF film adaption should focus on two important elements from the video game: 1) the iconic characters and 2) intense martial arts action. This time the filmmakers clearly had the iconic characters in mind, because the cast of this movie really nails the look of (pretty much) every character they decided to include. Sure, I have a few quibbles about some specific facial hair choices, but outside of that minor complaint, these actors look shockingly accurate to the source material.

In terms of “intense martial arts action”, the action in this movie is quite good. I wouldn’t say the fight choreography is amazing, necessarily, but it is more than sufficient to carry a SF film. The way fight scenes are shot is stylized, and it often looks genuinely cool. The coverage isn’t overly stylized though, to the point that obscures the moves each actor is doing. There are plenty of wideshots to give the audience a good view of both fighters, and that’s exactly what you need in a martial arts action film like this.

Most characters perform some of their special moves from the games, and everyone’s fighting styles actually look quite accurate to the source material. Ryu’s hurricane kick finally looks good in live-action here. Of course Chun-Li and Vega used identifiable techniques from the games. But even E. Honda and Zangief did as well. But the real standout has to be Dhalsim, who looks absolutely f*^%#@$ incredible in this movie. I still can’t believe how well they translated the stretchy yoga man to the big screen.

To my surprise, I thought Ryu versus E. Honda in the bathhouse was one of the best fights in the movie. It also serves as a good example of fitting some street fighting in your Street Fighter movie. Ryu and Ken fighting in the hotel room was also really good, although that scene is more comedic than action-packed. And the whole nightclub scene—with multiple skirmishes going on, personal drama between Ken and Ryu, and streaming commentary from Guile—is greatly entertaining.

Ryu and Ken’s street fight in the rain, in the back half of the film, was also extremely good…however, I thought it was disappointingly short. There was such good build-up for this fight, the conflict so well earned, and it started out really strong with each fighter delivering some truly brutal hits. But as soon as the fight found its rhythm, the action transitioned into some kind of slow-motion montage. Personally, I would have liked to see that fight go on for several minutes longer, with our heroes brawling until they could no longer stand. That would have been more satisfying, in my opinion.

Speaking of action critiques, there were a couple times where the director showed us the aftermath of technique—the reaction of the person getting by a move—without showing the actual technique itself. I’m not a big fan of that personally, as I like to see the specific move that sends the guy flying. The second instance of this I noticed was a very big, consequential moment in the story too. It’s a stylistic choice, sure, and not the biggest deal, but I guess it bothered me enough to mention it here.

As previously mentioned, this movie has some weird pacing and unusual story structure. For example, there is this big World Warrior tournament going on, but as soon as it starts, it already doesn’t matter. If you’re a SF fan, you were probably looking forward to seeing the various matchups in the tournament, but there are multiple rounds that aren’t shown at all. Vega vs. Guile, Dhalsim vs. Zangief, the movie skips over them altogether. It’s a real pity that they found the huge man to play Zangief, and we barely get to see him in action at all.

Also strange, the film builds to a climatic battle, not with the villain they’ve built up this whole time (Bison), but instead with Akuma. In fact, this movie also introduces Evil Ryu, who is technically a third villain to shift focus to. It all works fine, I suppose, but makes the story feel disjointed and rather unwieldy towards the end. Plus, since they’re clearly setting up sequels, they probably didn’t need to shoehorn in Akuma, Evil Ryu, and all this Dark Hadou stuff in the first movie. It just feels like a bit too much for their first outing and leaves the ending of the movie feeling abrupt and anticlimactic.

As expected, Andrew Koji absolutely kills it as Ryu. He’s such a good martial arts actor, it’s like he was born to play this role. Callina Liang is also fantastic as Chun-Li, nailing both the character’s dogged determination and strong physicality. Looks like third time’s the charm for Hollywood attempts to portray the First Lady of Fighting Games.

While we’re calling out great performances, it must be said that Noah Centineo does an excellent job playing Ken Masters. He’s officially the main character of the movie, and as such he gets top billing, even above Koji. Centineo brings this great mixture of bravado and insecurity, of vibrant enthusiasm and deep, grieving sadness. He also has impeccable comic timing, and plays well off pretty much everyone else in the cast.

While I had been questioning the casting of professional wrestlers in this film, Cody Rhodes playing Guile as a comedy relief character is actually pretty fun. He’s such a cocky and aggressive @$$%#^*, truly an All-American hero. Guile ends up getting most of the funniest lines in this film. And that’s saying something, because this movie is legitimately funny.

Even Jason Momoa's Blanka turns out to be a quality inclusion in the film. While I thought the Ryu/Blanka prison fight was just okay—and the cameos by YouTube celebrities like Maximillan Dood and Justin Wong were a little bit too pandering even for my tastes—the conversation that Blanka and Ryu have after the beastman saves our hero later on in the film is surprisingly poignant. That particular scene showcases what makes this movie work surprisingly well; a bizarre balancing act between absurdity and emotional resonance.

“You better be careful in that pretty dress of yours. Stains can happen…just…like…that.” *(snap!)*

While comedy is a great strength of the film, it stands to reason that not every joke will land. Personally I thought some of the humor in this movie was just dudes being creepy (towards Chun-Li) or overly bullying/antagonistic (towards Dan) for no reason. Like, the Marvin character (Kyle Mooney) adds nothing to this movie and could have been cut entirely—along with everything related to Interpol—and we probably wouldn’t have noticed a difference. Bison's whole persona is just being a weirdo cult leader, but having him sniff Chun-Li’s foot at one point was an odd inclusion. And while Eric André was generally quite funny as the tournament’s M.C. Don Sauvage, I thought his constant insults directed at Dan grew rather stale.

To my surprise, the soundtrack of this movie is super cool. There’s a lot of synths here, along with a mix of driving techno, dramatic strings, and face-melting electric guitars. They even manage to work some character themes from SF2 into the mix as well, which is unnecessary but fun. And the track that plays during the end credits—titled “Negative Edge”, itself a deepcut fighting game reference—is basically a remix of the Character Select music from SF2 and uses several samples from the arcade game.

Besides original compositions, the movie also features a number of licensed tracks, music selected to evoke an atmosphere reminiscent of the 1990’s. And while many of these tunes are used to good effect, the needle drop moments are rather hit-or-miss. For example, Ken having an emotional moment while listening to Soundgarden's "Black Hole Sun" really fits the character. But adding a song from The Offspring to a fight scene doesn’t add much, in my opinion. (Guys, save that for a Crazy Taxi movie.)

That said, the movie’s use of "What's Up?" by 4 Non Blondes is genuinely great and I love it. Even if Ryu listening to that particular song in 1987 is anachronistic…seeing as how it only came out in 1993. I’m happy to overlook anachronisms when they work well.

Now this is probably only important to me personally, but I love the elements of martial arts philosophy that gets expressed in the film. That’s a big part of what makes SF2: The Animated Movie a true classic (at least in my opinion.) And while there isn’t a ton of martial art philosophy in this movie, I appreciate what got included.

For example, Ryu and Ken’s mantra—“To live is to fight. To fight is to live.”—is pure gold. Gouken stating that jealousy is the source of evil felt not only true, but also extra relevant to this story. Ryu explaining to Bison that “true power is earned” and, therefore, the aspiring dictator will never possess it. And then, as I suppose fans might expect, almost all of Dhalsim’s lines are pithy little nuggets of spiritual wisdom.

Being set in 1993, this SF film manages to cram in an awful lot of 90’s nostalgia. Obviously this influenced a lot of the musical cues, as well as the fashion all of these characters wear…when they’re not dressed in their street fighting apparel from the games, of course. There are also references to numerous brands that were popular in the 90’s—like Jolt Cola, Buggles, MTV Cribs, the Taco Bell Gordita Supreme—and these are usually played for laughs. It’s clear that the filmmakers know who the primary audience for a SF movie is, and they are doing their best to—as Dan Hibiki would say—give the people what they want!

Some random thoughts:

The city of “MetroLau” is the setting for most of the story, and this is an original creation for this movie. Not sure why they created a new fictional city for this one, or why it sounds like a cross between “Metro City”—the Capcom location featured in Final Fight, Captain Commando, and Street Fighter 6—and “Shadolao”. Oddly enough, it even looks a lot like Metro City, with gangs of ruffians brawling on the streets. But as I understand it, this is supposed to be in southeast Asia, whereas Metro City is in North America. Again, I’m not sure why they felt the need to name this city at all, let alone go with “MetroLau”.
They briefly tease a Chun-Li shower scene, which was a popular inclusion in SF2: The Animated Movie. But in this case, the screen quickly fills up with steam, before transitioning to a closeup of E. Honda’s bare chest instead. Quite the subversion of expectations.
Vega’s claw is retractable in this movie. The blades appear to spring out on command, just like Wolverine. That’s never how his claw ever worked in the games—and arguably doesn’t make any physical sense—but I suppose it’s fine here. It’s a small enough detail, after all, that one might completely miss it.
Director Kitao Sakarai seems to like extreme close-ups of actors screaming intensely. Ken does it, Cammy does it, Chun-Li has one, and I’m sure Ryu does it a few times. Cammy’s scream is particularly random, as it would appear that she’s just like super excited for her boss’s plan and losing all composure.
They never call Akuma by his (real) Japanese name, Gouki, in this film and it genuinely bothered me. Especially when it’s Master Gouken talking about his own brother, I just can’t imagine him ever saying “Akuma”. At least for Gouken’s lines, they really should have called him Gouki.
It’s funny that they included Joe, the blonde kickboxer from Street Fighter 1, in this movie, just so that Akuma would have a nobody to kill. Interestingly they decided to make this character British in the film—or is he Australian? That accent of his is kinda hard to parse—even though he’s an American in the original game.
Guile’s car in this movie is the exact same car from SF2: The Animated Movie. Same paint job and everything. Gotta love that attention to detail.
Sagat is the only SF2 character to not have an actor cast in this film, and yet he does appear in animation. The mid-credits scene even teases Bison recruiting Sagat, so we can expect to see him in the sequel. But, like, if you couldn’t find an actor to play Sagat in live-action the first time, do you think you’ll find the right person to play him in Part 2?

Watching this movie in the theater with four of my friends, we discussed the universal popularity/cultural relevance of Street Fighter 2 to our generation. Almost everybody knew about SF2, and if they played video games at the time, then they played SF2 as well. We speculated that the closest analogue for kids today might be Minecraft—which had a movie released last year—but with today’s highly fractured media landscape, it isn’t that good of a comparison. But it begs the question: Will this movie appeal to young people? Or is it just for us 40-year-olds? Well, I also watched the movie in the theater with Mike and his family, and at least his kids seemed to actually enjoy it.

After much consideration, I think Street Fighter (2026) is a legitimately good time. It’s genuinely funny, the action is good, and the casting is downright incredible. This is the best live-action SF we’ve gotten, by far…and the movie’s not even entirely in live-action! The story structure is a bit weird, the ending is anticlimactic, and not every joke lands. But somehow this SF manages to balance its silliness with real heart where it counts.

Obviously, this is not bloody Shakespeare. But for the first time with a Hollywood production, it actually does feel like Street Fighter.