By Mr. Will Wong
Nobody goes into the STREET FIGHTER hoping it will be a sweeping Awards Season epic. Nobody. What people go into STREET FIGHTER hoping for, is thrilling action, brutal finishes and maybe some humour in all of it. And if this is what you are looking for, this third film in the franchise is for you.
The Film from Director Kitao Sakurai delivers us the origins story in the friendship between Ken (Noah Centineo) and Ryu (Andrew Koji). Once inseparable as kids who learned martial arts together under their master, Goken, they became estranged as adults. Ryu, after losing his way, looks to find his way back into the fighting circuit, but doing so isn’t easy as he’s lost his coveted place in that world. Ken meanwhile is out for glory and eager to take the crown in an upcoming tournament. Chun-Li (Callina Liang) enters the picture and she’s got a grudge on her shoulder and her sights on exacting revenge against ruthless M. Bison (David Dasmaltchian), who killed her family. She rallies Ken and Ryu in a takedown against M. Bison.
STREET FIGHTER delivers lots of nostalgia and some of those defining moves we love from some of our favourite characters from the Capcom Video Game. On one hand it is a revenge story and one of redemption, but ultimately what fans wanted was an ultimate battle for the crown and somehow admittedly that gets lost in the battle against M. Bison. We wanted a version where we could have gotten both. But the Film sure does a good job teasing us to want another film.
The performances are fun and over-the-top with some great work from Comedians Andrew Schulz as Ken‘s right-hand man Dan Hibiki and Eric Andre as messy showman Don Sauvage. Koji gets the assignment as the steely-eyed Ryu who delivers some laughs any time his lines veer from that with the occasional dash of humour. While Canada’s Liang is captivating, we wanted a version where her Chun-Li was in the ring more, just like her video game iteration.
This Film is made for the fans and specifically the fans. The rest of you in M. Bison‘s famous words, can “Get Lose!”.
Paramount Pictures Canada release STREET FIGHTER in theatres October 16, 2026.
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