10 Street Fighter Details That Suggest the Movie Respects the Games

Since the new Street Fighter movie was announced, its reception has been sort of a mixed bag. Some fans feel lukewarm about what’s been shown off, while others are pessimistic, but such things are to be expected in the modern age of online discourse. A lot of fans are actually really, really amped up to see the latest big screen adaptation of one of the most successful fighting game franchises of all time.

And there honestly seems to be a lot to get hyped for this time around. A lot of us are old enough to remember the original Jean-Claude Van Damme-led “masterpiece.” It’s the kind of thing you can only appreciate ironically, but at least it had some value. Which is more than can be said for Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li. It’s probably better if we all forget that movie exists.

This time around though, things are looking like they might go differently for the new Street Fighter movie. And a big reason for that is it feels like it’s focusing on the right things and making an effort to be true to the source material.

10 Biblically Accurate Guile Hair

Family Manscaping

Let’s face it, there’s a lot of weird stuff in the Street Fighter cannon, and Guile’s physics-defying giant flat-top hair cut is high on that list of oddities. But who doesn’t love the iconic look that only he alone could pull off. And honestly, it’s the one thing that makes Guile stand out as a character. Without that tower of bleach blonde hair he would just be another soldier. You take away Guile’s hair, and suddenly he’s a grunt in boot camp.

When you see Cody Rhodes sporting the iconic doo in the trailer, it lets you know that they’re taking the unseriousness of it all seriously. I’m not sure how massive the Street Fighter movie’s budget for hair products was, but I’m sure it was well worth it.

9 The Setting

Going Old School

The Street Fighter movie takes place in 1993, just two years after the actual release of the Street Fighter 2 video game in 1991. For those of us who grew up during the 90s and spent all of our lunch money on SF2 arcade cabs, the setting is going to be chockfull of nostalgia. The fact that they put Ken singing a drunken karaoke rendition of 4 Non-Blonde’s classic song “What’s Up?” is honestly one of the most 90s things they could’ve done.

The fact that they’re keeping the story in that era shows that they’re not trying to modernize or retool it. It also gives a younger audience to laugh at everything their parents or very young grandparents grew up enjoying as well. I’m really hoping they throw some grunge in there too.

8 The Camp

It Ain't Easy Being Cheesey

We’ve already talked about Guile’s glorious locks, but beyond that there’s always been some cheesiness to the world of Street Fighter. Dan as a character is a great example of a campy character who was made as a joke, but somehow became a fan favorite. I think his inclusion in the film is going to be more for the corny, campy moments than anything else.

Also, how can you have characters like the man-beast Blanka, E. Honda the sumo, and a giant bear wrestler with a mohawk like Zangief in anything and not go whole hog on the camp factor? Do I want the camp to be as cringe as the first live action Street Fighter? No. But, I do want it to not take itself too seriously and try to be something it’s not.

7 The Casting

They've Got the Look

If you look at the cast for Street Fighter, it’s a mix of actual professional wrestlers, MMA fighters, musicians, and actors. It could be easy to dismiss some of it as stunt casting, but there are a lot of good choices here. The one that sticks out the most to me is Andrew Koji as Ryu.

Koji played the lead in an amazing show called Warrior that everyone should check out. It really shows off his acting chops as well as his martial arts skills. His casting shows they put some thought into what they’re doing. And Jason Momoa as Blanka seems like a spot-on choice as well.

6 They Beat Up a Car

Bonus Round

The Street Fighter 2 bonus stage where you beat some poor dude’s car into a pile of scrap metal has gone on to be its own meme. It’s just a well-known moment in gaming history at this point, and I’m glad that they showed off some vehicular mangling in the trailer. I want to see more dumb stuff like this in the movie. If E. Honda or Chun-Li came in and put the lightning-fast punches and kicks to work on a sedan at some point in the film, I’d be into it.

I’m not sure if we’ll see any barrel-breaking moments in the new Street Fighter movie, but the fact that they’re including the car is a real nod to fans of the old school game. Also, I’m curious to see if the car in the trailer has an owner who isn’t going to be happy about the remodeling job.

5 Supporting Characters

Doing the Heavy Lifting

Having characters like the eccentric Street Fighter announcer Don Sauvage in supporting roles, shows that they’re reaching outside the roster to help flesh out the world. We’ve also already seen El Fuerte taking a dive in the ring, which leads me to believe we might see more characters from the game series’ prolific roster show up in one-off matches as well.

Including characters like Juli and Joe, also seem like interesting choices to me, and I’m wondering how they’re going to tie into the main story overall. They’re not really big, popular characters, and I’m curious to see how they end up fitting into the larger story.

4 The Costumes

Fisticuffs Fashion Fits

We’ve already talked about Guile’s amazing hair, but beyond that we’ve also got Key and Ryu sporting their gi, Chun-Li’s blue dress, and Cammy’s -ahem- cheekiness. Everyone is wearing a very accurate facsimile of their video game costumes, and they look great in them. It feels like David Dastmalchian’s M. Bison outfit is sitting somewhere between the game and the original live-action Street Fighter movie, but that could just be how it sits on him.

Even Akuma gets his giant prayer beads in the Street Fighter trailer. While it may seem silly at first, I like that the movie isn’t shying away from the video game outfits like the original live action did. Most of those outfits were cornier than the game ones.

3 The Moves

Fireballs and Flash Kicks

We’ve already seen some of the cast show off their characters’ signature moves in the trailer. Zangief is seen delivering what appears to be an Atomic Blaster and Guile pulls off a flash kick. We even get to see Ryu throw a fireball out while shouting “hadouken” in the latest teaser. It’s reassuring to know that the film isn’t going to be pulling back on the super moves, even if they’re not all the most realistic.

Hopefully, we’ll see even more signature moves in the full film, since we have yet to see Blanka pull off any electric shock moves or how Dhalsim’s stretchy limbs will work yet. We could end up seeing some ridiculously off-the-chain brawls go down depending on which characters they involve and how it’s executed.

2 Chun-Li’s Story

Out For Revenge

In Street Fighter video game lore, Chun-Li is working as an Interpol agent trying to hunt down M. Bison and get revenge for her father’s death. In the trailer for the film, she appears to be working for Bison and Shadaloo recruiting contenders for the next tournament. But the implication does seem to be that she’s an undercover agent trying to take out the organization from within and put an end to Bison’s nefarious machinations.

Chun-Li is and has always been one of Street Fighter’s stand-out characters and Capcom severely fumbled the bad when making her easily forgotten solo live-action film. This upcoming movie could be her redemption arc, so to speak.

1 Ryu and Ken’s Story

True Bromance

While Ryu may be the de facto star of the Street Fighter series, his buddy Ken has always been along for the ride and their friendly rivalry has helped them both push to new levels of power. That friendship seems to be front and center in the upcoming cinematic reboot as it should be. Sure, there’s going to be the whole stopping M. Bison from taking over the world thing too, but that really hasn’t been the focus of the trailers yet.

Ryu and Ken both seem to have a road to redemption that they’re going to be following through this film. How that ends up factoring into saving the world has yet to be seen. Still, I’m sure we can expect at least one training montage as they get back into Street Fighting shape.