The Street Fighter Movie Rights Have A New Home, And Here's How They Can Get It Right This Time
For you, the day Bison graced your village was the most important day of your life. But for me, it was Tuesday. Back in 1987, Capcom introduced the world to "Street Fighter," permanently changing the landscape of fighting games and birthing an extremely popular (and profitable) multi-media franchise. In the last 35 years, "Street Fighter" has spawned almost 150 different games, spin-offs, TV shows, movies, and appearances in other games. That number is about to get even bigger because, as The Hollywood Reporter notes, Legendary Pictures — the folks who also put out "Godzilla vs. Kong," "Detective Pikachu," and "Dune" — have acquired the film and TV rights to "Street Fighter."
This is phenomenal news for fans of the classic fighting game, because Hollywood has a pretty disappointing track record with adapting "Street Fighter" for the big screen. Back in 1994, Universal released "Street Fighter: The Movie" featuring Jean-Claude Van Damme as Guile, Ming-Na Wen as Chun-Li, Kylie Minogue as Cammy, and Raul Julia as M. Bison. Is "Street Fighter: The Movie" good or a faithful adaptation? No, but it's a great time if you're drunk on dumb b**** juice.
20th Century Fox tried to again capture the magic in 2009 with "Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li" as a theatrical tie-in to the release of the "Street Fighter IV" game, but it was a box-office flop and felt less like a "Street Fighter" movie and more like a paint-by-numbers action film with a handful of Easter eggs thrown at the screen. But hey, when you've hit rock bottom, the only way to go is up.
Are there any good Street Fighter adaptations?
The same year that the disastrous "Street Fighter: The Movie" was released, the games received an anime adaptation called "Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie," which ruled pretty damn hard. Quite frankly, most of the anime adaptations are solid, especially the one season of "Street Fighter II V," which follows Ryu in San Francisco and features many street fights in just 29 episodes. Animation, of course, allows for limitless imagination, but any of the anime versions could serve as a jumping-off point for a live-action adaptation. Then again, live-action adaptations of anime don't have the best track record right now, but again, this could be the perfect opportunity for growth.
And I'd be remiss not to mention my favorite live-action appearances of the "Street Fighter" characters, the "Street Fighter Red Tape" sketches on the woefully underrated single season of "The Pete Holmes Show." Holmes stars as a middle-management worker trying to help the characters plan their big tournament, but addresses issues like the practicality of flying to every fighter's homeland for their big match, whether or not Blanka (Matt McCarthy) would have to fly like an animal with the cargo under the plane, why it's total B.S. that Vega (Thomas Middleditch) gets to use a weapon, and interrogating Dhalsim (Kumail Nanjiani) about the infant-sized skulls hanging around his neck.
I doubt Legendary is going to go the route of comedy with their new toy, but "The Pete Holmes Show" proved that there are plenty of avenues for an entertaining take on the well-loved IP. Who's to say there can't be a hard-hitting live-action film geared towards adults and a goofy comedy series about how ridiculous a "Street Fighter" tournament would be in real life? I'm just praying Legendary commits and shows Guile with his canonical, ridiculous rhombus flat-top hair.
Is it possible to tell a proper Street Fighter story?
If you're not familiar with the lore of "Street Fighter," the foundation centers on a fighting tournament with competitors from all across the globe. The series is most well-known for its humble roster as shown in "Street Fighter II" (Ryu, Ken, E. Honda, Blanka, Guile, Chun-Li, Zangief, Dhalsim, Balrog, Vega, Sagat, and M. Bison) but has since expanded to over 100 playable characters, storylines featuring lifelong conflicts, and even include crossovers with Marvel characters.
The key to a successful "Street Fighter" adaptation is simple: let the action speak for itself. The "Street Fighter" games always felt special because the characters had distinctly different move sets and fighting styles, which would make for an absolute field day for stunt performers and fight choreographers. With a skilled cinematographer (someone call up Matt Flannery and Dimas Imam Subhono from "The Raid 2"), the choppy, American action-movie mistakes as on display in the underwhelming recent adaptation of "Mortal Kombat" could be avoided. Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if the success of a series like "John Wick," which also showcases various fighting styles, was a key influence in sparking interest in "Street Fighter" once again. There are plenty of new characters that will certainly be ripe for an on-screen debut (R. Mika!), but if Legendary is smart, they'll start out by giving the original characters the depictions they've always deserved (and that audiences are already familiar with), and expand from there.
Hey, Legendary, call up the Japanese wrestler-turned-actor, Reika Saiki for Chun-Li. Thank me later.