PixlBit

The movie that stars great actors as lame fighters

Street Fighter II garnered incredible popularity in the early 90s (mainly because it was a great game). The game offered many characters with their own personalities and moves. This popularity led to someone suggesting that they make a Street Fighter movie, and Capcom let him. The result is a very cheesy movie that does little to capture the characters of SF lore. Fans were disappointed and frustrated. 

The movie was released in 1994 and was distributed by Universal Pictures. General Guile (played by Jean-Claude Van Damme) is the main hero of the movie, and M. Bison (Raul Julia) is the villain. Oh, and there's a bunch of other people too, but it's not worth mentioning all of them. I'll get to specific fighters in a moment. 

The plot goes something like this: Bison is bent on taking over the world and making it his own utopia. Guile is the Allied Nations regional commander, and during a TV broadcast let's the whole world know that Bison is a fat loser. So Bison takes control of the TV broadcast and tells Guile that he has 3 days to secure a US $20 billion ransom, or he will kill all the hostages. Among those hostages is one of Guile's closest friends, Chalie Blanka. So Guile gets his team together and they go to Shadaloo to try and find Bison's base and kick his butt! 

Along the way, we meet many of the SF characters (in fact, the only one who is absent in this movie is Fei Long). Some of the characters look pretty close to their original form from the game, whereas others you cannot even tell who they are. Early on in the movie, we are introduced to Ryu and Ken (played by Byron Mann and Damian Chapa respectively), but they just don't feel like they should. Ken should have been more of a hothead, and Ryu did not act as honorable and noble as he always is portrayed in the SF comics. Even in their martial arts gis, these two did not seem to fit the roles. Sagat, instead of being a tough guy, was an old man (well, not super old); no muscles ripping off of this guy. 

There are also some inaccuracies with the movie when you compare it to the game. Guile is an Allied Nations regional commander with a French accent; in the game, he is from the USA. E. Honda is from Hawaii; in the game, he is from China (they're not the same). Dhalsim was demoted in the movie to a doctor who could not fight to save his life; in the game, he's one of the street fighters and he's from India. Of course, liberties are always taken when they convert a game into a movie, but still, I couldn't help but notice these blatant changes. 

I also have to give them props for going a great job with the appearances of some of the characters. E. Honda and Zangief were perfect; they looked just like they did in the game (I think Zangief looked the best). Vega also looked good with his mask and his claws. Bison takes Chalie Blanka and turns him into a monster; he becomes the green dude with long orange hair we all know and love. He's finally revealed at the end of the movie, and he looks great. 

                                               Not the face!

Bison is in a class all by himself. His costume is pretty good, but the character himself is just a goofball with a cape. For one thing, Raul Julia has some hilarious facial expressions in this movie; his eyes can get really big and his long face doesn't help. There were times when Bison was mean and villainous; at other times, he was cheasy and humorous. His big eyes and long face did not help make him more menacing. I have to give props to Julia, though, because he really put himself in the role and you can tell due to his overacting. 

The movie is riddled with cheesy lines (I'm not going to mention any of them). But the cheesy lines are nothing compared to the terrible fighting. Don't expect any Jackie Chan-type fighting here; this is B-movie fighting, and the B is for BAD. Where was the fan service here? Not one hoduken was thrown; no one did any special moves (except for Guile doing his blackflip kick twice, and that was the best part). Chun Li only has one fight scene, and in that scene, she kicks Bison's butt. At the end especially, the action drags on and on, and you say to youself, "When will it end?" Bison and Guile have a final showdown, and Bison somehow becomes super-charged with electricity and can fly. Cool. No, because all he does is fly back and forth with his fists out (like Superman) and hits Guile. Seriously, Guile, you can't just move out of the way? He should have let Chun Li fight Bison. 

The fighting was bad, and so was the acting. I guess they did the best they could with what they had. Van Damme disappoints; the whole movie, he's just some tough guy with a French accent. Chun Li was disappointing too; they should have made her role more important. We don't get to see Cammy fight much, and that was disappointing. Dee Jay is in the movie (mainly for comic relief), but we never see him fight; instead, he's a coward that tries to get away at the end with Bison's money. Zangief is also comic relief; he's just a big stupid guy. 

Once again, I have to give props to Julia, who really did his best. At the time, Julia was battling stomach cancer and did not want to take the role of Bison, but later he consented due to his two children urging him to take it (they must have been SF fans). He died two months before the film's release, so this movie was his last performance (not the best way to be remembered). He received a nomination for Best Supporting Actor at the Saturn Awards. 

                  Thank you, Julia, you get an award for this face

Final Thoughts

The movie was fun to watch. . . for the first ten minutes. The cheesy lines fall flat. The fighting is terrible (seeing Van Damme flying through the air with his leg out shouting "AAAAAAAH" doesn't make it any better). Bison is a goofball. Many of the characters are disappointing. And the plot is very typical (evil genius wants to take over the world). The best part of the movie was the costumes for some of the characters (Vega, Zangief, Honda, Blanka, and Bison). 

However, this movie is amazing when you compare it to The Legend of Chun Li, which I heard was absolutely abysmal. I haven't seen it yet, but I hope to some time (I will watch it and weep). It's just a shame. The SF franchise is rich with characters, but the best thing we got here was cheesy acting and cheesy fighting. The movie could not take itself seriously. I'll give it 2 out of 5 stars, and that's being generous (just for you, Julia). 

Thanks for reading. Check back all week for more VG movies.