Personally, I Thought the New, "Street Figher," Movie Was Highly Enjoyable

"Street Fighter," has had previous film interpretations of the gaming franchise, but ever since the first trailer for this latest version, I've been excited to check it out. Some games get made into dour and serious flicks or shows; that is fine, but sometimes you want to see a movie that simply appears to be fun. I was it Friday morning after dropping the kiddos off. Within the first 20 minutes of, "Street Fighter," I was having a ball, knowing that this was going to be an acquired taste of a movie. Some critics have found it charming in its absurdity, while other reviewers have absolutely savaged it as an awful train wreck. I didn't label this post as, "Film Friday," because we're nowhere near a Friday, but as I said, I did go and see, "Street Fighter," as soon as I could on a Friday. I hadn't seen a movie in theaters since...I wanna say, "Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness," so it'd been a while. Something about this, "Street Fighter," simply seemed entrancing. Having viewed it, I wanted to give the movie a couple of days to marinate in my mind, however. I mean, it was a lot. 

This is, "Street Fighter," so there is a fighting tournament. Much of this is set in 1993, but the event is more of a front for the villainous M. Bison to try and trick the winner of the 1987 tournament, Ryu, into coming out of hiding. Ryu's close friend, Ken, gets wrapped up in evertying too. Plus, there is some strange machine that extracts, "Psycho Power," or such, and it clearly this is all quite silly, but that's the point! This is the kind of movie where flashbacks are (beautifully) animated segments, then Jason Momoa plays a massive and quirky Blanka, then we get a bunch of cheesecake shots of women in various skimpy outfits--but don't worry, there's tons of beefcake with men disrobing and flexing too! Everyone in the film is over-the-top in their acting to a point where brief, serious segments almost feel awkward butting up against so, so much crazy.

Much of the film focuses on Ken and Ryu.

I can agree that, "Street Fighter," has flaws, of course. At 2 hours, we have another example of a movie that could stand to trim 20 or so minutes of moments that feel like filler (especially in the overlong-feeling second half). One fight is mentioned, but besides seeing the nasty aftermath of a gnarly scratch on a character's face, that bit goes unseen. Plus, the flick ends with somewhat of a climax, but clearly has its sights set on prepping viewers for a sequel. Will that sequel happen, though? Well, it launched on the softer side of projections in regard to its domestic gross. It is still the #1 film in America and doing solid-ish numbers in other parts of the World, however. I adored the movie, and if others go into a showing expecting something preposterous, they're prepared to meet it at its zany level...well then, merriment will be had by all (unless you're the AV Club, as they really hated it). I'd give, "Street Fighter," a glowing 5 out of 5 stars, and I hope it does indeed get a sequel. The only thing I'd worry about is how a sequel could get any screwier!