Street Fighter (2026) review: Fun comedy turns into big action mess
The Street Fighter arcade game was first adapted into a live-action film in 1994. And now, 32 years later, another live-action reimagining has arrived.
This action comedy stars Andrew Koji and Noah Centineo as surrogate brothers Ryu and Ken Masters, estranged fighters who trained under the same master. They are forced to reunite when Chun-Li (Callina Laing) puts together another World Warrior Tournament at the behest of the antagonist M. Bison (David Dastmalchian), who has ulterior motives.
Director and co-writer Kitao Sakurai is best known for his work in comedy so it’s no surprise that Street Fighter is really funny. I laughed so hard during the first hour and had an absolute blast. I enjoyed the film most when it balanced action and humour equally, so it was a shame to lose that in the second half, when the comedy mostly disappeared in favour of non-stop action. I liked the earlier sequences, but when the action became relentless with not much story building or character work in between, I checked out. Also, I’m all for setting up a sequel, but you need a stronger conclusion; this feels so unfinished and unsatisfying.
The film is set in the 90s and very much feels like a film of that period too. There’s cheesy fighting talk one-liners (courtesy of Cody Rhodes as Guile) and women in sexy clothes being objectified. The action and visuals are much better than 90s movies though. I’m sure fans of the games will love the nostalgia and seeing their favourite characters again but they may be disappointed that the tournament isn’t the focus of the story. I still enjoyed it more than Mortal Kombat, but the bar isn’t super high.
Centineo was my favourite as the idiotic ‘himbo’ who has become an MTV personality. He’s a silly fool and Centineo totally leans into it. This is the funniest he’s ever been on screen and I could not stop laughing at him. After seeing Laing for the first time in Presence, I was delighted to see a completely different side of her as the badass fighter Chun-Li. As a martial artist, Koji has the fighting skills, but his character is a bit dull, and Dastmalchian is creepy as ever as the evil Bison.
Street Fighter starts strong but loses its way when it becomes non-stop fighting nonsense. I hope the inevitable sequel maintains the action-comedy balance better.
In cinemas from Friday 16th October