Street Fighter

 

           After the deeply/brief disturbance while watching Obsession hence me just thinking to myself no more movies, no more, no means no Harvey Weinstein. But then my subconscious gave me a shinning message and said "Joe wake up Street Fighter is out now" then everything came back to normal at last. Ever since the first trailer appeared around a couple of months ago, I was no doubt intrigued in terms of wanting to see this movie especially when the characters look a lot better than they did in the early 90's movie, not to pass judgement deep love for the original.

           Estranged street fighters Ryu (Andrew Koji) and Ken Masters (Noah Centineo) get thrown back into combat when the mysterious Chun-Li (Callina Liang) recruits them for the next World Warrior Tournament -- a brutal clash of fists, fate and fury. However, behind the battle royale lies a deadly conspiracy that forces them to face off against each other and the demons from their past.

           If you were a child from the nineties you'd know the game Street Fighter II and it's many versions and yet the strange thing is the second installment is more Iconic than the original game and for good reasons, now I have great memories of the game I would always go down to the local arcades and see the arcade game being played as well as going to my Grandpa's home town and trying to play the cabinet there, unfortunately I couldn't even win a match because it was so intense moreover couldn't land a single special move so deep down I couldn't continue on with this game. Now maybe a year ago I did talked about how amazing reliving the original Street Fighter: The Movie and I still hold it in high regard unlike some people, though I still say it's not as bad as Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li. Coming into this film I did love the expectations as well as the look and feel of the movie especially when a good portion of the characters are taken serious, great examples Blanka (green, electric, monster) has improved a ton since his appearance in the original movie as well as Dhalsim is excellent as well for which again is an understatement considering the writers and filmmakers of the original movie didn't have a lot a money so, you can cut them slack around that perspective. From the actors to the characters and feel everything looks great and Callina Liang who plays Chun-Li in the movie was committed to her role by bulking up and eating 12 eggs a day so, deep down that's commitment, hell even 50 Cent was awesome as Balrog like that man fit the part top to bottom like if there was anyone who got Balrog right 50 Cent to me was the best choice in that role. All the excellence of the movie a side, there were moments where I feel like they crammed way too many characters and they could of just settle on a few of them like some of the street fighters are good and have M. Bison with three or two henchmen in Vega and Balrog, that way you can include the character of Akuma so we can understand each, of the characters motives and what drives them to participate in this tournament. And granted this film is a Ryu and Ken story with Chun-Li in the middle of the story for which you understand them clearly and maybe just include some of the least unrecognizable characters in the first Street Fighter game that way you can at least have some sense of gap in terms of carrying for the main characters that way you can introduce more characters in the next movie. The other thing that slightly irked me a little bit was the ending to the film I just never expected a cliffhanger ending to which again I was shocked but then was like "son of a b***h", "that's not how you end a movie" for which is the same reaction when watching Dune 2021 but that was until the second movie came out on HBO Max, so, hopefully there's going to be a sequel in the foreseeable future otherwise I'm going to be pissed. To say which is better between the 94 version and the latest movie is a bit near sighted because each of them has their own unique positivizes as well as it's convenient billion characters the writers and filmmakers had to cram in, but I say each film is even par in terms of positive and negative sides about the movie and I surely hope some fans can come back and re-watch the original film. I do in fact enjoyed the movie from beginning to the end well, a side from the cliffhanger ending I still think it's a big improvement from the original movie and more importantly you get to see Jason Mamoa as Blanka and even he was the best part of the movie as well. So, if you’re a Street Fighter fan, I hope you take the time and go see it in the theaters or if you want you can wait till it comes out on Blu-Ray for which I would recommend taking your kids to see this entertaining movie because Halloween is coming up and they need inspiration for what they’re going to be for grabbing some candy. And as for me, I’m going to wait till it comes out on Blu-Ray because the more I see the awful preview that is Meet the Fockers I'm going to lose my s**t and sorry not sorry that movie needs to be pulled and thrown in the trash can or blacklisted, furthermore I'm going to stick to my opinion on that movie till the day I day and this is the third time this whole year.