Street Fighter perfectly captures the essence of the greatest fighting game, making it a fantastically fun movie!
The 2026 Street Fighter movie definitely has one thing going for it: it’s better than the 1994 movie! However, that movie didn’t set the bar real high. Is this Street Fighter movie good? Not really, but it’s a hell of a lot of fun, and the filmmakers know their audience. This movie isn’t trying to develop new lore or come up with some award-winning story with gaming characters; it just takes the characters we grew up with in one of the best fighting games of all time and gives us a fun action movie. I admit, I like the movie because it perfectly captures not only the 90s, when Street Fighter was at its peak popularity, but also the look, the feel, and sometimes the craziness of the Street Fighter games. Honestly, that’s all you really need to make a gaming movie based on an awesome fighting game that’s been around for over 30 years. As a gamer and a nerd, I was entertained, and I laughed, and more importantly, I went home and played Street Fighter. That’s what this movie does right. Also, it absolutely appeals to the 90s kid in me. The filmmakers know their audience.
There are so many times that I get overly critical of movies, knowing they could have been better, from the story to the performances and the editing. But as a film critic, I don’t get crazy with my criticism of movies that are just stupid fun, and like the Mortal Kombat movies, Street Fighter is that kind of movie. That’s what it’s supposed to be, so as long as they get a great cast, which they did. As long as they have the right look of the games, which they did. As long as they bring the Nostalgia of Street Fighter, and as a critic, I’m happy because sometimes we just need pure escapism. As for the cast, in my opinion they nail it. Andrew Koji is a great Ryu. Noah Centineo please can perfectly, and I love Callina Liang as Chun-Li. However, my favorite performance is Cody Rhodes as Guile. He is damn near perfect casting, especially with the look, and it’ll make you forget that Jean-Claude Van Dam was totally miscast in 1994. But that was the 90s for you; he was popular, and he could do martial arts. The best part of this movie is the action. The fight scenes are incredible, and even using moves from the game makes the film better than it really is. You can tell ans of Street Fighter made this game and came up with a better story regarding a World tournament and defeating the ultimate villain, while each of the main characters has to fight their own inner demons. As I said, this is escapism and just stupid fun at the movies, and that alone is worth the price of the movie ticket.
Here’s what makes the movie less than stellar. If you’ve never played the game or know anything about the characters, you’re not going to like this movie. It might be the kind of movie that gets you interested in the game with all of the little Easter eggs and incredible fight choreography from the game. This movie does nothing to appeal to a wider audience. The story at times is convoluted and doesn’t make sense. We don’t get much backstory on the villains, so to a wider audience he can be confusing. The action and the humor more than make up for it, especially against the backdrop of great ’90s music. There are better martial arts movies, and there are better adaptations of games, but this is not a film that’s trying to be serious. It’s asking us as moviegoers just to have some fun at the movies, so it doesn’t have to be great. But when comparing the Street Fighter movie from the 90s, which is a horrible movie and completely misunderstood what made the games at that time fun, this version perfectly encapsulates the essence of Street Fighter, so for that I give the movie a lot of credit despite it not having a strong story and going on too long. It didn’t need to be a 2-hour movie; a cool 90 minutes would have sufficed.
But don’t let these things take away from the experience of a fun movie, especially if you’re a fan of Street Fighter; we’re introduced to badass characters with an incredible cast, and the film perfectly sets up the sequel that we deserve. The verdict: it’s not a great movie, but it doesn’t have to be for you to still have fun, especially as a fan of Street Fighter. It’s a 6for me because it’s an adequate movie to entertain, but it is definitely Nerd Approved for its attention to detail when it comes to the characters, the look, and the feel of a Street Fighter game. That alone makes this movie worth seeing in theaters and then going home and playing Street Fighter.  Too bad I am too old to drink Mountain Dew, eat Doritos, and stay up all night playing Street Fighter as I could back in 1993. This movie makes me yearn for those days…another reason why it doesn’t have to be great, but is still fun to watch.
