Street Fighter 2026 Review

street-fighter-2026-poster
  • Director: Kitao Sakurai
  • Starring: Noah Centineo, Andrew Koji, Callina Liang, Joe "Roman Reigns" Anoa'i, David Dastmalchian, Cody Rhodes, Eric André, Andrew Schulz, Vidyut Jammwal, Orville Peck, Don Lee, Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson, Jason Momoa
  • Release Date: October 15, 2026
  • Rated PG-13
  • Runtime: 119 Min

Synopsis

Street Fighters Ryu and Ken reunite when Chun-Li recruits them for the World Warrior Tournament. As they face a hidden conspiracy, they must confront each other and their past-or face destruction.

The Verdict

Thumbs Up: Stream It

Fans of the games and anyone who wants a no-pressure popcorn flick. If you need a tight, polished video game adaptation, wait for streaming.
  • Fast, fun action and nostalgic nods to the games keep the energy up, and the Ken and Ryu rivalry has real sibling-style chemistry. Dhalsim steals the show with one of the best fights in the movie.
  • The pacing falls apart around the halfway mark, and the live-action stretches make you wish you were watching the animated scenes instead. A few story choices feel off, and the big showdown comes up short.
Watch in Theaters

Spoiler Warning!!! Full Review Below

Full Review (Spoilers)

Street Fighter seemed like fun ride from the trailers. It’s funny since I mentioned to everyone that asked me what were my thoughts before the movie and it stayed the same after watching the movie. I didn’t expect it to win any oscars or have many accolades. My only expectation was to be entertained and it accomplished it. The trailer offered fast action scenes, some nostalgia moments that was ripped from moments that could happen in the video game and okay graphics for the power up moves. I wouldn’t say this is the best video game adaptation to say the least but it did keep my attention as a popcorn flick.

I think the dynamic between Ken and Ryu worked for the most part. The chemistry between both characters seem like a typical sibling rivalry that includes martial arts along with it. They’re not related but they spent a lot of time together and it shows. Their history has some darkness as Ryu allowed their martial arts master, Gouken, to be killed by Gouken’s brother, Akuma. This brought tension between Ken and Ryu since the latter of the two was trying to fight the dark side of the Hado that Akuma embraced. All of the other supporting characters played their part and had cool moments. The standout was the Dhalsim character. I really liked his fight scene.

Funny enough the live action of the movie slowed down everything. Each time they went into the short animated scenes I wanted to see more of it in animated form. Each time it came up I wanted to see a full length animated version of the movie. A major thing that pulled me out of this movie was the pacing about at the half way mark. The beginning was fast, hit the plot lines and didn’t leave much to be desired. Once the half way mark hit things started to crawl. It feels like the director saw everything and decided let’s slow down the pacing since we need to wrap up all of the plot lines at the back half of the movie nicely but missed the mark.

The biggest missed potential was Chun Li’s turn on Bison. She waited until receiving the Bison brand on her skin, and Chun Li would never have let it go that far since the branding is extreme. It came off as her getting too emotional instead of being calculated. She would have never received the mark and instead sped up the betrayal to Bison. The betrayal happened maybe 10 mins later anyway, and nothing came of the brand besides her getting her comic accurate costume. Moving it earlier could have helped with the pacing of the movie as well. Another thing that felt off was the fight between Ken and Ryu towards the end of the movie outside of the street fighter tournament. It should have made it as the finals of the tournament since Akuma was planning on attacking the champion. The round about way they took Ryu out of the tournament was kidnapping him so they could steal his Hado. Bison ended up kidnapping Akuma after being defeated by Ryu anyway so it made the earlier Ryu kidnapping silly and a waste of screen time. Ken and Ryu’s fight was short and sloppy, it could have been better.

The ending points of the movie opened up room for a sequel which was fine. Some of the plot lines were solved and a couple additional ones were opened up to draw you in for another installment. I have mixed emotions when coming to recommending this movie to anyone. It’s not the best movie but it’s worth a watch. I wouldn’t see it in theaters again and could watch it while it’s showing on a streaming service. Overall Street Fighter was entertaining for the most part but it having issues with pacing, and me wanting to see an animated version didn’t help in the long run.

DC's Hypothetical Corner

Let’s say I change one thing. Maybe that one thing will make this movie better or more watchable.

There are two ways I’d approach this one.

Option 1: Make it fully animated. Every time the movie cut to a flashback or a short animated scene, it made me want more. So I’d skip the live action and make the whole thing an animated movie. That would open up the special effects and give the filmmakers more freedom with the presentation, especially for the power-up moves.

Option 2: Keep it live action and remove the animated pieces. The animated bits made me want an animated version of the movie, so they’d go.
    Beyond that, I’d make these changes:
  • Chun Li: She fights Bison before getting the mark of Bison. Getting branded made no sense for her character.
  • The tournament: Make it matter in the end. That sets up a legitimate Ken vs. Ryu moment that makes them both stronger.
  • Ryu and Akuma: Ryu wins the tournament, which brings Akuma out to face him. Once Ryu beats Akuma, Ken brings him back from the dark side of the Hado.
  • Guile: He gets more to do than make a quick call to the government and pop up in a few fights. I’d tie him in with Chun Li and make him the government annoyance who thinks they don’t need Ryu and Ken, while Chun Li believes they’ll be great assets. Over time Guile warms up to the duo.