Follow-up: THR Reviews 'Street Fighter': A Fan-Service Love Letter to Gamers That Leaves Non-Players Behind
The Hollywood Reporter published critic Frank Scheck's review of the live-action film Street Fighter on October 15, and the verdict leans negative. Scheck calls the film a love letter to longtime gamers, packed so full of fan service that non-players will struggle to keep up; in his reading, the movie tries to serve fans and newcomers at once and ends up not fully satisfying either.
Directed by Kitao Sakurai, who co-wrote the script with T.J. Fixman, the film is produced by Legendary Pictures and Capcom and released by Paramount Pictures. It opens in North America on October 16, runs 1 hour 59 minutes, is rated PG-13, and is set in 1993. As Scheck recounts the plot, Ken (Noah Centineo) and Ryu (Andrew Koji) are down and out after the killing of their mentor Gouken (Don Lee), when Chun-Li (Callina Liang) recruits them for the World Warrior Tournament; Chun-Li appears to work for the villain M. Bison (David Dastmalchian) but is in fact an undercover Interpol agent.
Scheck writes that Sakurai and Fixman bring abundant enthusiasm but push too hard, with the tone veering between seriousness and parody, and that the film's 2D animated flashbacks are more accomplished than the live-action material. The fight scenes are colorful, he says, but still feel flat at a time when the John Wick films have raised the bar for screen action.
On the performances, Scheck finds Centineo's Ken likably goofy, Koji giving Ryu real weight, Liang a charismatic Chun-Li, and Dastmalchian a sinister Bison; Jason Momoa plays Blanka as a CGI creation and also serves as a producer. The cast also includes Joe 'Roman Reigns' Anoa'i as Akuma, Cody Rhodes as Guile, 50 Cent as Balrog, Orville Peck as Vega and Vidyut Jammwal as Dhalsim.
Scheck concludes that the film's open ending shows confidence in a sequel. The one-line verdict in THR's review summary reads: 'Tries to beat you into submission.'
Source: The Hollywood Reporter, review by Frank Scheck, Oct. 15, 2026
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：《街头霸王》官方预告画面：森蒂尼奥饰演的Ken与Andrew Koji饰演的Ryu。图片来源：派拉蒙影业官方预告片，官方发布。Photo: Ken (Noah Centineo) and Ryu (Andrew Koji) in the official Street Fighter trailer key art. Image: Paramount Pictures official trailer, official release.
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