The reviews are in ahead of Street Fighter‘s release, and I think it’s fair to say this is one of the 2026 movie releases that isn’t expected to get Oscar chatter. Critics seem to be in agreement that the movie is a hot mess, but at least most all agree that the fight scenes are a blast.
My initial thoughts upon seeing the trailer were that Street Fighter looks like a wild ride, so I’m happy to read Indiewire’s Christian Zilko confirm it. For what it may lack in a cohesive plot, there’s a lot of flash and action that will keep most entertained:
A film’s greatest sin is boring its audience, and this Street Fighter should take pride in never coming close to doing that. Fans of the Street Fighter games don’t spend much time thinking about the overarching lore. The games are a flashy vessel to project yourself onto while you play with martial artists, each with their own unique aesthetics. And at the end of the day, this movie delivers the same thing. It’s a blank emotional canvas whose value lies in what you make of it — but it sure looks cool as hell.
“Cool as hell” echoes my thoughts when I first saw Jason Momoa as Blanka, so I’m happy to hear Street Fighter delivers in that regard. I didn’t expect to be using my brain a lot while watching this movie, especially since I’m going to have to fill that Guile wig with popcorn.
One might call Street Fighter stupid fun, as IGN‘s Tom Jorgensen mentioned in his review. The movie itself is loaded with too many characters and not enough story to serve all of them, but at least it’s entertaining:
Street Fighter is dumber than a box of rocks, but have you ever thrown rocks at things? It can be pretty fun with the right combination of enthusiastic friends and anarchic spirit. Kitao Sakurai doesn’t always succeed in marshalling his enthusiastic cast and anarchic approach to the film’s blend of action and comedy, with too many characters there to service too thin a story, but Street Fighter’s all about landing as many punches as it can before the round timer hits zero. Even though there are plenty of misses, the ones it does manage to land hit hard.
It also sounds like Street Fighter took a page out of Mortal Kombat 2’s book, in that it didn’t try to take itself too seriously. It’s a change of pace from the original adaptations of the video game franchise, but one that seems to be welcome based on most reviewers.
The Guardian ran one of the more scathing reviews, as author Radheyan Simonpillai pointed out the constant nods the movie wasn’t to be taken seriously. His take was that self-deprecation only works when the film finds moments to rise above what it’s admitting to be, and Street Fighter doesn’t do that:
There’s several knowing winks at the fans like this, guarding against criticism by owning up to how silly this all is, which would land better if the movie ever rose above the stuff it’s making fun of. Instead, Street Fighter is satisfied punching down on itself, and everything that’s cringe about the 90s, while happily being stuck there, in the past, so it could pretend that this is as good as it gets for video game adaptations.
In this review’s defense, the bar has been raised for all upcoming video game adaptations. The genre is under far more scrutiny than it was in the past, especially when they’re pulling in a billion dollars at the box office.
The one constant I see across the board is that your enjoyment of the movie tends to rely on how willing the viewer is to accept that it’s a popcorn flick with not a ton of substance to it. ComingSoon’s Jonathan Sim put it best and summarized it pretty simply with this sentence:
Street Fighter is a cheesy, over-the-top video game adaptation that knows exactly what it is and does not try to be much more than that.
I’m sure many people familiar with Street Fighter shouldn’t have a problem with the movie, though I won’t speak for everyone. To me, it just sounds exactly like playing the video games, which thrive more on fights than actual storytelling.
Andrew Salazar of DiscussingFilm had a comeback for those not expecting much from Street Fighter, and a criticism for those who defend it. Fortunately, he adds that there is something for the crowd that will come in knowing little to nothing about the franchise, which is great news for a vast majority of others:
Gamers love to throw out the “It’s for the fans” excuse to defend flawed video game adaptations. They will probably do the same here, since elements (like Jason Momoa’s comically bad line readings as Blanka) are simply too egregious for anyone else to ignore. However, you don’t need to be a pre-established fan to get on Street Fighter‘s chaotic wavelength. There’s tons of fun to be had here, but its flaws could prove fatal soon.
If you’re someone who enjoys high-minded cinema, I’d bet dollars to donuts you’ve already mentally decided to wait on Street Fighter to hit streaming. For those happy with spending their money and going in knowing they may not get more than a bunch of flash and fists, this is going to be a win.
Street Fighter is in theaters October 16th, and I can say for sure that none of these reviews have impacted my excitement to see it. I’ll have to check back in after the movie, though, to see if it really was as bad as advertised.
