What a sad thing it was for this movie to be Raul Julia’s last screen performance. Julia, who died before Street Fighter hit movie screens, plays General M. Bison, the villain in the arcade game. Which is fine. The problem with this film is ostensibly the problem with any video game adaptation—the desire to please video game fans at the expense of narrative cohesiveness, character development, or visual beauty. It’s the reason there hasn’t been a single good video game movie yet.
Street Fighter, based on the fight-em-up coin-op, tries to use as many of the game’s characters as possible, resulting in a mish-mash of nonsensical combat scenes. And, in a moment reminiscent (in a bad, probably not even purposely referential way) of Carrie, Raul Julia’s fist smashes through a pile of rubble after he has been well defeated. Sequel!
Or not.
