Some trailers—like, for instance, a Grand Theft Auto 6 trailer—are meant to be consumed slowly and carefully, dissected and analyzed, until every last bit of information is wrung out of them. Others are about nothing more than kicking back and enjoying the fun. The new promo for the upcoming Street Fighter film is definitely one of the latter, and I’m really starting to think that as videogame movies go, this might be a good one.
We’re not talking about great cinema here, and the overarching story, well, it’s Street Fighter: M. Bison has invited the world’s greatest fighters to a tournament for unknown but certainly nefarious purposes, and it’s up to the gang to put a stop to it.
(Image credit: Paramount Pictures)
I can’t put my finger on exactly why, but this image is very funny.
But it looks like the movie might just strike the right balance between taking itself seriously—the bits of fight scenes look very Street Fighter but also have pleasingly bone-crunching impact—and not seriously at all, with a full understanding that it’s built entirely around a cartoonish arcade game rooted in the mid-1980s.
There’s a very pro wrestling vibe to it, really, which is appropriate given that two of the sport’s biggest stars—Cody Rhodes and Roman Reigns—play prominent roles in the film, as Guile and Akuma. Rhodes in particular has a couple of choice moments in this video, even though the focus is clearly on Ryu, Ken, and Chun-Li, but I expect (or, more accurately, hope) the full film will deliver scene stealing moments from Jason Momoa, Eric Andre, and of course David Dastmalchian, one of the few men who might have the juice to live up to Raul Julia’s magnificent “It was Tuesday.”
I’m reading a lot into a single trailer, so take it for what it’s worth: It’s a fast, flashy video with good action, catchy music, and a funny stinger. Whether or not that adds up to a good movie remains to be seen, but at this point I’m feeling pretty hopeful about it. Street Fighter is set to hit the big screen on October 16.
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