Mixed social media reactions don't usually bode well for full reviews, and sure enough, Street Fighter is getting KO'd by critics.
Based on 64 reviews, the video game adaptation is currently sitting at 45% on Rotten Tomatoes. However, it does boast a much healthier Popcornmeter (audience score) of 84%, which obviously suggests that fans are getting a lot more out of the movie.
Most seem to share the view that Street Fighter is far from an unmitigated disaster, and there is praise to be found for the movie's leads (most of them, at least), animated sequences, action scenes, and overall aesthetic. But it sounds like Paramount and director Kitao Sakurai's reboot simply couldn't recover from a sloppy script, terrible dialogue, juvenile jokes, and an abrupt, "sequel bait" ending
Still, a lot of critics were clearly able to have some fun with the movie, and it sounds like fans of the games will get a lot more out of it than casual cinemagoers.
Street Fighter is expected to claim the box office No. 1 spot this weekend with $27 million to $35 million from 3,500 North American theaters, and could be on track for a $70 million global debut. It may benefit from positive word-of-mouth over the next few weeks, but it's going to have to do without critical endorsement.
Have a read through the posts below, and we'll update as more come in. You can check out our verdict here.
“Set in 1993, estranged Street Fighters Ryu (Andrew Koji) and Ken Masters (Noah Centineo) are thrown back into combat when the mysterious Chun-Li (Callina Liang) recruits them for the next World Warrior Tournament: a brutal clash of fists, fate, and fury. But behind this battle royale lies a deadly conspiracy that forces them to face off against each other and the demons of their past. And if they don’t, it’s GAME OVER!”
The movie stars Noah Centineo as Ken Masters, Andrew Koji as Ryu, Callina Liang as Chun-Li, Cody Rhodes as Guile, Orville Peck as Vega, Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson as Balrog, Jason Momoa as Blanka, Vidyut Jammwal as Dhalsim, Olivier Richters as Zangief, Hirooki Goto as E. Honda, David Dastmalchian as M. Bison, Joe “Roman Reigns” Anoa’i as Akuma, Andrew Schulz as Dan Hibiki, Eric André as Don Sauvage, Mel Jarnson as Cammy, Rayna Vallandingham as Juli, and Alexander Volkanovski as Joe.