Movie Talk - The Street Fighter Animated Movies

I’ve noticed that I’ve been in game mode here recently. I guess that’s one side effect of the pandemic: more time to play stuff. Today’s post is still in that mode, but I’m including a bit of anime in this time. Animation and Fighting games tend to have a weird record a lot like live action video game adaptations. Sometimes, they ain’t too bad. Other times, you wonder what narcotic the creators were taking when making the anime. While I like the Street Fighter franchise, I’ll admit that it’s not too high on the totem pole these days. I think one reason for that is the fact that I don’t know jack about these characters. You’d think that the numerous movies would help, but nah.

Some time ago, I decided to re-watch the animated Street Fighter movie from the 1990s on Amazon Prime. I actually owned the movie back in college. It was a collection of Street Fighter games for the PS2, and some jackass stole it back in college along with a few more games and some books. Thankfully, I didn’t need the books that much, but I would’ve loved to traded American History and Psych 101 in. I’ve seen the other movies in bits and pieces on TV and online. I didn’t even know about the last movie, The Ties That Bind, until this week. I also noticed something on Hulu (Round 1: Fight), but that was apparently a motion comic.

Favorites - Ten Bruce Lee References in Pop Culture

Well, it’s a new year once more. 2016 brought its mix of good and bad like any year does. Let’s not forget that. Here’s hoping 2017 can be a little better than the previous year. As usual for January, welcome to Martial Arts Month. Yeah, it’s such an original title, I sarcastically say. Every year around this time, I look at the various things in movies, games, or TV that involve the martial arts. I barely know any styles myself but I’ve always had a love for this stuff.

 I thought I’d start the month with the one who started it all for me: Bruce Lee. Yeah, it always comes back to him in one way or another. He was one of the most influential martial artists in that he introduced the wider world to martial arts and Asian culture in general. Even though he left this world too soon, his influence can still be felt today especially in pop culture. He’s been referenced in a lot of places. Heck, he’s even an unlockable character in a UFC video game. So, here are my favorite references or homages to the man himself. They come from everywhere including movies, video games, TV, and more.

TV Talk - Street Fighter: Assassin's Fist

I think it’s time to step back into the world of Street Fighter. It seems like it’s been going well for the franchise with the recent games being well-received. Capcom even did a crossover with Tekken and I think I have that one. I’m not sure. When it comes to film, Street Fighter failed twice with the 90’s movie and the Legend of Chun Li. I looked at those two a couple of years ago. Thankfully, I think someone up there said, “That’s it! I’m making a good live-action SF thing actually work this time!” I think that’s how we ultimately got Street Fighter: Assassin’s Fist.

Street Fighter: Assassin’s Fist was actually directed by Joey Anash, a stuntman and actor. He was the guy Jason Bourne punched with a book (great fight, by the way) in The Bourne Ultimatum. He and others got together to create a short film called Street Fighter: Legacy. Capcom saw this and ultimately granted the team the rights to do a web series in 2012. It took a while to complete, but the series eventually came out in May of 2014. I was supposed to go the gym the day it aired and I when I saw that it was online, you can pretty much guess what happened. I was originally going to review this last year, but then I saw that Machinima didn’t have the series on there anymore. Luckily, I did find the DVD for this at Wal-Mart sometime ago and have viewed it again.

Assassin’s Fist does something that no other live-action SF media has done: actually include Ken and Ryu as main characters! I’ll gripe on this later but I do have to say it. The series looks at what Ryu and Ken in their final training years with their master, Goken. We see them develop into the fighters they eventually become. We even see them have some fun. During their training, their master starts to teach them the right way in using the powerful art of “Satsui no Hado.” At the same time, Goken is worried since the misuse of the art could corrupt them like his brother, Gouki. We also end up seeing what actually happened to Gouki who we eventually know as Akuma.

Movie Talk - The Street Fighter Franchise

 Oh man, it's this movie. At least they look the part... at the end of the movie.

No, I'm not talking about the movies starring Sonny Chiba. I've never seen them, but I do remember seeing the movies at a rental store. Today's post is going to be about the live-action Street Fighter movies. There's only two of them, so this shouldn't take long. They are also regarded as some of the worst video game movies and that means I might have a lot to say about them. Ugh... Anyway, I've played the Street Fighter games on the consoles I own or owned and I've seen some of the animated movies or series involving Street Fighter. For a while, I used to own the Street Fighter 15th Anniversary set on the PS2. Unfortunately, some nameless thug stole it and other things during my freshmen year in college.

Background
I don't remember when I saw the first Street Fighter movie. I know I rented it somewhere. It's one I really don't remember much about. During Christmas, my dad was watching it on Netflix (he's a Van Damme fan) and I watched the last 30 minutes. I decided I would steel myself and watch the whole thing yesterday. I then found out that the movie's not on there anymore...Yay? I guess I got enough to say about it without watching the whole thing. I only watched Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun Li once when it came out on DVD. I think once was more than enough. I'll let you know why below.