Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie Reviews

STREET FIGHTER II: THE ANIMATED MOVIE is the English-dubbed version of a Japanese animated theatrical film based on the popular martial-arts video game. It offers plenty of action, spectacular animation, and an engaging story for youthful fans of the game. Young Japanese martial artist Ryu travels the Far East seeking to perfect his martial arts skills in competition with other "street fighters," freelance martial artists who fight in illegal matches for money. He attracts the notice of M. Bison, leader of the terrorist organization Shadowlaw, who seeks to recruit the best street fighters to serve as assassins for him. Bison abducts young American fighter Ken Masters, Ryu's blood brother, and brainwashes him in the hopes of using him to lure Ryu into the organization. The assassination of a London diplomat by a brainwashed British agent, Cammy White, draws Interpol into the case. Agent Chun Li works with US military liaison Capt. Guile to track down known street fighters in order to intercept Bison's thugs. Guile's investigation leads him to a Himalayan mountain retreat, where he finds Ryu in training with sumo wrestler E. Honda. Having tailed Guile, Bison arrives in a powerful airplane and brings out a brainwashed Ken to fight Ryu. While Guile fights Bison, Ken and Ryu battle each other, until Ryu's efforts manage to jog Ken's memory. They then join their powers to defeat Bison. One of several recent Japanese animated features based on video games, STREET FIGHTER II brings the characters to life in a compelling and dramatic manner, succeeding where its live-action American counterpart, STREET FIGHTER (1994), failed. While the American film sought to give prominence to all 16 characters from the Street Fighter II video game, the Japanese version focuses primarily on the two youthful characters, Ryu and Ken, presenting them as aspiring martial arts champions on a journey of discovery. As a result, the story is made more coherent and engaging. The filmmaker, Gisaburo Sugii (THE TALE OF GENJI, NIGHT ON THE GALACTIC RAILROAD), is a veteran director of Japanese animation and his sure, skillful touch is evident throughout the film, particularly in the starkly realistic production and character design. The film offers a nod to the video game in its frequent battles, opening up the characters' skirmishes in a way not available to the game's creators. If there is any single problem with the film, it's in the rather abrupt resolution. The final battles come too soon and end too quickly. The film was followed in Japan by a 29-episode TV series entitled "Street Fighter II V," which offered greater character development, an epic narrative, and a cliffhanger structure. The 1996 US video release version comes with a grafted-on hard rock score and some cuts of violence and nudity. (Violence, Nudity.)