Superhero Media: Street Fighter (1994)

Despite its being a staple of 90s weekend television in my youth, I've never actually actually seen Street Fighter the entire way through. Naturally, I accepted the common wisdom that it was utter garbage and not worth my time. However, as Super Buddies proved, I'll watch pretty much anything once, so when I had a lazy afternoon of assembling miniatures, Street Fighter found its way to my television. After watching the film, a single, burning question filled my mind; is it really that bad? Sure, Street Fighter is a bad film, no question, but I honestly found it more "fun bad" than "garbage fire bad". So maybe I didn't grow up with the video games and find the "official" canon impenetrable and overwrought, but, hey, I lived through pre-Marvel Studios superhero films, I get it, ok? But maybe, just maybe, can we, as nerds, forgive Street Fighter, just a little? 

Yes, the film is dumb, but do we really want a super-serious, dour and overwrought live-action Street Fighter film? I sure as hell don't, look how bad that turned out for Superman. Yes, JDVD is terrible in this, but he's terrible in literally everything he's ever done, that's what he does. I'm not sure, with the whole UN thing going on, why they didn't just make Guile Belgian, but it only really distracts during the crappy speech he gives at the end of act two. Also, there is one great thing about Street Fighter that people tend to overlook; the cast. Ming-Na Wen (Agents of SHIELD), Byron Mann (Arrow), Roshan Seth (Indiana Jones), Wes Studi (Heat) and let's not forget Raul Julia, the man, the legend. Maybe this wasn't a great film to end a career on, but how can you be mad at a guy for doing a film to make his kids happy? He's no more campy than the rest of the film anyway. On a personal note, I also like that Zangief has no idea that he's working for the bad guy until the climax of the film and changes sides straight away. Also, he was unaware that literally everyone else in Bison's army was getting paid except him. Made me giggle.

A great deal of effort went into Street Fighter and it's a shame that no one really seems to notice. During the "UN" sequences, the sheer variety of flags present on shoulder flashes is impressive, not to mention how multicultural the extras are. Also, in Bison's base, there are a lot of propaganda posters in the background, all decrying the UN. What's really cool about this is that they are all real propaganda posters (mostly from WWII) that have been adapted by some clever artist whose work has never been appreciated. Seriously, I can't even find them on Google, what a waste of hard work. Give Street Fighter another go, it's worth it. Hell, Raul Julia camping around like Adam West is about to bust in is worth it. The scene between Julia and Ming-Na Wen is worth it alone! "For you, the day Bison graced your village was the most important day of your life. But for me, it was Tuesday." Brilliant.