1994 in Film: Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie

The film opens with Ryu battling Sagat in a field during a thunderstorm. Watching them is a surveillance robot, tracking stats and recording the encounter. Ryu swiftly defeats Sagat, with a combat rating of over 3000. After the fight, Ryu disappeared, but became the obsession of M. Bison, the leader of the Shadowlaw terrorist organization.

After the assassination of a Justice Minister by MI6 agent, Cammy, Interpol agent Chun Li suggests joining forces with the US Military to stop Bison. Captain Guile is hesitant at first, until Chun Li confides that she wants revenge for the death of her father at the hands of Bison.

Meanwhile, Ryu has been travelling the world, looking for worthy fighters. He contested the likes of action movie actor Fei Long, sumo E. Honda, and Indian spiritualist Dhalsim. Soon, he is discovered as well as his old classmate, Ken Masters, and both are soon pursued by Shadowlaw.

Street Fighter II was a video game phenomena. It was everywhere. The arcades, the home consoles, there were GI Joe action figures, T-shirts, spinners that you cranked and launched in a mini-ring, hats, and keychains – and that’s not including the wealth of Funko Pops.

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When you ask someone about a Street Fighter II movie, they’d likely immediately think there was an actual sequel to the Jean Claude Van-Damme/Raul Julia cheesefest that came out in December of 1994. Chances are they have never heard of the animated movie that came out months earlier in August of 1994.

The film does a great job of juggling the multiple leads. It’s not just the Guile show as it is in Street Fighter. Ryu, Chun Li, Ken, and Bison have screen time shared and helps build the world of the film.

Street Fighter II: the Animated Movie does justice for the Street Fighter IP that the live action film could never do justice. The anime was the first of a few films that surpassed the live action counterparts. For those who were turned off by the dollar store Matrix-Fu offerings that were the Milla Jovovich Resident Evil movies, I would highly recommend they check out the trilogy of CGI Resident Evil movies produced by Capcom. You’ll walk away the same way I did after watching the Castlevania anime produced by Konami: some faith restored in adaptation of video games.

With using the Street Fighter IP, there had better be some good fights. The live action film pulled its punches and used cheap effects for some of the abilities. A flash frame for the Shoryuken?! The animated film has plenty of great battles. Ryu battling Sagat in the opening features a nice homage to the intro screen to Super Street Fighter II. There’s Dhalsim vs E. Honda, Ryu vs. Fei Long, Zangief vs. Blanka, Ken vs. T. Hawk. But, the piece de resistance has to be Chun Li vs. Vega.

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I’m reviewing the edit you can watch on Tubi, which features some generic music. I was first introduced to a VHS I rented from a local Blockbuster video rental store. The soundtrack featured a number of legendary Grunge rock acts like Silverchair, Korn, Alice in Chains, and KMFDM. While not a deal breaker, that music added a lot to the charm of the film.

The voice acting by the actors takes the material seriously, which lends much credibility. Oddly, the voice actors worked under pseudonyms, a sign of the times when actors were conscientious about being associated with anime. Edward Frierson, a voice acting veteran with over 140 credits, does fine with Ken Masters. Richard Epcar, Beau Billingslea of Cowboy Bebop, and Steve Blum contribute as supporting cast. Michael Forest and Bryan Cranston are stand outs as the sensei and Fei Long, respectively.

If you’re only familiar with the Street Fighter movie with Van Damme, then I highly suggest the Street Fighter II animated movie. You’ll appreciate for the action and the proper interpretation of these classic characters.