Quote:As the poster boy for defining solid 2D fighting gameplay, Street Fighter is also perhaps best known as the poster boy for why making games into film was never a good idea. Having two spin-offs and eradicating the respect of certain actors (Kreuk, Julia, no Van Damme doesn't count), it seems a curse looms over the depraved idea of a silver screen pickup. The common argument is that filmmakers should stick to the established material when it comes to crafting live action adaptations. While this theory can apply to other gaming titles, just how much of it can be administered to Street Fighter?

Full Story: Why We'll Never Get A Decent Street Fighter Movie

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Twitter: @DarrylGU

well, why don't they take a look at batman begins. if you got a decent cast (i mean, come on, van damme was always corny as fuck in his films) and focused more on hard and epic fight scenes with some solid realism and a big budget, it could work. A full cgi'd blanka with technology nowadays would look as great as the hulk does in avengers, maybe even better...

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I will never be a memory . . .

There are younger martial arts actresses around. Donnie Yen's little sister, Chris, would be a great choice. She's cute, she can act, she's fluent in English (unlike Moon and Sibelle), her mother (an international champion) started training her in wushu at the age of three, and she's an actual martial arts competitor (unlike Moon and Sibelle).

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I completely agree with you on most accounts... but I wonder how you felt about the Mortal Kombat mini series? I realize you said that MK is more realistic... although they still managed to handle Raiden, a very supernatural character.

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I actually thought Kristen Kreuk was ok as a young chun li. She has that unique half chinese look that works well for the character. It was just a horribly written movie. Chun li does actually have an ok story that could be made into something, they made the right choice to focus on her, it was just done badly.

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I don't think anyone can make a good live-action Street Fighter movie. I think, for Street Fighter to ever have a good movie, is to have Capcom be in charge of the film making process and make the entire film CGI, something akin to Resident Evil: Degeneration or Tekken: Blood Vengeance. So basically...One long cutscene!!! xD

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GU Rules

PSN: Razgriz247 Steam: Razgriz247

I consider this article and all the comments to be trolling me.

I love the Van Damme Street Fighter movie. XD


As with all video game movies... It's entirely dependant on the director/producer knowing the source material well enough and having a vision that will make it work. It's the same with comic book films; less focus on the spandex and more on the complex characters & their backstories.

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I think in order to tackle a "good" Street Fighter movie, a few things need to happen:

1) Find a writing team and director that both are familiar and/or fans of the franchise
There's seemingly stupid premises, and then there's taking seemingly stupid premises and making them golden through execution. To be honest, anything could be made into a good movie, whether the idea behind it sounds stupid on paper if you get the right staff onboard that understands a franchise, what creates the appeal for the said franchise, and translating that knowledge and savvy onto film in a way that pays homage to the franchise in a good way and overall makes the film fun to watch.

Video game movies are hitting that rut where both producers and the filmmakers they bring on board are seeing the film more as a quick money grab from an established and recognized franchise, rather than a love letter to the source material - and the end product usually ends as a uninspired mess that not only spits into the faces of fans, but gives little respect to what the film is adapting. For the longest time, this same thing happened to comic book movies. It took films like the first two X-Men films, Spider-Man, and Batman Begins before studios - and average filmgoers - gave the genre a more heartfelt chance. That's not to say the previous attempts like Tim Burton's take on Batman were terrible, but I think that's when producers finally realized that in order to make films based on comic books successful, you can't just rely on the brand name alone. You have to do some homework, and find talented people who are more than willing to see their favorite superhero comic book characters on screen.

Street Fighter must have never got this chance because Hollywood has yet to find filmmakers that both respect the game series, or video games in general, to make a film based on video games work. Even with more original movies like Gamer, how often do we see video games, and the video game community, misrepresented? To most filmmakers, video games may still be seen as interactive toys more than interactive experiences for attention-retarded children or emotionally stunted adults. Yet, the tragedy is that this stigmatism will remain until more gamers also become filmmakers and vice-versa. The good news, however, is that there are still plenty of gamers and nerds that are in the industry today. Now they just need the opportunity to make these films, instead of hacks like Paul W.S. Anderson continuing to pump out their own radical adaptations of Resident Evil.

2) Make the next Street Fighter count...
...Because, unfortunately, both previous live action Street Fighter films have been received as both critical and commercial bombs. And if producers/studios are wary about anything, it's a film's ability to make revenue. So that's two strikes for the Capcom brawler IP. Which would make sense that Hollywood doesn't want to invest money into a video game project that might just perform under expectations. And to go back to my previous point, a third attempt could work if they learn from how Marvel has tackled the Avengers films: giving a damn about the IP and keeping to continuity, ultimately keeping the fans happy. If the fans like it, you can bet they'll want others to see it as well. Never underestimate the value of word of mouth.

3) Creating a story that give a nice nod to the fans, but still keep the rest of the audience intrigued...
Problem is, this is the hardest part of making a good film adaptation. While keeping the fans happy is one challenge, making a story that is accessible to those who never played the games is another challenge. Not that the source material makes it any easier, either. The franchise boasts several games, at least a few comic book series, and a ridiculous cast of characters ranging from your run-of-the-mill martial arts expert whose only aim in life is superiority on the ring to a green-skinned South American man-animal that can charge electricity like an eel (and that's not even the most obscure of the cast). Overloading the casual audience with references to these games will only confuse new viewers, while deviating too far from the source material will anger the more dedicated fans.

But I do feel a happy medium can be reached. Hell, I think I can craft a good premise for the film, already:

Quote:Knowing nothing but the thrill of the fight, martial artist expert Ryu's chance to prove his skill arises when longtime friend and training companion, Ken Masters, agree to enter a freestyle duel tournament, pitting the most vicious and skilled fighters of the world against each other for the title of "World's Strongest". Meanwhile, a joint US Military/INTERPOL investigation is led by Guile and Chun-Li to expose Shadowloo, an underground organization financing the tournament, an operation spearheaded by a notorious ex-heavyweight boxing champion and crime lord Balrog.

Paths cross, and before long, these four individuals must join forces if they hope to learn more about the operations of Shadowloo, and their intentions for the tournament.

While it may not follow parallel to the *cough* continuity of the series, it makes for a nice introduction for newcomers, but allow lead in to a potential sequel where we then get to see fights with more of the iconic cast members like M. Bison.

EDIT:
Correction - Street Fighter: The Movie actually turned a profit upon release. However, I don't think The Legend of Chun-Li did.

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@Lauren

Yes I did enjoy Mortal Kombat Legacy, with the Raiden episode being one of my favorites.

I believe the reason why spin-offs of Mortal Kombat, and even Batman, have been more successful is because their mythos has been well fleshed out - the backstories of their characters, the everchanging main narrative, and full exploration of their underlying themes - and this has been an ongoing
process that has brought the struggles of pleasing fans and attracting newcomers into the gray area and resolved.

SF never got off the ground in any of these aspects, its growth stunted. Of course solid writing does go a long way, but that's the hurdle, the series'
underdeveloped narrative leaves plenty of room yet no room. Fans say they want this and that from a movie, but in actuality, they don't know what they really
want - they're only attached to the characters. The Shadaloo story in general just never made sense within its own context. Ryu made to fight Bison every time? As a buddy said to me, that's like a guy showing up at 7-11, the snack rack falls over, and the guy's expected to the clean it up for free just because he happens to be there.

Friends and I concluded that perhaps the best route for making an SF movie is if they were to do an adaptation of SF3 - a number of the characters are believable (minus the presence of mutants and automotons), it actually begins exploring the
characters' backstories and Ryu is made to fight Akuma - the true epic battle he's been waiting for.

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