My poor girlfriend. Before going to the movies this weekend, I asked her opinion of what we should see. Because she is understanding of what I am trying to do with The Legionnaire, she deferred to my choice. If I did not have this blog, I would have gone with Sense and Sensibility, even if it is yet another cinematic attempt at capturing Jane Austen’s masterpiece. However, given the brand recognition and advertising hype, I knew Street Fighter would be the more popular option. Being Catholic is not about going with whatever the crowd thinks is the coolest. Unfortunately, if part of your mission is evangelizing through the medium of film reviews, you have to go with the movie based on one of the most well-known video game franchises in modern culture. So, here you go, adoring fans.

This cinematic version of Street Fighter might not be all that familiar to fans of the video game franchise. Not being an aficionado myself, I could not tell you. At any rate, it begins with an animated flashback to 1987, when Japanese martial artist Ryu (Andrew Koji) defeats Sagat (Olivier Richters) at the first World Warrior Tournament. By the way, it should be noted that all flashbacks are of the cartoon variety. His victory, however, awakens the sinister Akuma (Joe “Roman Reigns” Anoa’i), who later murders Ryu’s teacher, Gouken (voiced by Don Lee). The tragedy drives a wedge between Ryu and his adoptive brother and fellow student, Ken Masters (Noah Centineo), and the two go their separate ways. Six years later, in 1993, Ken is now a celebrity fighter but is widely regarded as a joke. Ryu has largely disappeared, no longer willing to use the skills that brought about Akuma’s appearance. Meanwhile, the dictator M. Bison (David Dastmalchian), ruler of Shadaloo, organizes another World Warrior Tournament in the city of Metrolao. His goal is to lure Ryu to the competition, hoping to take the younger martial artist’s power. Bison had witnessed what Ryu could do in the tournament six years previously and has been trying to replicate it for himself ever since. Chun-Li (Callina Liang) travels the world recruiting fighters, including Ken and Ryu. Ryu initially refuses but eventually journeys to Metrolao to warn Ken against taking part. When Ken dismisses his warning, Ryu defeats the sumo wrestler E. Honda (Hirooki Goto) and takes his place in the competition. Chun-Li, meanwhile, has her own reasons for entering Bison’s orbit. She is an undercover Interpol agent determined to avenge her father’s murder at the dictator’s hands. The tournament draws an assortment of formidable and eccentric contestants, among them American soldier Guile (Cody Rhodes), boxer Balrog (Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson), masked fighter Vega (Orville Peck), and the Indian mystic Dhalsim (Vidyut Jammwal). The night before the competition begins, a barroom brawl erupts among the fighters. Bison’s soldiers intervene, incapacitate the combatants, and take Ryu prisoner. The tournament nevertheless proceeds. Vega defeats Guile, while Ken bests Balrog. Ryu awakens in Bison’s tower, where the dictator offers him a place in his empire. Ryu refuses, prompting Bison to force him into a prison fight with the monstrous Blanka (Jason Momoa). Bison activates machinery intended to drain Ryu’s extraordinary fighting power. Ryu initially tries to avoid fighting Blanka but eventually unleashes a devastating Hadouken, a concentrated burst of energy that destroys the prison walls and overloads the device. In the chaos, Blanka escapes. Chun-Li warns Ken that Bison has sinister plans for Ryu. After defeating Dhalsim in a semifinal match, Ken goes to rescue his estranged brother. He does this instead of facing the championship match, and I have to give him Catholic points for foregoing glory for the sake of his brother. The rescue is short-lived, and both men are captured. Ken awakens to discover that Ryu has been strapped into another apparatus designed to transfer his powers to Bison. Before the dictator can complete the process, Blanka crashes into the room and frees Ryu. Elsewhere, Chun-Li confronts Bison directly, seeking justice for her father. He sends Vega and his bodyguard Juli (Rayna Vallandingham) against her. Chun-Li defeats them, but Bison overpowers her with his devastating Psycho Crusher attack. Yes, that is a thing here. Having escaped, Ryu and Ken finally confront the resentment that has divided them for years. Ryu admits that he was jealous of Ken’s optimism and deliberately destroyed Ken’s invitation to the original tournament, keeping his brother from competing. Their argument turns into a fight, and Ryu defeats Ken with another Hadouken. Back at the arena, the kickboxer Joe (Alexander Volkanovski) is declared tournament champion because Ken has failed to appear for the final. The celebration does not last. Akuma emerges, drawn by Ryu’s fighting energy, and kills Joe. Ryu arrives to challenge the monster responsible for Gouken’s death, but Akuma’s strength initially overwhelms him. Desperation brings forth Ryu’s dangerous dark alter ego, known as Evil Ryu, and he defeats Akuma. The victory creates a new threat, however, because Ryu’s unleashed power makes him almost impossible to control. Ken, Chun-Li, and Ken’s manager Dan Hibiki (Andrew Schulz) attempt to restrain him, but none can stop him until Ken finally discovers how to perform a Hadouken himself. Ken’s attack incapacitates Ryu, saving him from the destructive force consuming him. Bison, meanwhile, orders his troops and the brainwashed British agent Cammy (Mel Jarnson) to retrieve Akuma’s body, preventing the heroes from pursuing the dictator. The following day, Ryu, Ken, Chun-Li, and Dan depart Shadaloo with Guile and Dhalsim, their immediate ordeal over but Bison still at large. In a mid-credits scene, the scarred Sagat receives a visit from Bison and his remaining lieutenants, suggesting that the struggle is far from finished.

In other words, the story that is this version of Street Fighter is not finished, as it sets up a sequel. Sigh. If nothing else, I have to give this one credit for being better than the 1994 version. That one is silly because it tries to take itself seriously. This new one is serious but tries to be silly. I am not sure which approach is worse, but I will repeat that this one is better, at least in terms of being a movie. There is a perfect way of summarizing this dichotomy given in the film, a phrase that Ken and Ryu use with one another, that goes, “To live is to fight; to fight is to live.” As a Catholic watching this, as with any piece of cinema, I am often drawn to such phrases. They are intended to sound wise, and these are the moments when the plot is trying to add some gravitas. Yet, any weight that might be present in one scene is dissolved in the next moment when you get, for instance, Guile popping his head out from a bathroom stall to communicate whatever secret plan he has with Dhalsim. In a larger sense, that plan, as well as whatever Bison’s overarching motivation is in wanting to take Ryu’s power, is never fully explained. You know, it is just bad guys doing bad things and good guys doing good things. That is fine, but it does not make for serious cinema, no matter its efforts. I would add that Catholicism has nothing bad to say about silliness. If you watch female and male religious on social media, for example, they do a lot of things one would not expect from monks and nuns. This is not meant to detract from their missions of charity and prayer, to name a few. Yet, when we see them being a little goofy, it is to demonstrate that they are God’s children like the rest of us. This film is about characters fighting for their lives with some deep emotional issues. The times when it wanders into slapstick comedy appear jarring to this reviewer.

Whenever Street Fighter got jarringly silly, all I could do was laugh, immediately followed by a sigh. I am not sure what else I could do. At the same time, as I mentioned in the previous paragraph, there are some emotional issues that offer just enough fodder for a solid Catholic analysis. Specifically, there are themes of discipline and sacrifice, guilt and shame, and whether one should give in to the “darkness” within oneself. That word, “darkness,” is frequently used to describe Ryu’s internal turmoil and whether he should unleash it on an opponent. In a Catholic sense, we all have darkness within us. We live in a fallen world where the enemy is among us, and he is constantly trying to lure us away from the righteous path. Though it is a somewhat lazy comparison, we can see these kinds of actions in the temptations Bison, to a lesser degree, but definitely Akuma, hold out to Ryu. They seek power over sentiment, as Akuma puts it, the kind of power that allows them to subjugate an opponent instead of fighting with honor. Such ways of thinking are isolating, which is how Ryu is ultimately tempted to fall. Ken tries to protect Ryu, seeking the good of his brother in good Catholic fashion. Indeed, Catholicism does not derive anything, really, from one person taking on the entire world on their shoulders. It is a communal effort, and that is kind of where the movie lands.

As so often happens with movies like Street Fighter, I feel silly for making comparisons between Catholic teachings and the film’s material. Still, because this one seems beyond caring about tonal shifts, why should I? Ultimately, there is little reason to see this movie, and I did this one for all of you.