Street Fighter (2026) Review: How Japan Is Reacting

The new Street Fighter movie, directed by Kitao Sakurai, opened in Japan on October 16, aiming to capitalize on the success of its predecessor, Street Fighter (1994), which is often regarded as one of the worst movies ever made. Despite this, Sakurai's adaptation is not only better but also praised for its quality and greatness.

However, the film's reception may not be strong in Japan due to various factors. Japanese audiences had mixed feelings about the 1994 film, criticizing its shift from Ryu and Ken to American character Guile, as well as its B-movie feel and militaristic tone. While the 1994 film received a low Rotten Tomatoes score of 20% from both audiences and critics, Japanese review sites like KINENOTE and Eiga.com gave it a more forgiving 51.5/100 and 2.7/5, respectively.

This could be because Japan had already experienced a more faithful adaptation in Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie (1994), which remains a beloved part of the country's pop culture. Sakurai's Street Fighter aims to compete with this animated classic by maintaining the film's connection to the Street Fighter lore while incorporating beautiful animated sequences and a more diverse cast.

Notably, the film stars Japanese-British actor Andrew Koji as Ryu, popular pro-wrestler Hirooki Goto as E. Honda, and features a prolonged dialogue scene entirely in Japanese. However, the movie subtly criticizes the 1994 live-action film by having the American character Guile almost comically lose his first tournament fight off-screen.

The film's heart lies with Ryu's partner, Ken, played by Noah Centineo, who delivers an exceptional performance. Additionally, David Dastmalchian's portrayal of M. Bison is praised for his menacing energy, while Raúl Juliá's line "Tuesday" from the original film adds to the film's nostalgic appeal. Despite the film's efforts to please Japanese fans, early reviews are divided, with eiga.com, a leading Japanese movie site, currently showing a 3.1/5 average for the film.

While this is an improvement over Street Fighter's 1994 counterpart (2.7/5), the film's overall success remains uncertain in Japan, potentially mirroring Mortal Kombat's (2021) moderate performance.