Street Fighter's reviews keep coming back to the anime flashbacks
Street Fighter opens in theaters at 45 on Metacritic and 45 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, with critics split on the jokes and the ending but nearly united on its 2D animated flashbacks. Here is the split without a Dorkify grade.
Forty-five. That is where Street Fighter sits this morning on both of the big aggregators, the day Kitao Sakurai's live-action adaptation of the Capcom fighting series opens in US theaters. The Rotten Tomatoes page shows 45 percent from 64 reviews with an average of 5 out of 10, and Metacritic has it at 45 from 22 critics. There is no Dorkify grade here, because nobody on staff has seen it yet and I am not going to fake a verdict. What I can do is sort out what the critics actually agree on, because the reviews are oddly consistent once you stop staring at the number.
The setup, kept spoiler-light: Chun-Li (Callina Liang) recruits Ryu (Andrew Koji) and Ken Masters (Noah Centineo) for the World Warrior Tournament, and a conspiracy drags the two of them back into their shared past. ComingSoon's review roundup lists a stacked bench around them, including Jason Momoa as Blanka, 50 Cent as Balrog, David Dastmalchian, Cody Rhodes, Andrew Schulz, Eric André, Vidyut Jammwal, and Don Lee.
Almost every review, positive or negative, stops to praise the same thing: the 2D animated flashbacks.
The one thing nearly everyone likes
The Rotten Tomatoes first-reviews roundup is the best single read on the split, and the pattern jumps out fast. Jack Shepherd at GamesRadar+ says the movie "shines during animated sequences," which he compares to classic '90s anime. Tom Jorgensen at IGN calls them "wonderfully executed" and then complains that Sakurai keeps flashing back to them until they become "a distracting crutch." Frank Scheck at The Hollywood Reporter goes further and says the animation is so vibrant it ends up "outshining the live action." That is a strange kind of compliment for a live-action movie, and it shows up again and again.
Here is the full split, sorted by what each part of the movie is getting from the critics in that roundup. The right column is my read on how much weight each one deserves if you are deciding whether to buy a ticket.
| Part of the movie | What critics say | How much it should matter to you |
|---|---|---|
| Animated flashbacks | Near-universal praise (GamesRadar+, IGN, THR, Mama's Geeky), with IGN and THR saying they get overused | High. This is the part people will clip and share. |
| Fight scenes | Split. IGN credits the stunt team and Andrew Koji; Slashfilm calls the fights fun; Fiction Machine says they are shot too tight to see; THR says they look small next to John Wick | Medium. Fans of the games will likely forgive more than critics did. |
| Look and costumes | Mostly positive (ComicBookMovie, FlickDirect), with Awards Watch the loudest dissent on digital backdrops | Medium. |
| Jokes and tone | Mostly negative. The Playlist, Fiction Machine, and ComicBookMovie say the humor misses; Consequence is the warmest review in the roundup overall | High if you hated the 1994 film's camp, low if you loved it. |
| Ending | Mostly negative. Several reviews say the third act barely arrives and the finish leans on sequel setup | High. This is the complaint I would weigh most. |
| Performances | Callina Liang and Andrew Koji singled out; Dastmalchian's villain called a good time by Consequence | Medium. |
Still the best-reviewed Street Fighter movie
Context matters, because this franchise has a history on film. The 1994 Street Fighter with Jean-Claude Van Damme and Raul Julia sits at 34 on Metacritic from 21 critics. The 2009 reboot, The Legend of Chun-Li, is at 17 on Metacritic and 3 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. Liz Shannon Miller at Consequence put it bluntly in the RT roundup: the one fight this movie was always likely to win was being the best Street Fighter movie ever made.
| Film | Year | Metacritic | Critics counted |
|---|---|---|---|
| Street Fighter | 1994 | 34 | 21 |
| Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li | 2009 | 17 | 11 |
| Street Fighter | 2026 | 45 | 22 |
So the series went from 17 to 45. That is real progress and also a reminder of how low the floor was.
The audience number tells a different story
The early audience read is much warmer. The Rotten Tomatoes Popcornmeter is at 83 percent from more than 250 verified ratings as I write this, nearly double the critic score. The critic number has also moved since the first wave: ComingSoon reported 41 percent on 44 reviews on Thursday, and it has edged up to 45 on 64 since. ComingSoon also cites an opening weekend projection of $25 million to $35 million, which it says is not a favorable result for Legendary given the budget.
Who should go this weekend
- Go if you grew up on Street Fighter II and want to see Blanka, Balrog, and Chun-Li on a big screen. The fan service is the point, and critics agree it is there.
- Go if anime-style action is your thing. The flashbacks sound like the best-looking part of the film, and that will play better on a theater screen.
- Wait for streaming if a story that sets up a sequel instead of finishing will bug you. That is the most common complaint in the roundup.
- Skip it if you want a straight martial arts movie. Even the positive reviews describe a loud, jokey, arcade-flavored hangout more than a fight film.
Video game adaptations have been on a run lately, and we have been tracking the bigger swings. Our Alex Garland and Elden Ring piece looked at how A24 is handling its game movie, and our Last of Us Season 3 note covered the TV side. If you want a recent game-side example of a franchise split on spirit, our Castlevania: Belmont's Curse critic split is the closest cousin.
My take: the animation detail is the most telling thing in the whole wave. When reviewers who disagree about everything else all point at the same animated stretches, it usually means the director found the movie's best version and only used some of it. Sakurai clearly knows what Ryu and Ken mean to fans. The critic consensus says the live-action movie around them is a loud mixtape. I will see it, because I am exactly the kid who fed quarters into the cabinet. I just expect to leave wishing the whole thing had been drawn.
How we made this: researched and drafted with AI assistance. Sources are linked in the piece.
How we made this: researched and drafted with AI assistance. Sources are linked in the piece.
Original commentary based on public reporting. Not a reprint. Editorial standards.