As scripted by director Kitao Sakurai and T.J. Fixman, the martial arts fantasy “Street Fighter” (Paramount) includes a few stray admonitions about the evils of envy and egotism. Otherwise, however, this often frenetic adaptation of a popular video game franchise mostly amounts to macho nonsense.
Set in 1993 and partially animated, the film tells the story of two estranged best friends, Ryu (Andrew Koji) and Ken (Noah Centineo). A former champion, Ryu has gone into seclusion and earns his living peddling Japanese food from a hand-drawn cart. Once a powerful figure in the ring himself, Ken has deteriorated into a third-tier celebrity who makes corny commercials.
Intent on stealing the energy that fueled Ryu’s career, Bison (David Dastmalchian), a dictator who dresses more like a chauffeur than a head of state, lures him back into the limelight by staging a tournament in which both Ryu and Ken eventually compete.
The event’s organizer, Chun-Li (Callina Liang), is ostensibly Bison’s minion. But she has an agenda of her own.
While few of the confrontations on screen involve the risk of death, the battling is often harsh and blood sometimes flows. Together with several sexual double entendres and the glimpse of a male character’s backside — played for laughs — the intensity of the fighting suggests the movie is best suited to grown-ups.
The film contains frequent nonlethal but somewhat gory violence, torture, fleeting rear and partial nudity, occasional sexually-themed humor, a few instances each of profanity and milder swearing, at least one use of rough language, about a dozen crude terms, some crass talk and an obscene gesture. The OSV News classification is A-III — adults. The Motion Picture Association rating is PG-13 — parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.
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