The new live-action Street Fighter movie opened in U.S. theaters on Friday. Kitao Sakurai directed it for Legendary Pictures, and Paramount is distributing it. Noah Centineo plays Ken and Andrew Koji plays Ryu. Jason Momoa, Cody Rhodes and 50 Cent also star. It cost a reported $82 million, and it made about $4 million in Thursday previews. Critics have it in the low-to-mid 40s on Rotten Tomatoes, while early audiences have it in the low 80s. Forbes contributor Paul Tassi notes those early raters are fans who lined up on Thursday night, and he says the audience number may take a week or two to settle.

It's an Incoherent Mess (Jake Kleinman, Radheyan Simonpillai, Frank Scheck, Trace Sauveur, Jack Shepherd)

These critics say the movie can't hold a story together, and it mocks itself.

This is one of the sloppiest films of the year. Polygon's Jake Kleinman called it "one of the sloppiest, cringiest, and most incoherent films of the year." The Guardian's Radheyan Simonpillai gave it two stars out of five and called it "a garish and incoherent mess that amuses in fits and starts."

The movie makes fun of itself and misses the game. Simonpillai wrote that "Street Fighter is satisfied punching down on itself." Awards Watch critic Trace Sauveur says "it doesn't capture the core of its source material."

The filmmakers loved the game too much. Hollywood Reporter critic Frank Scheck wrote that their "fervor ironically winds up being counterproductive, yielding a jumbled tonal mess." He also says the movie tries to serve hardcore fans and newcomers at the same time.

It crams in too much. GamesRadar+ critic Jack Shepherd says the movie is "cramming three movies' worth of characters and plot into two hours."

But Dumb Fun Is Exactly the Point (Liz Shannon Miller, Helen O'Hara, Brandon Yu, Matt Singer)

These critics say the movie is silly on purpose. They enjoyed it, flaws and all.

It plays like a cartoon, and that's the appeal. Consequence critic Liz Shannon Miller says the movie "operates like a deranged live-action cartoon, which is exactly what I wanted from it." Empire's Helen O'Hara called it "silly and overstuffed," but says Sakurai and his cast "are in on the joke."

It feels like playing the arcade game. New York Times critic Brandon Yu wrote that "it simply feels like the natural zenith of an arcade player's imagination." He also says it squeezes in "one too many showdowns." ScreenCrush's Matt Singer says it adapts the game, and it adapts "the vibe of a '90s mall arcade" just as much.

And the Ending Is Just a Sequel Setup (Rodrigo Perez, Casey Chong)

These critics and fans say the movie spends its last act selling a sequel instead of finishing its own story.

The movie doesn't finish its own story. The Playlist's Rodrigo Perez wrote, "It's barely a complete movie." Critic Casey Chong of Casey's Movie Mania faults it for "prioritising a sequel-bait approach rather than wrapping up its own story."

Even a fan who liked it called the ending rushed. One fan on X gave the movie 7 out of 10 but wrote that the "ending felt very rushed and anticlimactic just to set up a sequel." Another wrote, "Movie has absolutely no logical ending." Nobody has officially announced a sequel. Sakurai told MovieWeb that "we're writing currently," but he wouldn't promise a sequel.

Where This Lands

Kleinman and Simonpillai say the movie is an incoherent mess, and Scheck says the filmmakers' devotion to the game backfired. Miller and O'Hara say its silliness is the point, and Yu and Singer say it captures the feel of the arcade. Perez and Chong say it spends its ending setting up a sequel instead of finishing a story. Early audiences rate it far higher than critics do, though Tassi says those first raters are the most eager fans. Weekend box office numbers are due Sunday.

Sources