A New Challenger has Entered the Ring: Street Fighter Assassin's Fist Review

One of the strongest recent web series I have encountered, Street Fighter Assassin’s Fist (Trailer), is one that one you should not pass by. Direct video game adaptations into film have floundered in the past. Prince of Persia was a bit of a mess. The Mortal Kombat series has not had a decent representation in film. Doom had an offside interesting interpretation of the source material. And, Street Fighter has had failures upon failures within its adaptations into live-action film. This is due partially to the nature of the construction of the fantastical surreal events that happen within the games themselves. However, Street Fighter Assassin’s Fist does not get bogged down with any of the problems that plague many other adaptations, making it probably one of the strongest video game adaptations out there.

as found on wikipedia.org

The story is probably the reason why it surpasses many of the other video game adaptations out there. Street Fighter Assassin’s Fist revolves around the backstory of Ken, Ryu, Gouken, and Akuma or Gouki in Japanese. It tells of an oddly deep emotional story of master and apprentices and their struggles with learning the martial arts, which in this case is the “Ansatsuken,” a type of Martial art in the Street Fighter universe. If you are well versed in the genre of martial art films, literature, comics, etc., nothing within the story will surprise you. The story is simple and is able to play well with the motifs from both the source material and the martial arts genre itself. The acting ranges from average to excellent. Hyunri Lee, especially, shines in her portrayal of Sayaka and Mike Moh’s portrayal of Ryu is also not bad at all. However, there were some times where the dialogue got a little thin, such as when Gouki was talking to his brother, as he read the forbidden scrolls, and when he was explaining himself for his reason behind his own wishes to gain power. But, this hardly affects the emotional conveyance of the story itself.

The many action sequences are extremely good for the seemingly low budget of the web series. All the fight sequences harken back to the source material where if you are a Street Fighter fan you will notice the similarities between the fighters in the game and on the screen. The fights are also similarly to the video game preformed mainly on a two dimensional plain. Which, unlike many fight scenes these days; you can see all the movements of the fighters in their totality. I found this a strong point since it harkens back yet again to the source material. Another point I liked a lot but wished it were elaborated more over the whole series was that the characters spoke Japanese and to good effect. The interplay between the Japanese and the English dialogue was done pretty well. However, I would have liked to have the Japanese dialogue used more often and at more poignant points rather than have the English dialogue conveying the strong points.

As an adaptation, Street Fighter Assassin’s Fist (Episode 1) performed well above the many other video game adaptations out there. It is strong in story, acting, and even the fighting sequences. For the future seasons of this adaptation, I am a bit worried. As I have said before, the nature of video games sometimes makes it hard to adapt it to live action. The specific story done for this adaptation was sublime to an already well-established film, literature, and cultural imagination. The many other stories especially of Shadaloo of the Street Fighter franchise are a little wishy washy for a live-action adaptation. Apart from this worry and the small details within series itself, Street Fighter Assassin’s Fist is a must watch web series and a good place to enter the lore of Street Fighter.