Street Fighter (1994)

Directed by Steven E. de Souza. Starring Raúl Juliá, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Ming-Na Wen, Wes Studi, Damian Chapa, Byron Mann, Kylie Minogue, Grand L. Bush, Peter Tuiasosopo, Roshan Seth, Simon Callow, Miguel A. Núñez Jr., Andrew Bryniarski. [PG-13]

Overblown and overstimulated action crud based on the video game of the same name (technically, Street Fighter II, according to the credits, even though some of the characters didn’t appear until a later spinoff in the series). M. Bison (Juliá), the power-hungry general of a fictional Southeast Asian country, holds a slew of relief workers hostage for a few billion dollars, so military colonel Van Damme goes in to stop him, joined by criminal friends Ryu and Ken (Mann, Chapa), news reporter Chun-Li (Wen), and other assorted weirdos only recognizable to fans of the game. Despite the title, there are hardly any streets in sight, and the head-to-head fighting is relegated mostly to the final act; before that, lots of stuff blows up and all the cracking is of the wise variety, not bone. Has some camp value—Juliá hams it up nicely in what is (absurdly) the biggest role in the film!—but fans are surely coming here for martial arts throwdowns, not inadvertent laughter; actually, there is one real and intended laugh: “Quick, change the channel!” The only thing more puzzling than the accent that “all-American” Van Damme speaks with is why no one seems to notice the big cyst on his forehead. Sadly, this was Juliá’s last feature film, which he made while weakened by cancer because his kids were fans of the game.

23/100