Since the franchise first exploded to arcade popularity in the early '90s, there have been exactly two officially made attempts to adapt the Street Fighter games into live-action. The first (1994's Street Fighter) was pretty terrible, albeit with enough goofy, campy qualities that some Street Fighter fans are able to enjoy it regardless. The second (2009's Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li) was just plain terrible. Both projects showcase the difficulties in adapting fighting games for film. It may be cheap and easy to build an action movie around the concept of two characters entering a ring and beating each other up, but that premise doesn't leave much room for quality storytelling or compelling drama. Street Fighter: Assassin's Fist is similar to Mortal Kombat: Legacy in both format and philosophy. This web series is aimed at adapting the Street fighter franchise with more thoughtfulness and care than has been attempted in the past. It takes a prequel approach, fleshing out some of the characters and their shared mythology before the events of the games. And it treats that mythology very seriously and reverently. That serious quality might have caused its own problems if creators Joey Ansah and Christian Howard had attempted an all-encompassing adaptation of the Street fighter universe. There are certain characters (I'm looking at you, Blanka) who are simply too out there for a grounded, gritty depiction. But one of the greatest strengths of Assassin's Fist is the fact that it limits itself to just a small handful of Street Fighter icons. Unlike Mortal Kombat: Legacy, which suffered mightily in its second season from dividing its focus among many characters, Assassin's Fist isn't afraid to keep the focus small and contained.
For all that Ryu and Ken are viewed as the heroic leads of the Street Fighter franchise, it's interesting that neither previous film has revolved around them. Assassin's Fist makes up for that by placing the focus squarely on the two aspiring world warriors. Over the course of these 12 episodes (and short prologue), we see Ryu and Ken train heartily in the martial art known as Ansatsuken under the watchful of eye of their master, Gouken. But these 12 episodes are equally interested in the story of Gouken's own formative years, his rivalry with his brother, Gouki, and the death of their master, Goutetsu. What emerges by the end is a generational saga. It seems there's always destined to be two brothers - one fighting to uphold the honor of their dojo, and one tempted by the dark power of Satsui no Hado. It should be noted that no real familiarity with the games is required. While it might be difficult to keep track of the various "G" names early on, these 12 episodes are very comprehensive in introducing the various players and building up their relationships. Both Ansah and Howard reprise their roles from the Street Fighter: Legacy short film that served as a proof of concept for Assassin's Fist. In addition to directing, co-writing, and choreographing the series, Ansah plays the villain, Akuma. Howard both co-writes and stars as Ken. Mike Moh replaces Legacy's Jon Foo as Ryu. Akira Koieyama and Shogen Itokazu play the older and younger versions of Gouken, respectively. And Gaku Space plays Gouki in the earlier chapters before the character transforms into Ansah's Akuma. Both Moh and Howard are likable enough as Ryu and Ken. They come across as martial artists first and actors second, but given the heavy physicality of their roles, that's not necessarily a bad thing. Both certainly look the part and put on an impressive display of martial arts showmanship. The quality of acting is generally higher during the flashback scenes, as Itokazu and Space are able to bring more gravitas to the picture as feuding brothers in a more troubled era. I really appreciated Ansah's decision to let the actors speak mostly Japanese during the flashbacks, and even a fair bit in the "present day" scenes. The Japanese actors had fairly thick accents, and the tension and emotion was just more palpable when they weren't fumbling around their English dialogue.
For all that Ryu and Ken are viewed as the heroic leads of the Street Fighter franchise, it's interesting that neither previous film has revolved around them. Assassin's Fist makes up for that by placing the focus squarely on the two aspiring world warriors. Over the course of these 12 episodes (and short prologue), we see Ryu and Ken train heartily in the martial art known as Ansatsuken under the watchful of eye of their master, Gouken. But these 12 episodes are equally interested in the story of Gouken's own formative years, his rivalry with his brother, Gouki, and the death of their master, Goutetsu. What emerges by the end is a generational saga. It seems there's always destined to be two brothers - one fighting to uphold the honor of their dojo, and one tempted by the dark power of Satsui no Hado. It should be noted that no real familiarity with the games is required. While it might be difficult to keep track of the various "G" names early on, these 12 episodes are very comprehensive in introducing the various players and building up their relationships. Both Ansah and Howard reprise their roles from the Street Fighter: Legacy short film that served as a proof of concept for Assassin's Fist. In addition to directing, co-writing, and choreographing the series, Ansah plays the villain, Akuma. Howard both co-writes and stars as Ken. Mike Moh replaces Legacy's Jon Foo as Ryu. Akira Koieyama and Shogen Itokazu play the older and younger versions of Gouken, respectively. And Gaku Space plays Gouki in the earlier chapters before the character transforms into Ansah's Akuma. Both Moh and Howard are likable enough as Ryu and Ken. They come across as martial artists first and actors second, but given the heavy physicality of their roles, that's not necessarily a bad thing. Both certainly look the part and put on an impressive display of martial arts showmanship. The quality of acting is generally higher during the flashback scenes, as Itokazu and Space are able to bring more gravitas to the picture as feuding brothers in a more troubled era. I really appreciated Ansah's decision to let the actors speak mostly Japanese during the flashbacks, and even a fair bit in the "present day" scenes. The Japanese actors had fairly thick accents, and the tension and emotion was just more palpable when they weren't fumbling around their English dialogue.
