GAMERS REJOICE! FOR A DECENT LIVE-ACTION ADAPTATION OF STREET FIGHTER HAS ARRIVED!
Street Fighter Assassin's Fist is a 13 episode online series based on the popular video game. It started off as a passion project for Joey Ansah and Christian Howard but eventually became a Capcom sanctioned production. It was THAT good! Even if you notice that it doesn't have the same standard as your TV productions, but they still manage to come up with some great quality work.
The show focuses on Ryu and Ken in their formative years in martial arts. As well as the younger years of their master, Gouken, and his brother, Goki. Remember how Tekken butchered all the characters we so loved? And how M. Bison and Charlie in Legends of Chun-Li were facepalm silly? Well this is the exact opposite of that experience. There has never been a truer, more faithful, video game to live-action adaptation that Street Fighter Assassin's Fist.
Watch it here!
SPOILERS FROM HERE ON OUT.
The story was simple, and there were some nice twists in there that kept it interesting. But the end leaves you wanting more. We really thought that a face-off with Goki would be the final climactic event. And Ryu's last minute Dark Hado arc was left open ended. But I guess they were trying to make it a prequel (to the game) of sorts.
But I still hope we see more of this incarnation of Ryu ad Ken in the future. The ending may very well be the setup for the two to meet the other characters of the franchise and we really want to eventually see a Ryu and Ken VS. Goki showdown!
Mike Moh as Ryu
Christian Howard as Ken (and also the co-creator of the series)
The two leads are perfect for their roles. For one, it's obvious they have real background in martial arts. And they LOOK like the characters so much that one could believe the game was based on this show and these people and not the other way around! (Seriously, how awesome was Ken???)
YES!!!!
Even though at times the acting felt a bit clunky, the action totally makes up for it. The choreography was spectacular and as I've said, the leads perform them with realism and intensity. And they really made an effort to integrate the video game moves in the action sequences. The stance, the shoryuken, the throws, even the forward jump were all moves from the games, and yet they never felt out of place or impractical.
Best thing about SF Assassin's Fist is that they have real martial artists!
Assassin's Fist was very grounded. (Save Akuma's character design) It helped that the story focused on Ryu and Ken and the other characters of the same Martial Art. It would have been nice to see a cameo of similarly grounded characters like Chun-Li and or Guile, but I guess that's going to be left for a season 2.
With their Master, Gouken.
Joey Ansah as Goki (also co-creates the series)
Younger, more model-looking, Gouken.
And finally, what we appreciated about this show were the nods to the game that were there just for fun. Like "Who's Dan??" and how Ryu got the red head band, and the use of the SF theme song in the background - these little things were almost unnoticeable, but if you're a fan of the franchise, you can't help but smile.
This was far from a high budget Hollywood movie, but kudos to the creative team Joey Ansah and Christian Howard. Their love for the Street Fighter translated into something so wonderful and so faithful to the franchise that anybody who watches it (fan or not) would definitely enjoy!
MICMIC RATING: 7.5/10
Finally, JUSTICE.
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