Ever since I was 7 years old I’ve been a fan of ‘Street Fighter’ back then I obviously didn’t know much about it then but even at a young age seeing guys beat the crap out of each other with fireballs and dragon punches is badass. Anyway, obviously ‘Street Fighter’ hasn’t had the best of luck when it comes to being translated for the big screen, but if handled right it could easily be a very entertaining and fun video game movie.
With the first ‘Street Fighter’ movie, it was too camp and goofy, the whole tone and vibe of the movie just felt too out there and made the whole thing seem like a bad live action cartoon. With the second ‘Street Fighter’ movie, ‘Legend of Chun-Li,’ it took itself too seriously and tried to be dark and edgy and gritty; something that in no whatsoever should be done with a ‘Street Fighter’ movie.
In my opinion the best way to handle a ‘Street Fighter’ movie is to find a balance between these two extremes; sure the film should be grounded but it should also include fantasy aspects of the series, so in a sense, tonally it should be similar to ‘Iron Man’ or ‘The Losers’ or even the first ‘X-Men’ movie; grounded in a realistic setting, but with a fantastical/fun side to it too.
Anyway, just got to mention; some of the actors I’ve cast for some of the roles don’t share the same nationality as the characters I’ve cast them as, but as they look like their respective characters and also as they played similar characters well before I thought they’d be able to do a good job even despite this issue.
Ryu – Will Yun Lee
I haven’t seen Will in much, but what little I have seen him in he has always very perfectly played calm, cool and collected characters with a dark intensity to them. Visually he also has that ‘humble warrior’ look to him to, so I’d be willing to give him a shot in the role. Admittedly, the guy is almost 40 (or in his late 30’s) but he doesn’t even look close to his age, so even then I think he could do it well.
As for the costume, sure I’d like see him in the trademark suit every once in a while throughout the film, but it’d be odd and unrealistic to see him and the other characters wearing it throughout the whole film. So, the best option would be to follow the ‘Smallville’ route, as in the characters should just wear normal clothes that are the same colour as their costumes when not rocking their fighting threads.
Ken – Mike Vogel
Mike has played cocky, confident and arrogant characters well before, plus he too has that cheeky, playful look to him that Ken is known for, so if given the chance I’d really like to see him rocking the trademark red suit.
Chun-Li – Lucy Liu
She played a badass Yakuza boss/assassin in ‘Kill Bill’ and she’s also played numerous other fun and feisty characters well before and she looks the part too so I’d love to see her in the role. Again though, like with Will, Lucy is a bit old but she also doesn’t even look close to her age so it doesn’t even matter if she’s old or not.
As for the costume, I personally don’t Chung-Li’s regular costume would work, but maybe her ‘Street Fighter: Alpha’ costume, I mean it had a very urban and modern look to it, so wouldn’t really feel too out of place.
Gen – Hiroyuki Sanada
He’s a great actor, has this very intense presence to him, always gives a great performance and is always unflinching and unwaveringly good in what he does. He could definitely play the ‘wise old master’ role well and certainly add some class to the film. All he’d need to do is dye his hair to look older.
Gouken – Chai Hui Liu
I haven’t seen Chai in much, but in both ‘Kill Bill’ films he was completely badass and brought a certain presence to the film, in particular in the second film where he played the Bride’s teacher. So, seeing as how this role would hardly be a stretch for him, I’d like to see him give it a spin.
Guile – Josh Holloway
This may seem like odd casting, but I think Josh could definitely deliver here; he’s a solid actor, he has that all-American look going for him, he’s 6 foot 2 and fairly imposing. Plus as Sawyer, he’s displayed a certain ‘Ultimate Captain America’ like douchebag patriotism well, so if he toned that down a bit I think he could certainly deliver here.
Cammy – Yvonne Strahovski
I really like Yvonne’s work on ‘Chuck,’ she can play sexy, tough and confident very well and she has ridiculously amazing legs, so would look perfect in that weird military bathing suit/leotard thing (obviously if given the movie treatment I’d expect her to get some more realistic/practical looking attire). Still, I don’t know how good her British accent is but I’d be willing to see what she could do.
Dhalsim – Sendhil Ramamurthy
Sendhil hasn’t exactly played many similar characters like this before, and he certainly hasn’t shown any martial arts prowess, but he’s a pretty good actor and he’s also got the right build and look for the role. All he’d need to do is shave his head and he’s look spot on.
Rose – Rhona Mitra
Rhona has the right kind of exotic look needed for the role, plus she’s a pretty good actress, can kick ass and has handled herself well in fantasy based genre films before, so I’d like to see what she could do here.
Blanka – Andy Serkis
The role should be motion captured, or make up-ed or whatever was done to make the Frost Giants look real in ‘Thor’ because that there was just great effects. Forgetting my ramble though, Andy is a pretty good actor, he recently did a great job in motion capture as Caesar, but he did an even better job as Gollum, so with a feral character like Blanka I think he could definitely deliver.
Zangief – Kevin Durand
He’s a big and imposing guy and a pretty good actor. If anyone can play a Russian Mr T, minus the gold it’s him!
Bison – Alessandro Gassman
I haven’t seen Alessandro in much, but he played a similar megalomaniac character well in ‘Transporter 2,’ also he looks quite a bit like Bison and stands at 6 foot 3, so I personally think he’s got what it takes to give the role a go.
As for the costume, not sure if the whole general look would work, but if toned down then yeah, maybe; I always had some weird idea in my head Bison was a corrupt communist or something, hence the overuse of the colour red… But that is pretty irrelevant…
Vega – Oscar Jaenada
I haven’t seen Oscar in much, but he did a pretty good job in ‘The Losers.’ I thought he brought this really cool swagger and charisma to film; something definitely needed for the role of Vega.
Balrog – Bob Sapp
Bob’s mainly known for his UFC work, but he’s thrown out a few entertaining performances here and there. Whereas they’ve most been either very comedic or so serious it’s unbelievable, it’s clear he’s an imposing dude and would be perfect as one of Bison’s thugs.
Sagat – Vin Diesel
This may seem like odd casting, but if you forget the ‘Fast & Furious’ films for a bit, Vin’s actually thrown out some pretty good performances. It was due to his work as Riddick, that I just thought he’d be perfect here, obviously his looks factored into my decision, but hell with Sagat that’s hardly a problem.
Akuma – Collin Chou
I haven’t seen Collin in much, but like a lot of the actors I’ve cast he’s a great martial artist and a pretty good actor too, he did a great job in ‘The Matrix’ as the Oracle’s bodyguard (can’t remember if it was ‘Reloaded’ or ‘Revolutions’ he was in, maybe it was both). Despite that though, he has a similar sort of face to Akuma too, obviously he’s not as big as Akuma, but then again most ‘Street Fighter’ characters are unrealistically big, so that’s not really too big an issue for me.
Seth – Paul Bettany
The role should be motion captured, or make up-ed as done with the Frost Giants in ‘Thor’ because that there was just great effects. Anyway, Paul’s a pretty good actor, but seems hell-bent on making bad action movies these days (Priest), that being said ‘Legion’ actually wasn’t too bad. Anyway, he looks a lot like Seth, plus at 6 foot 4 he’s a very tall and also has a very cerebral quality to him that I think would serve him well, plus if given the role it potentially would be the best action orientated role he gets.
So, hope you liked my take on ‘Street Fighter.’ Just got to mention though, I didn’t include every character for numerous reasons, mainly as some of them are so wacky I couldn’t think of anyone who could do the role justice, but also because some of the later inclusions of characters just didn’t do it for me.