STREET FIGHTER: Pure Popcorn Campy Goodness

If there is one thing I cannot abide by when it comes to film, it is a dull movie. I, like most individuals, enjoy a well-made film and even a bad movie can have one or two qualities that make me scratch my proverbial chin, wishing that the rest of the feature contained more of said moments to elevate it to a higher quality. But a boring film is two-faced in a way. It doesn’t have the talent to be a hallmark work of cinema nor does it have the guts to be profane and insulting to my senses that I will never forget it long after the credits roll. The boring film is the saltine cracker of art: bland, inoffensive, and, worst of all, forgettable.

Then there are, what I like to call, the tarnished gems of cinema. These are the films that have been maligned as bad movies but still maintain a sense of charm about them. These types of films, in common parlance, are called “so-bad-they’re-good” films. Some prime examples are just about anything made by the lovable hack director Edward D. Wood Jr., or the atrocious-yet-amusing bomb, The Room by American(?) film director Tommy Wiseau. As much as I would enjoy discussing either of those train wrecks, neither is the focal point.

Instead, I’m going to take you back to the 90s. It was the era of kids with “too-cool-for-school” attitude problems, Bill Clinton was in office and denying sexual relations with a certain intern who shall remain unnamed, and a little electronic doo-dad called the Super Nintendo was in a pixelated arms race with the Sega Genesis. It was 1994, and a young Dallas Marshall was too broke to own either a Super Nintendo or a Sega Genesis, so he did the next best thing: go to his neighbor friend’s house and play a little game called Street Fighter II on a big screen TV.

Street Fighter Mania

Street Fighter II was a big deal. Not just for me, but it was a massive success in every imaginable category. An estimated 25 million people in the United States alone, by the time 1994 rolled around, have played the game and various versions were solicited to the public, year after year, grossing over 10 billion dollars in revenue. Street Fighter II was also a critical success, garnering a wellspring of praise from critics at the time and being hailed as one of the most influential and groundbreaking fighting games within the current era by video game historians.

It would not be long until Hollywood, with dollar signs in their collective eyes, decided that they wanted some of the milk from the cash cow that is Street Fighter II. It was inevitable that a live-action adaptation of the game would be made. Although Hollywood production companies such as Edward R. Pressman Productions would foot some of the bills, the film, for the most part, was financed by Capcom, the video game company which produced the original game. The production cost for the live-action adaptation of Street Fighter was 35 million dollars and was unleashed upon the world on December 23rd, 1994.

Needless to say, it was a smash hit at the box office. Scores of fans of the original game lined up around the block to see what the hubbub was all about and Street Fighter punched its way to the top of ticket sales. this victory dance would inevitably be knocked out by a flurry of negative reviews from critics and scorn from fans. However, since every dark cloud has a silver lining the movie has found a new appreciation as one of the greats of the so-bad-it’s-good filmmaking styles and obtained a subsequent cult following.

Steven E. de Souza

Action movies in the 80s and 90s owe a debt to Steven E. de Souza since some of the greatest pew-pew/explosion flicks were either penned entirely by him or he had a hand in their creation. Die Hard, Commando, Running Man, and the cheesy yet entertaining Judge Dredd (which may or may not be examined by me at some point) have been written by de Souza and they all have one thing in common. Muscled men, doing muscled men things with all kinds of explosions, fights, and insanely quotable one-liners that have wormed their way into the pop-culture vocabulary of movie-goers.

There is a goofy charm to such movies, where the pinnacle of masculinity was not only how much one could bench press or how many cigars they could chain-smoke, but also how far they would go in their heroics. Sure, these muscled men had messy methods of getting the job done, but justice must be served and if that meant collateral damage–then so be it! de Souza understood this formula well and by the grace of the action movie gods, we too have had these macho archetype formulas implanted in our minds as well. Revenge stories were served on our tables and although the plates were ice cold, we came back for more and asked for seconds.

But from what I can see, de Souza was missing something. In most of his action movies, while fun for the adults in the crowd, kids (especially hormone-addled teen boys looking for a testosterone fix) could not join in on the action because of the proverbial caution tape that was the R rating. There were always those caution-to-the-wind type kids who found a way to sneak into an R-rated picture and come out with enough boobs, bullets, and blood to last them a lifetime, but for a kid like me–who (for the most part) followed the rules–I was barred entry. Street Fighter was a godsend from the Mount Olympus that was Capcom and de Souza and I relished every chance I could see it.

Adventure Is the Name of the Game!

Things are not looking good in the world, there is a new tyrant in town and his name is General M. Bison, played with pure gusto by the late, great Raul Julia. M. Bison has made a name for himself running Shadaloo, a multinational military crime organization that specializes in all things insidious. Drug trafficking? check. Illegal arms dealing? it’s their bread and butter. Human rights violations? they have their own methods which have become world-renown including creating super soldiers via human experimentation! (more on that later) And if it was not patently obvious that they are the “bad guys” their very insignia is a skull with a lightning bolt grafted on its head, carried by a pair of wings–a literal deadly bat out of hell.

Because of their growing power and continuous terrorist plots, the United Nations–actually doing something for a change–has had enough. Their trump card? A brash war hero named Colonel William F. Guile. Guile is a man’s man, an all-American hero! He’s so American he has Old Glory tattooed on his bicep, not passing up any chance to make it wave on camera for an adoring audience. He will take down Shadoloo or die trying, thick Belgian accent and all! Yeah, considering the fact that Belgian action star Jean Claude Van Damme was picked to play an American colonel is funny, in and of itself. Anyway, Guile is not going to stand for the atrocities of Bison and his recon has pulled up some intriguing information as to the most insidious plan of Shadoloo yet–the creation of super soldiers to take over the world!

It is one of the most inane stories put to film and yet, because of the heart behind it, it is endearing in its own way. I believe most of that endearment comes from the performance of the dearly departed Raul Julia. Rest in power.

The Last Days of a Great Actor

Raul Julia was born March 9, 1940, in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and had an interest in acting since he was a young boy. His cited inspiration for acting was when he saw Errol Flynn’s famous rendition of Robin Hood in the 1938 movie, The Adventures of Robin Hood. One could see just how much this film influenced the young Raul since he had a penchant for playing charming and dashing debonaire men later in life when his acting career took off. He moved to New York City when he was 24, after making a name for himself in his native Puerto Rico as a Shakespearean actor, to make it on Broadway.

Taking acting lessons in New York, even attending a class with a then-unknown Christopher Walken (it would have been a hoot to see those two in a movie together) Raul was being noticed in several on and off-Broadway productions. While he gained traction as a seasoned thespian, Raul is best known for his movies. Whether he was playing a political prisoner in the drama Kiss of the Spiderwoman; a biopic around the life of the humanitarian catholic priest, Oscar Romero; or serenading in the moonlight as the gothic gentleman Gomez Addams in The Addams Family—Raul Julia captured the attention of any who would watch his pictures, emanating a raw magnetism and putting his all into any role that was placed before him. So how in the hell did a man of talent seemingly fall so low as to attach himself to what would be considered a B-movie of an action flick? The answer is simultaneously heartwarming and heartbreaking.

During the 90s, Julia was diagnosed with stomach cancer, a condition he had been battling for three years before his death in 1994. He kept his condition under wraps for as long as he could until he would come on film sets, looking emaciated as the disease crept throughout his body, eating him alive. Despite going through surgery to mitigate the effects of the cancer, his condition continued to deteriorate and his days were numbered. When Julia was approached with playing the role of M. Bison in the live-action adaptation of Street Fighter, he reasonably had his doubts. But what changed his mind was when he approached his family to discuss the role and when his children heard the title of the film was going to be Street Fighter, Raul recalled in an interview that he saw the faces of his children light up with glee and then he knew he had to do the role.

He took the role as an act of love because his children loved the franchise and whether it was going to kill him, he was going to put his heart into it. And despite the poor critical acclaim the overall picture received, Raul Julia’s performance as the corny supervillain is considered to this day as the best feature of the film. But that’s not to say that the other performers, as shocking as it may sound, are slouches either. Considering the drama that was going on in the set of the movie (which is an essay-worthy discussion in and of itself), it is a miracle that the film was made at all.

Phoning It In Is Not an Option

While much of the attention of this piece has been placed upon Raul Julia, whom we will get back to in a moment, the other cast and crew of Street Fighter should not be overlooked. First, we have Jean Claude Van Damme who, at the time, was known as one of the most prolific actors in the action film genre, and while he may be upstaged at times playing against Julia, his performance has his tongue placed firmly in his cheek. Van Damme keeps a straight face throughout the entire film, saying some of the most hackneyed lines with aplomb and bringing his all to the stoic yet confident Colonel Guile. Even if the viewer has to place their ear firm against the speaker to sometimes make out what he is saying with that thick Belgian accent, Van Damme never feels like he is on set for just a paycheck but seems to be having a blast working on the film–even if he was reported to be a major pain to work with.

Ming Na and Kylie Minogue, the only two major female stars playing as Chun-Li and Cammy respectively, have more than enough time to showcase their ass-kicking skills. The acting is hollow (of course it is, this is Street Fighter!) but they put off enough girl-boss energy to carry the scenes they are in. One of the best scenes in the movie is when Chun-Li is forced to provide company to M. Bison, who has lewd intent on his mind, and after an oft-quoted line from Bison (“For me, it was Tuesday.”) Chun-Li gives the mad dictator what-for with a flurry of kicks. I have known many guys that have said Ming Na’s performance in the film brought about some mad crushes on her.

The male characters all exemplify some kind of tough-guy masculine archetype be it heroic or villainous such as the stupid musclehead of Shadoloo, Zangief (Andrew Bryaniarski) who provides some of the funniest one-liners.  (“Quick! Change the channel!”) His long-suffering partner, Dee Jay, is a somewhat stereotypical Jamaican henchman who acts as the straight-man foil to Zangief’s stupidity. And Ken and Ryu, two con men who follow the same plot beats which remind me of the comedy stylings of Bob Hope and Bing Crosby in The Road To… comedy film series. Although the writings of these characters are not as adroit as the classic comedies mentioned above, they are still fun to watch. Nobody takes themselves too seriously, which cannot be said for many other video-game movie adaptations of the time which had their heads stuck firmly up their ass by trying to convince the audience that they should be taken seriously.

Not convinced? Not only is the acting a big bag of frivolous fun but the sets all exude an energy of cheapish charm that looks about as good as the backdrops of a school play. Granted, much of this is by the fact that little of the budget was left after the producers obtained both Jean Claude Van Damme and Raul Julia–who both commanded steep price tags to hire them, but it surprisingly works in the films’ favor. If the film utilized more grandiose sets or had a higher budget, it would have taken away from the tongue-in-cheek fun of the film.

A prime example that comes to mind is when the character of Blanka is introduced. Carlos Blanka was once a human soldier who was captured by Shadoloo to be the first test subject of their super soldier program and the end results are laughable. But the film plays it up as a serious moment and due to its sincerity, it all works in a strange twist of fate. Blanka is transformed from a soldier (and friend of Guile) into a monstrosity who still has a heart, and who maintains his humanity by destroying the lab which created him. It’s just so damned silly in its presentation that it never feels completely out of place with the whole production. Everything in this movie is an act of bombast. Even the trailer (as seen below) wants the viewer to know that this is a blockbuster and a must-see!

Camp and a Big Bowl of Popcorn

The name of the game of Street Fighter is Camp. Camp is defined as something that is “deliberately exaggerated and theatrical in style, typically for humorous effect.” That about sums up this film to a tee and has gained a cult classic status because of its campy values. Everything, from the sets to the acting, all have to be dialed up to eleven. Bison cannot just be a villain, he has to be a “mustache-twirling” villain who makes every line he says delivered in a manner of evil grandiosity. In all honesty, Raul Julia is so magnetic as the malignant M. Bison that the man could read the ingredients of a cereal box and I would still be transfixed.

Between action scenes, almost every character pauses to give a quip or a joke that is so corny that would give most dad jokes a run for their money. But what makes it work is the fact that the film knows it is corny and wants you to go along for the ride and enjoy it. It is unabashed fun and is self-aware enough to keep the audience entertained. Some of the fans of the original Street Fighter game make the complaint that the film does not respect the source material by playing with the characters’ backstories and origins, thus cheapening them.

Yes, that would be a correct statement but I have a different take. The fact that many of the characters in the film adaptation are retconned into being something different (such as Sagat being an arms dealer instead of a Muay Thai champion) does more for the film than if it was a copy-and-paste adaptation. As much as I enjoy the Street Fighter games, I must admit that the characterization can be paper thin at times as far as the games are concerned and in order for a film to work, it has to embellish some of the characters’ plot points to make it easier to have them adapt to the story.

This is not to say that the overall experience of the film is good–far from it. Street Fighter is filled with frivolity, corny, and has a plot more shallow than a puddle. So why do I love it so much? Why has it gained a cult following over the years? The fact of the matter is that there is something missing from the current zeitgeist of movie-making: fun. With a plethora of gritty reboots, dark retellings, sympathetic villain origin stories, and snore-fest films that take themselves too seriously–it’s fun to see a movie that does anything but those things.

Street Fighter reminds us that even a bad movie can be loads of fun and make you feel like a little kid again. It’s fun to watch a movie where the delineation between good and evil is a binary, almost childlike view of “good guys” and “bad guys” with nothing in between. Simplistic? obviously, but it is also kind of comforting in a way to see a film where the good guys always win and the hero gives a giggle-inducing speech about how he’s going to “kick that sonuvabitch Bison’s ass so hard that the next Bison wannabe is gonna feel it!” It’s like watching old action movies again and I for one, am all for it with a big bucket of popcorn on my lap. The movie also makes me want to track down an old-school arcade with nothing but a bag of quarters and a beverage that contains way more sugar than I should be consuming.

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