Road Fighter
Director: Kitao Sakurai
Solid: Noah Centineo, Andrew Koji, Callina Liang, Roman Reigns, David Dastmalchian, Cody Rhodes, Eric André, Andrew Schulz, Vidyut Jammwal, 50 Cent, and Jason Momoa
Score: ★★★
With Mortal Kombat II and now Road Fighter, 2026 is the 12 months of the nerds. Two movies, primarily based on iconic arcade video games, made with unprecedented faithfulness and respect for the supply materials, whereas staying enjoyable and classy. That’s no imply feat. Certain, Road Fighter is not any MK-II. It lacks the guts the previous had. However it greater than makes up for that with some good old style enjoyable and heaps of Easter eggs and fan service.
The premise
In 1987, Ryu gained the inaugural World Warrior Event, along with his good friend Ken by his facet. However then, as their grasp was murdered, the 2 brothers had a fallout. Lower to 1993, Ken is a present fighter who rakes within the cash however lacks respect. Ryu sells noodle soup for a residing, having given up combating. However the formidable despot M Bison devises a plan to lure Ryu out of hiding by launching the second World Warrior Event. He invitations fighters from everywhere in the world, even Ken. Ryu senses Bison’s intentions will not be noble, and enters the fray in opposition to his needs. And after that, it’s all high-octane motion.
Arcade come to life
What makes Road Fighter such a pleasure to observe is that it by no means takes itself critically. It is aware of the stakes. However it additionally is aware of that, on the finish, it’s a movie about males combating one another on the street and taking pictures fireballs out of their wrists. So, enjoyable is the buzzword.
There are callbacks to the sport, so lots of them that I couldn’t probably listing all of them out right here. However to summarise it, each character brings out their strikes from the video games on a number of events. And also you even get to witness the Hadouken a number of instances, not simply as soon as within the climax, as has been the norm for such gaming movies with ‘large’ moments. In actual fact, Road Fighter even pays homage to the one benefit of the earlier big-screen adaptation – Raul Julia’s M Bison. And none of it feels compelled, which is what makes Road Fighter greater than only a responsible pleasure.
That doesn’t imply that the movie is just for many who have been followers of the sport. Even those that have by no means performed or encountered the sport can have enjoyable right here with a plot which may be wafer-thin however is sort of serviceable. The beautiful visuals and VFX add to the attraction, as does the change to 2D animation for the flashback scenes. Even the animation is top-notch.
The David Dastmalchian and Noah Centineo present
Like in 1994 movie, one of the best performer in Road Fighter is as soon as once more the person enjoying M Bison. David Dastmalchian brings a creepy, loner vibe to the villain, so completely different from Raul Julia’s menacing dictator. But, it really works wonders on this movie. That David nonetheless manages to make Bison’s menace actual exhibits his class. The opposite star of the present is Noah Centineo. Because the brash Ken, he brings out the character’s self-doubt and false vanity no naturally. His chemistry with Andrew Koji (who performs Ken) was missing, which does carry down the Ryu-Ken dynamic considerably, although. Jason Momoa and Cody Rhodes are the opposite standout performers from the assist solid, bringing humour to this slugfest very simply. Andrew Schulz is easy as a model of himself.
Callina Liang has the accountability to be the movie’s ethical compass and carry a lot of the emotional heft (together with Andrew Koji). The actor does properly with what little the script provides her. Clearly, Road Fighter was extra within the enjoyable to care a lot about tugging on the coronary heart strings. It’s not a giant loss, although. Not seeing extra of Vidyut Jammwal is a loss, nevertheless. The actor is ideal for Dhalsim, by some means making this impossibly racist caricature into an actual man slot in a movie launched in 2026. His motion is classy, however how Vidyut grounds the character into the movie’s world is commendable.
Establishing a franchise?
Road Fighter ends on an ambiguous observe, leaving sufficient room for a sequel. That doesn’t imply that it doesn’t dot its i’s and cross its t’s. It resolves all of the conflicts it raises. However then capitalism takes over creativity. Removed from an ideal movie, Road Fighter is ideal leisure. It’s tacky, it’s outrageous, and it’s loyal to a fault. However hey, isn’t that what we have now been asking for from makers of recreation movies? This one delivers.