Whenever I watch an anime film based on a fighting game, I expect FIGHTING. I don't want some ramshackle plot that detracts from the whole reason I enjoyed the game in the first place. Even the presence of a good plot can not justify in my mind any fighting game-based anime that contains little to no action.
This brings me to my review of Street Fighter Alpha the movie. The plot, such as it is, concerns Ken and Ryu teaming up with Chun Li to battle some maniacal scientist who's trying to harness the "Dark Hadou" within Ryu. The "Dark Hadou" is sort of the Dark Side of Ryu's martial arts. Also thrown in the plot is Sakura as an admirer of Ryu and Rose as a being who tries to help Ryu understand his destiny.
The animation is pretty good. The character design is quite different than Streetfighter 2: The Animated Movie. I liked the "ultra-muscular" design of its predecessor more than the "huge hulking creature" design of this film.
The fighting is the films calling card. There's a lot of it, and it's well "choreographed" and animated. A lot of brutal, high impact martial arts with just the right amount of energy attacks thrown in. My only complaint is that Chun Li and Sakura don't get any memorable one on ones. I loved Chun Li's duel with Vega in this film's predecessor, but there aren't any moments for her in this (not that she doesn't fight). Overall, an entertaining animated movie.
This brings me to my review of Street Fighter Alpha the movie. The plot, such as it is, concerns Ken and Ryu teaming up with Chun Li to battle some maniacal scientist who's trying to harness the "Dark Hadou" within Ryu. The "Dark Hadou" is sort of the Dark Side of Ryu's martial arts. Also thrown in the plot is Sakura as an admirer of Ryu and Rose as a being who tries to help Ryu understand his destiny.
The animation is pretty good. The character design is quite different than Streetfighter 2: The Animated Movie. I liked the "ultra-muscular" design of its predecessor more than the "huge hulking creature" design of this film.
The fighting is the films calling card. There's a lot of it, and it's well "choreographed" and animated. A lot of brutal, high impact martial arts with just the right amount of energy attacks thrown in. My only complaint is that Chun Li and Sakura don't get any memorable one on ones. I loved Chun Li's duel with Vega in this film's predecessor, but there aren't any moments for her in this (not that she doesn't fight). Overall, an entertaining animated movie.