Street fighter Director Kitao Sakurai sticks to the film’s goofy tone.
In a new interview with THR, Sakurai said stupidity is part of what Street fighter is, and that Legendary never wanted a dark, grounded version in the first place.
The awkward tone happens to be the number one complaint from fans, including those who walked out of theaters on opening night.
“We wouldn’t be sitting here right now”
THR asked Sakurai if he would have gotten the job by presenting “the Batman Begins of Street fighter movies.”
“We certainly wouldn’t be sitting here right now. The mission came about specifically because of the spiritual nature of Street Fighter and the fact that it’s not gory. There’s a silliness to it, and there’s an absurdity to the world and the characters and the way they interact,” Sakurai said.
Sakurai made sure to name where the vision was coming from.
“(Producer) Cale Boyter from Legendary really held the torch for this vision of Street Fighter that had a gonzo energy. I also love the comedy and the craziness and the energy,” he continued.
Sakurai added that the film doesn’t need to make sense.
“Sometimes things don’t necessarily have to make sense for you to look at them and like them,” Sakurai said. “There may be elements that are so ridiculous that they can’t be followed narratively or don’t make sense conceptually, but because they’re part of an overall energy and feeling, they fit in.”
So awkwardness was the plan. According to Sakurai, this is exactly the film Legendary ordered.
Super fans don’t think Street Fighter is stupid
Street fighter Super fan Tyrone Magnus, who has over 2 million subscribers on YouTube, called it one of the worst films he has ever seen and gave it a rating of 2 out of 5.
Magnus trashed the live-action scenes and praised the hand-drawn anime flashbacks, the part of the film closest to the games.
Sakurai admitted in the interview that he was never a great player.
“I didn’t play video games a lot, but that’s the one that caught my attention. We never owned a video game system. We were poor, so I would always go to my friends’ houses to play, and that’s what people played,” he said.
Fans who grew up with the games take this world seriously. The director calls it stupid and absurd.
The CBN magazine called Street fighter another wacky Hollywood disaster that disrespects fans.
The walkouts continued
The public put out the call on opening weekend.
More walkout reports came in after opening night, including moviegoers who said they hadn’t walked out of a movie in 20 years.
Street fighter now begins its second weekend with clay face opening on October 23 and taken on its screens.
Sakurai also walked back his previous comments that Street Fighter 2 was already being written. Here’s what he says now about what’s next.
Gn entert
