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| Japanese Title: ストリートファイター 暗殺拳 (Sutorīto Faitā: Ansatsuken) |
Nevertheless, did you know that they're other excellent live action adaptions of other manga, anime and games which had been released before that?
I'll elaborate one of them today, to be exact, a Street Fighter live action adaption.
Anyways, in the following, I'm gonna do
As for the Japanese actor Shōgen (尚玄) who played the young Gōken, there's nothing to say about him that much.
Now, I ask you guys: Have you ever seen Street Fighter: Assassin's Fist before? If yes, (how) has it delighted you? And do you know other excellent live action adaptions of manga, anime and games (except One Piece, notabene)?
And no, I don't talk about Street Fighter the Movie (1994) or Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li (2009) because these are really pathetic.
What I'm talking about is the live action movie Street Fighter: Assassin's Fist (2014), one of the few well-produced live action adaptions from the 2000s and 2010s. The more sad is the fact that it's almost unknown within the mainstream. The thing is: Street Fighter: Assassin's Fist was primarily concepted as web series but a bit later, it has been released as movie. The company Funimation possesses the distribution rights for this film - the same company being also known for the animes' distribution within North America.
I've to admit, even my humble self was surprised that this excellent live action movie adaption of the video game series Street Fighter is really a thing. Thanks to my brother who watched this movie before me, I became aware of this movie in December 2015 and when I watched it for myself, I was excited about it too.
What I'm talking about is the live action movie Street Fighter: Assassin's Fist (2014), one of the few well-produced live action adaptions from the 2000s and 2010s. The more sad is the fact that it's almost unknown within the mainstream. The thing is: Street Fighter: Assassin's Fist was primarily concepted as web series but a bit later, it has been released as movie. The company Funimation possesses the distribution rights for this film - the same company being also known for the animes' distribution within North America.
I've to admit, even my humble self was surprised that this excellent live action movie adaption of the video game series Street Fighter is really a thing. Thanks to my brother who watched this movie before me, I became aware of this movie in December 2015 and when I watched it for myself, I was excited about it too.
Anyways, in the following, I'm gonna do
- the in-universe elaboration
- and then, elaborate the metalevel of this movie
Without further ado, let's get it started:
For the most part, it's about the time when Ryū and Ken were trained by their sensei Gōken and where you learn - by flashbacks - more about Gōken's past as well as of his brother Gōki (豪鬼) on whose way becoming evil.
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| Gōken (剛拳) with his disciples Ken and Ryū (リュウ) |
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| Above: The younger Gōki, played by Gaku Space Below: The current Gōki, played by Joey Ansah |
As already known, Gōki and Gōken trained under their sensei Gōtetsu (轟鉄). The first-mentioned one dealt with Satsui no Hadō (殺意の波動, literally meaning: Surge of Murderous Intent), a dark-based power contradicting Gōtetsu's teaching on which Gōken's teachings on Ken and Ryū is based. The first contacts with that power were the reason why Gōki turned continually malevolent and evil; killed Gōtetsu and lastly, left the dōjō. Moreover, the Satsui no Hadō affected Gōki phenotypically after all.
Before the movie's end, Ryū and Ken take a flight to the US because Gōken wanna protect them from Gōki who has turned into a monster by that time. The movie ends with a cliffhanger manifested as beginning of the fight between Gōken and Gōki.
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| The brothers fight at the movie's end: Gōki vs. Gōken |
Well, right now, I'm gonna elaborate the metalevel of this movie. To be exact, why the cast of this movie is so remarkable:
As for the actor Mike Moh (*1983) who portrayed Ryū, he's an US-American actor of South Korean descent. He also has the black belt in Taekwondo. This is remarkable in so far that it's always worth it hiring actors with martial arts skills.
The British actor Christian Howard (*1984) who played Ken is a martial artist as well. To be exact, he has skills of Kung Fu, Karate, Taekwondo and Capoeira.
Akira Koieyama (小家山晃) who was born in 1969 and who has played present-Gōken has a martial arts moveset being composed of Karate, Judo, Kenjutsu and even Archery, inter alia.
Joey Ansah (*1982) who played present-Gōki is a British actor of Ghanarian ancestry and has skills in Taekwondo. As for the Japanese actor Gaku Space (*1979) who portrayed the young Gōki, not that much is known about him, since his name recognition isn't that high, unlike the other actors who participated on this Street Fighter movie - despite he's also known as the Japanese voice of Genji from Overwatch, inter alia. Furthermore, it's neither known what's the real name of Gaku Space nor if he has martial arts skills.
Togo Igawa (伊川東吾), born 1946, hasn't any martial arts skills but it wasn't an exclusion criterion for him to play Gōtetsu. Igawa primarly in British theater plays, movies and TV shows. Furthermore, his real name is Yoshiyuki Baba (馬場義之).
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| Left: Gōtetsu, played by Togo Igawa Right: the young Gōken, played by Shōgen |
The actress Hyun-Ri Lee born 1986, being a Zainichi Korean (在日韓国, Zainichi Kankoku-jin) and moreover, grown up bilingual (Korean AND Japanese are BOTH her native languages), portrayed Sayaka (さやか) in this movie. Sayaka never appeared in a game but in the anime movie Street Fighter Alpha: Generations (2005) only. She isn't a fighter and Hyun-Ri who portrayed her isn't a martial artist either. But at least, she used to play Street Fighter when she was younger, as it was stated in an interview by herself. Despite she ain't a Japanese name as it's the case for most of the Zainichi Koreans, she uses her given name as mononym without hyphen (like this: Hyunri) and this again is stylized in the Japanese language with the following kanji: 玄理 (Hyonri).
As for the entire cast, basically, the producers NOT ONLY relied on actors with martial arts skills BUT ALSO on ethnically South East Asian actors. I'd even go so far as to say that these both remarkable factors were decisive for this magnificent result of this movie Street Fighter: Assassin's Fist.
All in all, the producers truly did a good job by creating this underrated live action adaption Street Fighter: Assassin's Fist. This instance shows that it's easy generating a masterpiece on this level - long before the excellent live action series of One Piece was a thing. In this Street Fighter movie, the producers made sure that it's entirely based on the original and not like the slipshod previous Street Fighter live action adaption or other alienated produced live action adaptions of anime/manga/games like Dragon Ball Evolution (2009).
In other words, I rate the movie Street Fighter: Assassin's Fist with 5 of 5 stars.
Now, I ask you guys: Have you ever seen Street Fighter: Assassin's Fist before? If yes, (how) has it delighted you? And do you know other excellent live action adaptions of manga, anime and games (except One Piece, notabene)?
Don't hesitate writing it in the comment section below.
PS: Here you can click on the link below for the movie's post-credit scene where Ryū and Ken have been landing in the US:
PPS: Here you can go to my other reviews:
PS: Here you can click on the link below for the movie's post-credit scene where Ryū and Ken have been landing in the US:
PPS: Here you can go to my other reviews:
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