Action movie legend Jean-Claude Van Damme has had some notorious missteps across his career, yet the much-maligned 1994 version of Street Fighter shouldn’t be counted among them. As a box office hit and one of the few video game adaptations from its era to capture the essence of what made this arcade classic so beloved, it’s shocking to see Street Fighter’s rating stand at a measly 11% on Rotten Tomatoes. Featuring Van Damme at the height of his movie stardom, this cult classic deserves to be reappraised by mainstream viewers.

The 1990s featured some terrible video game adaptations that messed with the lore and appeal of the original games, as films like the 1993 Super Mario Bros. movie were so disastrous that it’s hard to even understand what the filmmakers were thinking. On the other hand, Street Fighter was a fun-filled live-action glimpse into the world of Capcom’s classic game that had an enjoyable, campy energy. With Van Damme perfectly cast as Colonel William F. Guile, new viewers shouldn’t immediately dismiss Street Fighter based on its unfairly harsh critical reception.

Street Fighter Is Much Better Than Its Reputation Suggests

There’s A Cartoonish Sense Of Humor To Street Fighter

While it’s true that Street Fighter was extremely silly, it also never tried to be a serious action movie. With plenty of cool fight scenes, video game-accurate costumes, and a cartoonish aesthetic, this forgotten film had a lot going for it and has aged incredibly well. Several hilarious scenes point to a film with a quick-witted sense of humor and some wildly underappreciated clever writing. An example of this was when the Shadaloo Warriors watched a truck rapidly approach them from behind on a nearby TV screen, and rather than run away, Zangief suggested they “change the channel.”

Street Fighter comes from a time when film studios were still working out how best to depict video games on the big screen, and its willingness to embrace the over-the-top style of the original games has to be admired. While it was far from perfect and the special effects left a lot to be desired, Street Fighter should not be lumped together with Van Damme’s worst work and instead deserves praise for trying to deliver something that would appeal to the game’s core fanbase, even if it wasn’t always entirely faithful to the source material.

While Van Damme was great in his role, it must be admitted that pop music sensation Kylie Minogue was miscast as Lieutenant Cammy White, and it’s poor creative decisions like this that brought the film down. Yet, nonstop action kept things fun and engaging throughout, and watching Van Damme punch and kick his way through this campy world was enough to make up for some predictable storytelling and bad casting.

Street Fighter Does Justice To The Video Games

It’s Not Even The Worst Street Fighter Movie

At its core, Street Fighter did justice to the games and stood as an enjoyable spin on its arcade world. With a focus on fighting and fun, Street Fighter certainly did not deserve the top spot in Time magazine’s list of worst video game adaptations in 2009, as that distinction should go to spin-off movie Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li from the same year. As a poorly received theatrical tie-in to the Street Fighter IV game, The Legend of Chun-Li was a critical and commercial failure that lacked the appeal of the Van Damme film.

Street Fighter embraced its own ridiculousness and never aimed to be considered as high art, which means it’s still an incredibly fun watch all these years later. Released between Timecop and Sudden Death in Van Damme’s career, this also represented the action star during an excellent period when he was doing some of his very best stuntwork. Despite its flaws, Street Fighter was never boring, and those looking for explosions, brawls, and exaggerated 1990s caricatures will be in for a good time if they go back and check out this unfairly judged cult classic.

Source: Time