Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie

M. Bison, running the Shadaloo organisation, collects data on martial artists all over the world while searching for Ryu. The film uses that hunt as a pretext to put nearly every character from the game into a fight in turn. Its value is not the story but the animation. Far more budget and labour went into this than a 1994 video game adaptation had any right to expect, and the fight between Chun-Li and Vega, along with the closing Ryu and Ken sequence, are still cited as reference points. The camera moves and the timing of impacts carry the feel of the game itself. Western releases were altered, with the score replaced by local rock tracks and some scenes trimmed, so which copy you watch changes the rhythm of the film. Its flaw is the script. Most characters enter for a single scene, motivation barely exists, and the violence in the Chun-Li sequence is sexualised to no purpose. Who it is for: fans of fighting games and 1990s anime action. Who it is not for: anyone who wants a story.