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TL;DR: The new Street Fighter movie gives each fighter a distinct base fighting style, according to stunt choreographer Jon Valera. Ryu and Ken draw from Japanese martial arts. Chun-Li uses Wushu, Tai Chi and Kung Fu. Blanka fights with animal instinct and capoeira flair. Guile hits like a soldier. Dhalsim fights like a yogi who breakdances. Balrog is modeled after Mike Tyson and Rocky III’s Clubber Lang. Here’s the full breakdown before the movie lands in PH cinemas on October 14.
In a fighting game, every character feels different the moment you pick them. Some are zoners, some are grapplers and some just want to rush you down. A fighting game movie has to capture the same thing, or else everyone ends up throwing the same generic action-movie punches.
The team behind Paramount’s Street Fighter seems to understand this. Stunt choreographer Jon Valera, the Filipino-American fight designer we featured earlier this week, says each character was given a different base style. Here’s how it breaks down.
Ryu and Ken: Japanese martial arts roots
The two leads, Andrew Koji and Noah Centineo, carry the film’s Japanese martial arts foundation. Valera’s team, mostly trained martial artists themselves, studied Goju-ryu, Shotokan and Judo so they could take the game’s moves, “Japanese based with a little flare,” and keep them authentic. Fans have long connected the shotos’ moveset to Shotokan karate, so this choice makes sense.
Chun-Li: Wushu, Tai Chi and Kung Fu
Callina Liang’s Chun-Li is trained in Chinese martial arts: Wushu, Tai Chi and Kung Fu. Her Spinning Bird Kick got special treatment. A former Cirque du Soleil performer on the stunt team brought harnesses and rigs so she could hang in the air “just a little longer than a normal human.”
Blanka: Wild, self-taught and a bit of capoeira
Jason Momoa’s Blanka is described as a self-trained fighter with an animalistic style and a capoeira flair. That fits the character’s jungle-raised lore and his rolling, unpredictable movement in the games. Momoa is also a producer on the film and a longtime collaborator of Valera’s, so expect him to go all in.
Guile: Military power
Cody Rhodes’ Guile keeps it simple: military style with lots of big, brutal hits. It suits the character and a pro wrestler’s build. Sonic Boom pa lang, panalo na.
Dhalsim: “If yogis were throwing punches”
This is the most creative interpretation of the bunch. “Dhalsim has a unique style. We built his character on a yoga style break dancing movement,” Valera says. “If yogis were throwing punches, that’s how you get the feel of it.” Vidyut Jammwal, who plays Dhalsim, is a trained martial artist himself, so this could end up being one of the film’s standout fights.
Balrog: Mike Tyson meets Clubber Lang
“Mike Tyson was a good model for Balrog, as well as one of my favorite characters in boxing, ‘Clubber Lang’ from the Rocky films, because his style was all power hits,” Valera explains. Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson takes on the role. The Tyson reference has history: in Japan, the boxer is originally named M. Bison, a nod to Mike Tyson. The names were swapped for the Western release over likeness concerns.
Rehearsed down to the last beat
Wires, breakaway walls and characters flying across the set meant the fights had to be planned in detail. David Dastmalchian, who plays M. Bison, says the stunt and VFX teams made fully acted, fully choreographed previsualizations of each fight so the cast could “get the complete sense of how this goes from beginning to end, all the little beats.”
The payoff is the “burlesque scene,” which took almost two weeks to shoot and is the longest fight in the movie, with almost every fighter involved.
Watch the trailer: https://youtu.be/njHI5d6i7sg
So, sino main mo?
On paper, this looks like a team that actually played the games. Whether it all works on screen, malalaman natin sa October 14. Until then, sound off below: which fighter’s movie style are you most curious about, and who did you always pick back in the arcade days?
Street Fighter opens in Philippine cinemas on October 14.
Photos: Paramount Pictures
