Street Fighter: Alpha Generations
One of the newest movies of the Street Fighter series, Alpha Generations follows its predecessors in terms of content: violence, violence, and an abundance of testosterone. Definitely not my genre of choice – and this movie didn’t change my mind otherwise. Let’s just say that any anime that has as much grunting and moaning as it has dialogue does not pass my litmus test – I do not want to shell out $20+ for a DVD of nothing but males sounding like they have The World’s Largest case of constipation.
Now let’s get to the breakdown, shall we:
Menu: (4/5) Rather simplistic as far as menus go, but it serves its purpose quite nicely. The special features section is rather skimpy (only two features) and in the sound menu it’s hard to tell if you actually managed to change what you wanted (in my case, language) – there are no markers denoting either current or default selections. Definitely wasn’t designed user friendly. Kudos to the designers for not including any of those annoying, flashy animations that most American movie companies tend to include.
Plot: (1/5) Ever heard of PWP – Plot, What Plot? Maybe it makes sense to those who have actually followed the Street Fighter series – one of which I am not – but both the plot itself, and its execution, leave a lot to be desired. The basic premise is this: Guy kills master. Guy kills fellow student. Student of fellow student, a.k.a the Protagonist, debates revenge but after getting kicked around (literally) decides it isn’t worth it. Guy fights Protagonist. During fight, Protagonist suddenly has The Hero’s Epiphany. Protagonist defeats overpowered Guy. Guy has The Villain’s Epiphany, transforms from bloodthirsty villain to not-quite-so-bloodthirsty villain with a new goal in life, beat the Protagonist (wasn’t he doing that already?).
To top things off, the classic rehashed plot is executed rather poorly, demonstrating, once again, that CAPCOM is about as capable of suspense as they are capable of filling in plot-holes. For the record, suspense means I’m slightly confused but intrigued and waiting for more. What it does not mean, however, is that I’m sitting back, scratching my head in confusion, and hoping to God that it would all make sense later – something CAPCOM doesn’t quite understand. If you find yourself thoroughly lost within the first five minutes, don’t worry, they’re simply flashbacks that are pivotal to the entire plot – they’ll make sense later.
Of course, given that the director, Ikuo Kuwana, was an animator in Neon Genesis Evangelion, the confusing beginning might have a second explanation. Despite such, the confusion with Eva was done with style – its quite a feat to reproduce, a bar that the staff of this movie couldn’t quite reach.
Music: (3/5) The music was actually not that bad. There were a few places where I was listening to the music and ignoring the movie – not quite sure if that’s more telling of the music or plot. However, a few good pieces does not an OST make – if it’s ever brought over to the US, I doubt I’ll buy it.
Characters: (1/5) Cliches ring true – the best fighter in the entire movie is a perverted old man. He’s also the best character there, too – everyone else died too soon, came in too late, or were rather weak in characterization to begin with. It’s rather hard to make the audience feel a lot toward the characters in a movie, but it was rather obvious that CAPCOM was relying less on good characterization, and more on the affection viewers might have acquired through the rest of the Street Fighter series. Either that, or they tried making them interesting and flopped spectacularly – I’m not sure which is worse, enthusiasm without talent or talent without caring.
Ending: (2/5) The best part about the ending was the elation that it was all over. No, seriously. The ending fell just about as flat as the rest of the series. I have to cut them some slack, though – Alpha Generations is the prequel to Street Fighter Alpha, and its always harder to write a movie when the ending has already been predetermined.
Subtitles: (2/5)Which came first – the subtitle or the dialogue? The most logical answer would be neither, they would come together. The wonderful timers of SF:AG didn’t necessarily agree with this philosophy, but neither could they agree on the right answer between eachother. So, obviously, they had a very long and involved turf war, including deadly ammunition such as nerf darts and rubber bands. The losses suffered by the post-it notes became so great that the two sides decided to hold a truce: for 80% of the movie, the dialogue and subtitles would appear together and the other 20% of screentime was split in half, with either the dialogue or subtitles coming before the other.
But, seriously, the lack of thoroughness appalls me. One quick run-through of the movie would have caught the timing mistakes,
Total: (13/30 –or– 2.17/5) All in all, Street Fighter: Alpha Generations made me ponder the wisdom of accepting a job without knowing the exact details. A lover of anime I am, but even I have my own personal preference. I would recommend this movie to those who are already fans of Street Fighter, and to those who are big fans of action/adventure and fighting anime, such as Dragon Ball Z. I wouldn’t, however, recommend this anime to lovers of other genres, like comedy, or those that feel characterization and plot are essential.
But, as I’ve said before, I’m not a fan of fighting-based anime. If you feel you must see it for yourself, go right ahead. However, I would strongly caution renting it or watching the copy of someone else to avoid investing both time and money into this movie. Trust me, you’ll probably thank me later.
