In a violent, lawless city, the streets are dominated by a ruthless gang known as the Bloods. Led by a brutal killer named Slater, the gang rules with an iron fist, murdering anyone who gets in their way. Mikey and his friends operate outside these rules, getting into fights at every turn and causing trouble with all the wrong people. When Mikey’s peace-loving brother is killed, he discovers a new purpose in life — revenge. Mikey begins training his mind and body as he prepares for a bloody showdown with his toughest opponent yet.
Right from the outset, it’s fairly evident that ‘Arena Of The Street Fighter’ takes the term “action movie” a bit too literally. The film throws the viewer straight into a fight sequence, and that template more or less defines everything that follows. What little plot we get is weak and disjointed, with much of the dialogue sounding like it was ripped straight out of a bad soap opera. The acting is similarly below par, even allowing for the fact that most of the cast aren’t performing in their native language. The interactions carry an after-school-special awkwardness that makes the scenes more distracting than engaging.
Thankfully, a few of the action scenes are still worth the price of admission. Unsurprisingly, Möller is the standout performer, and he shows real potential to do something significant in the industry. His bouts showcase a good variety of techniques, and his kicking combinations only improve as the film progresses. Unfortunately, this is where the positives largely end. As surprising as it may sound, the main problem is that the film simply has too many action scenes. We’re bombarded with one pointless fight after another, to the point where you stop caring who wins or loses. There’s also too much inconsistency in quality — for every good fight, you have to sit through two or three mediocre or outright bad ones.
‘Arena Of The Street Fighter’ had the potential to be a solid showcase for martial arts action, but it’s too poorly cobbled together to truly entertain. The thin plot makes it impossible to become invested in the characters, and the sheer volume of fight scenes quickly becomes exhausting. It’s a shame, really, because there was enough talent involved to do a lot better.
