Sara Bareilles and Street Fighter

My wife and I went to a Sara Bareilles concert in the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood. She has some hit songs like “Love Song,” “She Used to be Mine” and “Brave.” I have heard a few songs of hers on the radio but was otherwise indifferent to her, but my wife is a big fan. The artistry and stage production was beautiful with a curtain that became an overhanging tent that would float above the stage. The stage itself had various lights and structures that had lights as well, so the artistry was top-notch. Sara Bareilles put on a good show and made a big effort to get the audience involved. She is also pretty witty and comical. However, she did get political at one point of the show, and for me, whether it is television, movies, comedy and other forms of entertainment, I am just not a fan of that unless I know that it is coming beforehand. Thankfully, it was a small part of the concert. She explored the concept of ‘grief’ in her latest music and even made a hotline where people can call in to talk about their grief, and she did play some of those calls during the concert. The pace of the concert was steady but was higher energy near the end. Overall, it was a good show.

My wife and I also watched the latest Street Fighter movie. I grew up playing Street Fighter II when there were still arcade machines in liquor stores and 7-Elevens. I played a little in the arcades when I had money, but I played it the most on the SNES and got Super Street Fighter II on the SNES for my birthday when I was a kid. I played other itinerations of Street Fighter as well like X-Men vs. Street Fighter, Marvel vs Capcom, Street Fighter Alpha, and others. I also watched the Animated movie multiple times, own the Street Fighter II V anime series, watched the American cartoon series and other Street Fighter media, so I am intimately familiar with the Street Fighter franchise.

Admittedly, I was greatly looking forward to this movie when I first saw the trailer. After watching the movie, I enjoyed it quite a bit, but it definitely has its flaws. For the most part, the casting was really well-done, but I was not a fan of David Dastmalchian’s M. Bison. He simply lacked the build or any sort of intimidation, and it seemed like they modeled this M. Bison based on Raul Julia’s M. Bison, and that just cannot be replicated. I get that this was meant to be campy and not serious, but there were moments where they probably could have gone a more serious route and made certain scenes better. The story is all over the place, and some of the edits were simply too sudden. Certain things like Vega vs. Guile happened off-screen, and it just seemed like a lot was left on the cutting room floor. The 2D hand drawn animations interspersed throughout the movie were some of the best things in the movie, and they were played seriously. The box office suggests that while it got number one for the week, it may not make a profit, and at best, it will just break even, so any chance of a sequel is slim despite the fact that the movie paves the way for a sequel. I hope that it does well, nonetheless.