I decided to do a Double Feature on some movies of the past most that are ranging from Video Games, and Comics. I may touch on other genres but this is the perfect place to start, and I will use both Street Fighter and Double Dragon as my first entries.
So by watching these movies with the mind-set of a viewer. I loved Street Fighter because despite its flaws, the entertainment value was spot-on, and the action sequences were pretty good. Some character mythologies got mixed up (i.e. Balrog & Deejay) and other topics I won’t bother touching on such as Charlie and Blanka being a composite character.
The Director wanted to downplay the powers in this movie which considering all that was going on in this live action movie I’m ok with this decision.
Plus I’ll watch the animated movie if I want to see the real Street Fighter II material. The live action movie itself was entertaining and at least watchable.
Double Dragon on the other hand, man…It was ok if you didn’t bother thinking about the source material, and Billy (Scott Wolf) should be able to fight just as well as Jimmy (Mark Dacascos). Major changes such as Marian (Alyssa Milano) playing a dominant role instead of a damsel helped out the nature of the film because the Lee Bros did need to rely on her help.
The story surrounding the medallion as a McGuffin was a good centerpiece, I just got tired of Koga Shuko (Robert Patrick) always using the dragon soul medallion more so than the main characters although Billy Lee doesn’t count because he always had the dragon body medallion. Certain Mythos in the games did stand out when the Lee Bros fought against the Gang members in the Junk Yard, and when Evil Jimmy fought Billy.
Even the original arcade machine made a cameo appearance at the final battle before Jimmy Lee kicked it in.
These movies both came out in 1994, a year after the Super Mario Bros. Movie graced our screens with its presence, and of course in the 90s people didn’t seem to be too critical about things being on screen so it was a commendable effort. Both films have aged well, are watchable and entertaining for both the wrong and right reasons.
Video game movies were to be tested again as Mortal Kombat made its big screen debut in 1995.
So my next Double Feature is.
