David Dastmalchian’s Street Fighter Performance Has To Live Up To One Of Cinema’s Best Bad Movies

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I’m really curious about the new Street Fighter movie! It’s based on the video game, and honestly, it’s got a tough act to follow. The first movie is… well, it’s famously bad, but people still secretly love it – it only has an 11% rating on Rotten Tomatoes! Now, David Dastmalchian, who’s in this new one, has a lot to live up to if he wants to give us a performance as memorably awful as the original!

Its strange qualities and over-the-top humor have turned the film into a beloved cult hit, and it appears the new Street Fighter movie is taking inspiration from it. This puts David Dastmalchian in the challenging position of following in the footsteps of Raul Julia’s legendary portrayal of the character, but he seems well-suited for the role.

Over Twenty Years Later, Raul Julia’s Street Fighter Performance Is A Fan Favorite

Raul Julia’s performance in the poorly-received Street Fighter movie is wonderfully over-the-top, and it sets a high, humorous standard for the upcoming Street Fighter film in 2026. While Julia was a celebrated actor with many awards, he’s often fondly remembered for deliberately hamming it up in family-friendly movies.

Although many enjoyed Raúl Julia’s performance as Gomez in The Addams Family movies, it’s his role as M. Bison in Street Fighter that fans still remember most. As the main villain, M. Bison schemes to take over the world with outlandish plans that even the other villains eventually acknowledge.

Street Fighter walks a strange line between silly and over-the-top, mixing different moods throughout the film. It’s most enjoyable when the actors lean into the humor, and that’s exactly what Julia aims for with his portrayal of M. Bison – a character known for unpredictable behavior and exaggerated taunts.

What truly makes the character stand out is his ability to seamlessly switch between intense, bombastic moments – often while sporting rocket boots – and surprisingly calm, yet still funny, reactions, like when dismissing Chin-Li’s quest for revenge. Julia delivers this with impeccable comedic timing, always maintaining an underlying sense of danger.

Julia understands that Street Fighter can be playfully silly, and this fits with the movie’s other over-the-top villains who are mostly there for comedic effect. The new Street Fighter film seems to embrace this self-aware, exaggerated style, as hinted at by the trailer’s explosive action.

David Dastmalchian Is The Perfect New M. Bison

This new Street Fighter game appears to be leaning heavily into over-the-top humor. The trailer showcases a wildly energetic announcer voiced by Eric Andre, a character literally smashing a car with their bare hands, and a lot of chaotic action. A key moment reveals David Dastmalchian playing M. Bison, dramatically posing with his cape.

M. Bison isn’t the only villain in the movie, and the trailer hints that Akuma will be a powerful enemy. However, the way Dastmalchian appears in the trailer suggests he’ll play his character with a similar dramatic style to Julia.

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Justin Dastmalchian is quickly becoming one of the most captivating actors working in film today. He’s incredibly versatile, able to convincingly portray characters ranging from a man struggling with intense emotional pain to a talk show host facing a terrifying situation, and even a hilariously damaged supervillain who fights with polka dots.

Dastmalchian is excellent at capturing the right mood in his performances, which is why his casting as M. Bison is so promising. He reminds us of Julia’s skill in balancing intensity and restraint for perfect comedic effect. It will be interesting to see how Dastmalchian interprets and makes the iconic Street Fighter villain his own.

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2025-12-20 04:19