14 DAY TRIAL // The Assassin's Fist live-action series, inspired by the Street Fighter brawling game from Capcom, is out as promised, and it looks surprisingly good.
Live-action adaptations of video games have been traditionally cringe-worthy at best, but the crowdfunded effort behind Assassin's Fist is a very competent rendition of the beginnings of the Street Fighter storyline.
The Assassin's Fist series focuses on the early days of Ryu and Ken, the Street Fighter franchise's main combatants, taking viewers through their long and arduous training at the hands of master Gouken and revealing the foundation of their strong brotherly bond.
The series of short films is written and directed by Joey Ansah, who also plays the role of Akuma, and who is best known for his role in The Bourne Utimatum, for the fight scene with Matt Damon that got him nominated for an MTV Film Award in the Best Fight category.
His love for martial arts and desire to bring to life the potential of the Street Fighter series resulted in one of the fandom's ultimate creations. With a great cast, a great story and a thrilling and spectacular delivery, the Assassin's Fist series is one of the best fan-made renditions of a popular video game story.
The series launched on May 23 on YouTube's Machinima channel, telling the story of how Ken and Ryu became almost synonymous with Street Fighter, in an epic story arc spread over 12 episodes that comprise the definitive coming of age story of both combatants.
The story itself has seen many incarnations throughout time, in various media formats such as comics and anime, but never has it been re-enacted to this scale in live-action. It follows two parallel threads, one set in the 1950s, showing Gotetsu, Sayaka and Goki, and the other set in the present and showcasing the main events of the tale of Ryu and Ken's training under master Goken.
The story has all the hallmarks of great classics, from the conflict between father and son and brother against brother, to love triangles, banishment, redeeming and rebirth. Ken is struggling with his abandonment issues and the estrangement from his father, while Ryu is holding back, all the time, and the series gradually reveals the motivation of the characters within, showing them in various dramatic situations that they have to overcome in order to grow to maturity.
In short, the Assassin's Fist series, apart from being infused with rich lore elements that even hardcore fans can learn something from, also benefits from a spectacular delivery and tackles universal themes that even non-fans can enjoy.
