What does the M. stand for in M. Bison?

Originally, it was supposed to stand for Mike but my theory is that it stands for Marvelous because how else can you describe Raul Julia’s performance as the villain of Street Fighter?  Julia was dying of stomach cancer when he played Bison, a condition reflected by his gaunt appearance.  But Julia still obviously threw himself into every scene, delivering every melodramatic line as if it was the most important piece of dialogue that he had ever been trusted with delivering.  As a film, Street Fighter is an overedited mess that features one of Jean-Claude Van Damme’s worst performances.  Raul Julia saves it, though.  He gets some of the worst lines and transforms them into the best lines through sheer determination.  That man could have read the phone book and made it interesting.

Jean-Claude Van Damme is Col. Guile in this early video game adaptation.  This isn’t one of Van Damme’s better performances.  He doesn’t really play the Guile from the game.  Instead, he’s just Van Damme with a blue beret and an American flag on his bicep.  Far better are Damian Chapa as Ken and Bryon Mann as Ryu, even though neither gets to do as much as a fan of the game would want them to.  Ming-Na Wen is a promising Chun Li but, instead of focusing on her fighting skill, the movie gets bogged down in trying to set her up for a sequel that would never come.  Are you a fan of Cammy?  Don’t get excited because all Kylie Minogue does is ask Guile if he’s okay.  I did like Wes Studi as Sagat and Gregg Rainwater and Peter Tuiasosopo as T. Hawk and Honda but it still feels like only Raul Julia gives a performance that can compete with the video game version of his character.

There were four editors credited for Street Fighter and maybe that explains why the fights are a mess and the plot is impossible to follow.  It’s a video game adaptation and I don’t demand much but I would like to know who is winning each fight.  The film’s visual scheme, meant to duplicate the look of the game, showed some promise but the editing gave the movie a frantic feel that made it difficult to really appreciate the production design.

There’s never really been a good Street Fighter film but I still think it could happen with the right cast and crew.  If Mortal Kombat could (eventually) be turned into a decent movie, why not Street Fighter?  I still don’t think anyone will ever top Raul Julia as M. Bison, though.  Raul Julia made you believe in Pax Bisonica!

“And peace will reign and all humanity will bow to me in humble gratitude.” — M. Bison