Beat-em-ups have been a staple of drunken bar crawls and childhood memories for a long time now. There’s something oddly hypnotic about the genre’s simplicity – walk right, punch things, grab food and improvised weapons, repeat. One of the best in its genre, the Streets of Rage franchise perfectly encapsulates everything that makes beat-em-ups so enjoyable: the amazing soundtrack, the colorful cast of characters, and the simple, ’80s-tinged setup of fighting the criminal mastermind Mr. X makes for a memorable experience. It could even work as a movie.
Speaking of which, Lionsgate recently announced an acquisition of Derek Kolstad’s spec script for a Streets of Rage movie produced by dj2 Entertainment and Escape Artists. You’d think a film based on a game where people punch each other would be hard to get wrong – but seeing as how Tekken, Double Dragon, and Street Fighter are all infamous for their meme-worthy quality, we might be in for another rough ride. Nonetheless, here’s everything we want to see from the upcoming Streets of Rage movie.
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An Animated Feature May Do Streets of Rage Justice
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Part of the appeal of Streets of Rage is just how stylish it is – the slick sprite art, the flashy character designs, and the fast-paced gameplay all come together to form something that makes a challenging but memorable experience. But sometimes, things that work in one visual don’t necessarily cross over into another. Multiple superhero franchises, for example, make significant alterations to character costumes in order to look more natural in motion. Sometimes characters get completely redesigned for the big screen due to impossible proportions or impractical features. Gamora from Guardians of the Galaxy is a recent example of this.
Will Streets of Rage be animated? Seeing as how dj2 Entertainment is involved, there’s a good chance it will be. The studio is working on a variety of upcoming video game adaptations, from the recently released Sonic the Hedgehog films to a mixture of live-action and animated versions of Tomb Raider and Ruiner. To try and bring Streets of Rage into the real world would be a monumental task, something that would demand far more effort to accurately replicate compared to just animating it.
The Right Stars for the Legendary Characters
While there isn’t an official cast list prepared yet, we can at least examine the characters in Streets of Rage and guess who would be best for each role.
The most prominent character in the series, Axel Stone, is a former cop ripped straight out of the ’80s, with slicked blonde hair, a taught headband, armored gloves, and blue jeans. If you squint hard enough, he’d almost look like a blonde Kurt Russel. Some fans have noticed that William Zabka of Cobra Kai fame would be a one-to-one match in appearance. It helps that he has some martial arts experience on top of that.
Next to Axel, making an appearance in every Streets of Rage game is Blaze Fielding. Another former cop who serves as a dance instructor, she teams up with Axel in order to put a stop to the rampant crime waves brought on by Mr. X. A colorful counterpart to Axel, Blaze is frequently seen in a blazer, red headband, and a red skirt with black gloves. A variety of people could theoretically play Blaze – from Halle Berry to Ana de Armas.
The main villain of the series, Mr. X, is a bulky, well-dressed crime lord bursting with equal parts charisma and malice. The slicked-back hair, the imposing appearance, and the physique of Mr. X would be a fantastic fit for Mickey Rourke, should he be interested in playing the role.
A Bustling NYC-Like Location
While the city itself isn’t a significant component of Streets of Rage, serving more as the backdrop for the action, the setting will no doubt play a major role in determining the look, feel, and mood of the accompanying film.
Wood Oak City, the setting for all the Streets of Rage games, is a loose stand in New York, from the neon-lit signage to the seedy underbelly. It takes a lot of inspiration from films like Escape From New York or The Warriors, even aping the colorful, coordinated gangs in the latter. Should the film go elsewhere, we may be able to get a deeper examination of the main characters outside the constant brawling.
Let’s hope that the film actually takes place in an NYC-like city. If you’ve seen Masters of the Universe, you’ve likely seen how budgetary concerns force sacrifices in scope and scale. Instead of taking place in the magical realm of Eternia, the film rips characters from the He-Man universe and places them in suburban California. How exciting. While Streets of Rage frequently jumps between different city environments, it’d be a shame to see a majority of it in isolated subways or generic building interiors.
A Relatable and Emotional Script
While we can’t exactly take a look at Kolstead’s script, we can make a few assumptions based on his previous films. Nobody and John Wick present similar scenarios of people returning to their former lives of violence and action, which ties directly into the story of Streets of Rage. Each film has a variety of unique action sequences that take advantage of the environments they’re set in, which can be utilized for the improvised weapons Streets of Rage is partially famous for.
Lastly, underneath the action is a relatable, emotional core – whether avenging a deceased animal in John Wick or defending beloved family members in Nobody. We can likely expect something similar to be applied to the protagonists of Streets of Rage.
Streets of Rage is looking to be an excellent addition to the upcoming slew of video game adaptations, joining the likes of Gears of War and Mortal Kombat.
