The new Street Fighter movie has its villain. The Hollywood Reporter announced Neal McDonough has been added to the cast of the video game adaptation as Bison, the elusive antagonist of the original game, before sequels decided there needed to be someone higher up than Bison (Akuma anyone?).
McDonough is an interesting choice and makes me wonder what direction the new movie will go with the character. The actor has taken on the role of the villain before, to a lesser degree in Minority Report as an officer just doing his job, and more prominently in Walking Tall with a little more flair (although, frankly, a bit over the top).
The last Street Fighter movie featured Raul Julia as Bison – one of the actors last roles before his death in 1994. Speaking of “over the top,” Julia’s Bison is almost the model definition of the phrase; the performance all other “over the top” performances should be judged by. Still, in a movie that stars Van Damme, what else would you expect?
Here’s hoping McDonough’s version of the character, who will face off with Chun-Li (Kristin Kreuk) as the primary protagonist, is a little more varied and nuanced in its performance. Truth be told, this is a video game adaptation from a fighting game – I don’t think anyone is expecting quality performances. Just give us a kick-ass battle between Kreuk and McDonough (without putting rocket boosters in his damn boots) and most of us will be happy.
