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DVD Review: Fatal Fury : The Motion Picture |
This is a sort of bitter-sweet review for me, as it marks my last review here at HigherVoltage.Net as a staffer. Over the past year, my interest in video games has wained, so much in fact, that I feel that my place would be better suited to someone still burning with passion for the hobby, especially in this particular genre which requires dedication to enjoy and maintain interest. Fighting games have given me good times to be sure, but what I’m really going to take with me, is the absolutely memorable characters and moments that were often short and sweet, but carrying a weird dynamism and style hardly seen in any other genre of games.
So it is only appropriate that I review not a game, but a movie, showcasing these very characters that have endured, I think, even past the popularity of their own titles, which continue to wow many to this day. A contemporary, underground, hardcore and Fag-fueled mythos. SNK created many memorable characters over time, but I think its safe to say the ones that stood head over shoulders were without a doubt, the cast of Fatal Fury. Here lies my final review of the trilogy: Fatal Fury: The Motion Picture.
An epic adventure for the crew marks their final animated feature. It’s not based on any particular game, instead situating itself between Fatal Fury 2 and 3 (the games), and the sequel of the direct-to-Video feature, The New Battle. The movie came out before the third game arrived, so it was up to the makers to craft an original story with the cast, yet stay within the boundaries of the story SNK already established. In that respect, I think they did a smashing job, not without its faults, but if I may say so, it allows injecting a little fresh blood and ideas.
Take for example the overall feel of the movie. The previous movies fell into the constraints set by the loose story set in the games, so an original movie allows them to be in more diverse situations not necessarily following the “Martial Arts Tournament†or “Revenge/Duel†motif. This time around, the Wolves take part in a much-more Saturday morning serial sort of story – a race for the “artifact” plot. You’re more than likely to be familiar with the Indiana Jones movies, so you know the score. A villain and his goons are hot on the trail of a mystical artifact that holds untold powers, so its up to our gang of heroes to beat him to it, and save the world from certain doom. As far as these kinds of movies go, the predicatable plots often work so long as they’re done right, and in this case everything meshes together nicely. Its an anime martial-arts flavoured B-Movie machine. Sounds about right to me.
The Armour of Mars is the artifact. The villains are new-comers: Laocorn and his three unique goons (were it a game, replace goons with “sub-bosses”). One is honourable and believes in a fair fight, the other is a narcissistic make-up wearing fag and the third a chick in low-cut leather. Laocorn himself is a descendant of the original wearer of the armour, so he’s cursed to seek out its six pieces and wreak havoc. But when his sister Sulia gets wind of his nefarious ambitions, she’s off to track down the only guy that can help her stop him – Terry Bogard! Naturally, this Lone Wolf has a few good friends despite his nick-name, in the form of his chivalrous ninja brother Andy, dual-independent suspension Mai Shiranui and the ever loud, frothing with naked intensity Joe fucking Higashi.
What follows is an anime of typical visual style for the time frame it came out in, looking aged, but still holding up. The film draws its unique look from the character designs themselves, and places them in a world looking every bit like ours, with famous world locations, throwing in every now and then an unearthed temple, haunting castle and every other location required of a good-hearted B-movie script. Ah but, don’t misunderstand me, its far from ordinary. This one has that martial-arts flair, combined with the projectile madness of a good fighter. And what fights and lights! The Fatal Fury movie has some great, fun skirmishes to watch, and even occasionally include awkwardly drawn but fluid one-take style shots that mix up the action. The film mixes the brawls with the trademark moves of every character, from a glowing blue Burn Knuckle to a fearsome Power Geyser that levels the roof of a parking garage. Its what makes the battles stray from monotonous slug-fests to a more fantastical anime feel. All of the battles and their trademark moves are handled well in that the characters never become self-aware that they’re throwing these explosive punches and projectiles everywhere. Its normal. Its the SNK universe, this shit is as normal as a eye-patched warlord travelling overseas with a black panther as a pet and air-craft carrier as his base of operations. And I love that.
In that sense, the directors knew how to handle the material. The movie never goes campy, although there are plenty of cornball jokes from everyone’s favourite loudmouth. A smooth pacing interspersed with action beats builds up to a grandiose fight which counts as one of my favourite final battles. A rousing (yet slightly muted) score gives the events melodrama, and the final fight with Laocorn grows into a massive slugfest.
Finally, as just a little side note, is what I’d assume was either a set-up for a future instalment or a side-story to play-up Geese Howard’s eventual return (for both the games and movies I suppose) is himself launching a gargantuan Raging Storm. A priceless scene for us geeks.
Seeing this movie again brought back some fun memories and to me feels like a nostalgic moment frozen in time. I suppose that on the bottom shelves of rental stores around the globe are copies of this movie, waiting there like little time capsules for some fighting game aficionados. It reeks of the animes, characters and games that we love, so along the road its the kind of flick we’d like to revisit every now and then. Like a Christmas movie we forcibly watch every year to remind ourselves what its all about.
