Streets of Rage

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***Streets of Rage*** is a 2021 American animated action film made using Plotagon by Sammy Knight. It is the fifth feature film made by Knight, following *Dead Trigger II* and is based upon Sega's video game of the same name. It is also his first Plotagon film to be presented in a 2.35:1 widescreen ratio. It is centered on three ex-police officers who do battle with a powerful criminal syndicate that has overthrown the entire city.

The film premiered on YouTube on March 13, 2021. It received mostly positive reviews, with praise going to the animation, action, humor, dialogue and characters. A sequel, titled *Streets of Rage 2*, was released on May 14, 2022, and a third film is currently in development.

## Plot

In 1990, Mayor Oswald Jackson of Wood Oak City was attacked by a mysterious man dressed entirely in black, but was saved by Police Chief Jarrett Barnet, who in his attempt to apprehend the man, was inadvertently foiled by three rookie police officers; Adam Hunter, Axel Stone, and Blaze Fielding; who have allowed the man to escape. The next morning, Mayor Jackson calls a meeting for all police officers to attend, telling of the man who attacked him the previous night. He and Chief Barnet give all of the officers, excluding the rookies, the mission of finding and arresting the attacker, alias Mr. X.

During the search, one of Mr. X's goons took control of a police helicopter and crashed it into the side of the mayor's office, killing the mayor. After fending off the S.W.A.T. team, Mr. X, leader of the syndicate, has control over the Wood Oak City government, including the police force. Adam and Axel found this out after catching an officer attempting to ransom Blaze. The officer gets put in a cell and Adam makes a bonsai plant for Blaze as a get-well gift. He also makes one for Axel as an apology, as he earlier asked Axel to take a criminal he knocked out to the police station and lost his temper when Axel didn't show up.

The homes of the three rookies get burned down by the syndicate's goons and they soon come to the unanimous decision that they must quit the force in order to stand up to the evil leader. Upon their resignation, they are picked up by two officers; Victor Shelby and Darien Rex; thinking that they will help them fight the syndicate, but Blaze soon finds out that they would have been turned in had they not escaped the police car by smashing a rear window with a crowbar from the back of the police car. After this escape, Shelby and Rex trick Chief Barnet into thinking that the rookies are working for the syndicate and he calls upon Marines General Ivan Petrov to assist him against the syndicate.

After a close encounter with Barnet and Petrov, the vigilantes start their ascent to the mayor's office. Down on the ground, Barnet and Petrov engage in a gunfight against the syndicate's thugs and Officer Rex launches a napalm at the ascending elevator, but the vigilantes have just reached the top floor and got into the building before the rocket hit the elevator, then get taken to Mr. X. He makes an offer to the vigilantes to be his bodyguard, which they refuse. Just as Mr. X was about to execute the vigilantes, Barnet and Petrov burst in to stop him, but Petrov gets killed and Barnet frees the vigilantes upon realization that they are not with the syndicate. With their combined efforts, Barnet, Axel, Adam, and Blaze defeat Mr. X by knocking him out the window.

For the defeat of Mr. X, the vigilantes are honored for their bravery and are given an offer to rejoin the police force, which they decline. During the end credits, Adam, Axel, and Blaze stare at the sunset and the peaceful city within its reach.

## Characters

Axel Stone - Blonde-haired ex-police officer, the glue that keeps the team together.

Blaze Fielding - Female rookie police officer, the brains of the team.

Adam Hunter - Boxing extraordinaire police officer, the more shrewd member of the team.

Police Chief Jarrett Barnet - Chief of the Wood Oak City Police who doubts the rookies at first.

Mr. X - A mysterious crime leader who takes over Wood Oak City

Mayor Oswald Jackson - Mayor of Wood Oak City, murdered by the syndicate in its takeover

General Ivan Petrov - General of the Marines and great friends with Chief Barnet

Victory Shelby & Darien Rex - Two corrupt police officers who attempted to frame the three vigilantes

## Production

After the successful premiere of *Dead Trigger II*, Knight announced the making of *Streets of Rage*, basing it upon a series of video games by Sega. The film was completed on January 25, 2021, and premiered on YouTube on March 13, 2021.

## Reception

### Critical response

Streets of Rage received mostly positive reviews. Out of 26 assessments on the like vs. dislike system, 96% of assessments were positive (25 likes and 1 dislike).

In a Discord chatroom, DBG Channel claims the film to be the best film that Knight has ever made, giving it a 9.4/10. Jackster Does Plotagon gives similar praise, saying, "This EXCEEDED my expectations. The story was engaging and well-paced and faithful enough to the original game, the humor was great, the animation was BRILLIANT, the action didn't disappoint, the voice acting was very good and this movie did A FANTASTIC job at giving these video game characters more personality and depth." Karen Agabekyan Production gave the film a 10/10, giving major praise to the acting, visual effects, script and music score. Rowan The Animator called the film "pretty good", but he also said in the live chat that the action scenes kind of made him feel a little bored. He gave the film a 7.9/10. HENRY THE COOL KID gave the film a 9/10, saying, "That was a good movie".

### Ban and censorship

On April 19, 2022, the film was banned in Russia for unknown reasons.

## Sequel

In August 2021, Sammy stated that a sequel to Streets of Rage, titled *Streets of Rage 2* was in development. After the premiere of *Life Expectancy*, the film has entered production and a preview was released the week after the premiere. It was completed on April 23, 2022, and premiered on YouTube on May 14.