How to Watch: Right now in theaters, sometime later in HBO MAX
Starring: Lewis Tan, Jessica McNamee, Josh Lawson, Joe Taslim
Director: Simon McQuoid
Writer: Greg Russo, Dave Callaham, Oren Uziel
Runtime: 1 hour 50 minutes
Rating: R
Release Date: 4/23/2021
Style: Martial Arts Action, Video game movie, Adventure, Fantasy
More information on this movie can be found on its IMDB page.
Mortal Kombat
I doubt there’s any gamer alive who doesn’t know Mortal Kombat, probably the same goes for martial artists. And the intersection between those two groups is far from an empty set. What I’m trying to say is a lot of people who actually practice martial arts were probably waiting for this movie to come out. The trailer is awesome, the cast includes people like Joe Taslim (Warrior, The Raid), Tadanobu Asano (Thor: Ragnarok, Mongol) and Lewis Tan (Into the Badlands, Wu Assassins). Of course, we cannot forget Hiroyuki Sanada (Ninja in the Dragon’s Den, The Last Samurai). Suffice it to say the community was hyped (or at least I was). So without further ado let us dive into what the final product was like. I’ll try to keep it as spoiler free as possible.
Overview
The basic plot of the movie is the same as the game. Earth is in danger from an invasion by the forces of Outworld, having lost nine Mortal Kombat tournaments in a row. We’re one loss away from being annexed by the forces of Shang-Tsung. Our only hope lies in the chosen fighters who bear the mark of the Mortal Kombat (a burn mark that looks like the game logo). The film stars Lewis Tan as Cole Young a pro MMA fighter who bears the mark and is targeted by the ninja assassin Sub-Zero (played by Joe Taslim). Shortly afterwards we meet the rest of our cast of champions from Earth and the challenges they will face to save us.
Movie Review: 6/10
The Good
It’s hard to review a movie like this without spoiling much. The story is quite decent, it’s a twist on the known narrative from the games. The focus of the film is on Cole Young who’s an original character. Completely unaware of what’s coming, he’s had the mark since birth and doesn’t know what it means until he meets the other characters. Cole works as a point of view character for people not so familiar with the games. Besides Cole the film includes Sonya, Jax, Kano and a plethora of characters from the series. Apart from them, the only characters who stand out are Bi-Han/Sub-Zero and Hiroyuki Sanada as Hanzo Hasashi/Scorpion. Storywise, at least for me, the most interesting part is that the mark is what allows champions to unlock their powers. So it’s not that some random humans can throw fireballs and stuff like that, only the chosen ones.
Speaking of fireballs, the visual effects are quite good. The not quite human characters look very real (at least some), and the special powers too. The characters actually do the stuff from the games. From Sub-Zero freezing people and/or using ice blades to Scorpion’s hellfire powers and Shang-Tsung’s soul sucking.
The Bad
Why introduce a completely new character in the first is place? I really like Lewis Tan and his portrayal of Cole is great. If the plan was to introduce the viewers slowly to the world of Mortal Kombat I get it but it doesn’t quite work. We meet A LOT of characters from both sides, which is nice but ends up being just eye candy. As I said few of the characters stand out, most barely get a line and even fewer get any development. The choice of characters is a bit strange. The good characters are from the first two games, while the bad guys include some from more recent games. To sum up, a lot of characters who barely do anything aside from fighting each other and a nice hero’s journey that we’ve already seen in better movies. The use of key phrases from the games like “Fatality”, “Finish Him” and the like would be a nice nod to the franchise. Except that they are used in a very obvious way that feels artificial and forced. Almost like someone said they had to include them and they were added at the last moment.
Martial Arts Review: 7/10
The Good
In general the fights are pretty good. The initial fight between Hanzo and the Lin Kuei ninjas is just awesome. Great use of the kunai and the rope which goes with the character, but Sanada does a great job all in all. Joe Taslim on his part is also as good as he always is (I love him in Warrior) but in this case the visual effects, him using his ice powers and all, combine perfectly Lewis Tan’s fights are also quite good, his MMA fight looks pretty much like a real one. His final fight with a character I won’t spoil is right on point. There’s a few other moments with other characters too but those are the highlights.
The Bad
Those are the most memorable fights and that’s part of the problem. For a movie that should be centered on fights they are not overall that good. Granted the need to have a lot of characters, some not quite human, and special powers make it all more difficult. So a lot of characters means a lot of fights, but less screen time for each one. Less screen time means you can’t really show the best choreography. Basically, quantity not quality.
Overall Rating and Review: 6.5/10
As video game adaptations go, Mortal Kombat is a decent one. Not the best but definitely far from the worst. The film ends with some plot hooks dangling and a hint of what they might do in the next one if it happens. I really don’t know if that’s going to happen. The highlight of the movie is the main cast but the story and the action don’t quite go along. That’s why I give it a six out of ten. If they make a second one I hope they fix the issues this one had.
Have you seen it? What did you think of it? Let me know in the comments section.
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