Not the worst, not the best. It’s just not a good movie. Mortal Kombat (2021) is a comprehensive reboot of previous productions in video games, film, television, comics, and beyond in a saga that was born in arcades and quickly became a contemporary cultural icon. The problem is how it reduces or destroys what you like about it to lead us to a tape that It does not contribute anything if you take away everything related to the fatality saga. It’s not that it doesn’t stand up, it’s that it falls under its own weight.
“The kingdom of Earth is in danger.” What a cliché gentleman to start a fantasy and martial arts film. The paradoxical thing about the matter is that the Mortal Kombat directed by Simon McQuoid he is fully aware of it. That’s not bad, for the record, since the first video games are overflowing with topics. They delight in them. But instead of retaining what it likes and what works, the film is hell-bent on reinventing the Netherrealm franchise and the first adaptation without getting anywhere in the attempt. Put to compare, it ends up being a caricature of these
Eye, what Mortal Kombat movie reboot off to a good start. Fine. The first bars show that there are no qualms about showing explicit violence on the big screen and they know how to establish a historical rivalry born in arcades. It starts off so well, in fact, His first mistake is not finishing after 12 minutes of footage. From there, the whole set goes downhill and without brakes. With salvageable elements, yes, and lots of Easter Eggs scattered among props and sets created for the occasion, but with nothing to really save it from its own shortcomings as a film and its misguided ambitions.
It is from the 13th minute mark when the story begins to twist giving a complete swerve: Warner and New Line delegate the weight of the film on the shoulders of a new protagonist created for the occasion. And even though the universe of Mortal Kombat lends himself wonderfully to experimenting with his background, to remove his roots, to pull heroes and villains out of hats and to break the limits of what has already been seen, it didn’t take long for us to come to the conclusion that the character of Cole Young, the axis on which the project pivots, can’t stand even half a round. Both within the film itself and facing the viewer.
Ninjas, fighters, soldiers and a guy with four arms
Done the law done the snare. According to the rules of the ancient gods, there is an indispensable sacred ritual for the kingdom of the outer world to take possession of a new world: its champions must defeat in a bullfight, Mortal Kombat, to the best warriors in ten consecutive editions.
In the case of the invasion of the world by the kingdom of Earth, things are quite complicated for the locals, since they have not only been defeated nine times, but also the evil sorcerer Shang Tsung (played by Chin Han) is dedicated to killing the best candidates before anything is celebrated. But, to be honest, their current champions are a real drama. How much less.
We have Jax (played by Mehcad Brooks), who is indisposed – he is completely unconscious and both arms were amputated – after a run-in with Sub-Zero, one of the hitmen from the outside world. we also have Sonya Blade (Jessica McNamee), but it doesn’t really count: to participate you have to have a dragonmark and you don’t. Minor details, of course.
special mention to Kano (Josh Lawson) the criminal without honor or manners who dedicates himself to touching the noses of everyone else and, despite this, the only one who seems to have understood the scathing thug tone and the raw essence of the video game saga of Mortal Kombat. Kano should be the example of everything that is not right and achieves just the opposite. What’s more, in the film that honor of disengaging and screwing up is delegated to its protagonist Cole Young (played by Lewis Tan), a mediocre Mixed Martial Arts fighter created for the occasion and, by far, the weakest link in a film that is far from good.
Young spends half of the footage being shrunk, pummeled, or overprotected. In this film he is the chosen among the chosen and that makes him the central character of the plot. That, and his dragon mark, which also comes with an extra: its bearers can awaken a gift that is born from his soul and grants them a superpower. In the case of our savior, it is an armor in which the more you hit him, the stronger he becomes. So any!
How did Young get his dragon mark? Basically, because he is the descendant of the last great Mortal Kombat fighter on Earth: the ninja Hanzo Hasashi. A powerful warrior turned into a being of pure revenge waiting for his chance to return from hell to avenge his family. Neither as a human, nor as a demon, but as a spirit of vengeance called Scorpion.
Reminding us, in the process, that the only thing that works well about the movie is what it borrows from the video games and why. Not taking advantage of strong points such as the appearance of a Goro, a powerful four-armed enemy, who, like the bulk of Shang Tsung’s lackeys, is relegated to being little less than a thug who provides presence, a few minutes on screen and little else.
Being as a whole the greatest reflection of the big problem: the failures of the reboot of Mortal Kombat they have nothing to do with being a good or bad adaptation of the source material. Because, for not having, you don’t even get to celebrate Mortal Kombat.
Mortal Kombat, neither tournament nor milk. well dammit yeah
Let’s be fair, there are two warrior monks that are completely in line with what one expects from a brutal martial arts movie and, by extension, an adaptation of Mortal Kombat. The very late appearances of Liu Kang and Kung Lao, with their on-screen performance and characterization, evidence everything that is missing and missed during the film for the first almost 50 minutes. That they are wasted secondary shows how much has been lost in giving the whole a direction.
And despite this, and what it says on the poster, the main event is never held: everything that happened is a skirmish perpetrated by Shang Tsung to kill the chosen ones -as if they were a threat- before the start of the fight. competition. Channeling (badly) the events to a first video game with arbitrary changes that lead us nowhere and contributions that dilute the spirit of video games.
Don’t get me wrong: There’s a lot of fighting in the McQuoid movie. Encounters, mostly forced or absurd, in which the choreographies are closer to action for the small screen shot on steadycam than to the martial arts movies that inspired the classic and current saga. In fact, you can’t blame the actors for not being in shape: despite the fact that Cole Young is a nonsensical character, Lewis Tan himself did all his action scenes without doubles or aids.
And not only that: Max Huang, who plays Kung Lao, was a member of Jackie Chan’s stunt team, documented himself from the first Mortal Kombat film shot (the best) and contributed his own material to the choreographies to improve their performances. scenes and make them more faithful to the spectacle of video games. The result and the contrast with the rest of the film is very noticeable.
Does that mean there is a detachment from the source material? About. The development of the story complies, but the main axes that move it are disastrous. There is some fanservice shared between one scene and another. You look on a wall and there is a graffiti with the sequence to perform a special move. You review the board in Sonya Blade’s office and you find nods to the saga and its characters. Even Kano dares to steal Shinnok’s amulet. And yet, one thing does not make up for the other.
There are fatalities. more would be missing More than half of the combats that we are shown in the film end in one of these lethal finishes. They are brutal and bloodthirsty and most of them know how to adapt that idea of impressing with violence that gets out of hand to the cinematographic format. Too bad everything that happens leading up to them doesn’t make it that grand climax, but more of a wild resolution before moving on to something else. At least Kano does the job for him: to be that bastard who doesn’t give a damn and serves as comic relief.
After the opening scene of Mortal Kombat it is very easy to detect where and why this reformulation of the fatality saga fails. Not being the worst movie ever made (that dubious honor belongs to the shaming fest of John R. Leonetti’s Mortal Kombat: Annihilation) doesn’t sufficiently cushion its flaws either.
VidaExtra’s opinion
The film reboot of Mortal Kombat It lasts almost two hours in which there is a lot of combat, a lot of violence and lots of elements typical of video games. Your problem is that Fails as a martial arts movie and, by extension, all use made of the Netherrealm saga is superficial. Staying in a kind of strange limbo in which the only resources that keep it afloat are the less used characters on screen and the dubious privilege of not being the worst production based on the franchise.
That, in addition, the door is left open to a direct sequel in the final bars does not end up playing in its favor either.
There have been a lot of adaptations of Mortal Kombat in the format of series and feature films. Some exceptionally interesting, such as the impeccable film of Paul W.S. Anderson or the webseries of Mortal Kombat: Legacy. Others sought to bring the saga to a wider audience to the point where it was even made into a cartoon series. McQuoid’s movie plays more into this second league, looking to build on that extra boost from a wildly successful Mortal Kombat 11 alongside the new saga of animated movies. But of course, intentions are one thing and results are another.
Don’t get me wrong: it is not a question of fidelity. The saga and the characters have a pull and lend themselves wonderfully to being reinvented. A year before its premiere we were able to see Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion’s Revenge, a Warner Animation feature film with which McQuoid’s film shares most of the key premises and characters. And despite not being a great production, when comparing one with another the cartoons reveal this much more ambitious initiative.
It is often said that the sum of the factors does not alter the result. Mortal Kombat movie, by McQuoid has the background, the characters, the premise, the ultraviolence and even the necessary resources to offer something good. And yet, he stumbles on the dumbest thing: subtracting moments of glory, good fights and developing a thirst for revenge for Kano, Liu Kang or Scorpion. Elements that should be the fuel of the film. Instead, he prefers to indulge in his own insubstantial contributions.
And even though the Simon McQuoid’s Mortal Kombat he saves himself from being considered the worst movie based on the cult video game, he gives himself another crown just as deserved and not much better: It is the worst reboot of the fatality saga.
