Director: Simon McQuoid
Notable Cast: Lewis Tan, Jessica McNamee, Josh Lawson,
Mehcad Brooks, Joe Taslim, Hiroyuki Sanada, Tadanobu Asano, Matilda Kimber, Laura
Brent, Chin Han, Ludi Lin, Max Huang, Sisi Stringer, Mel Jarnson, Nathan Jones
Mortal Kombat has a rich history, whether people like
to admit it or not. Not only from the ever-expanding series of games that
ballooned to include all kinds of crazy shit from fighting tournaments to
action-adventure platformers, but to the overall pop cultural impact that was
left in the wake of its controversial birth. There have already been two live-action films, a handful of TV shows, and a few animated stories. This is IP
with a lot of fans, a lot of skeptics, and a lot of expectations when it comes
to a new live-action film being crafted with “the fans'' in mind.
For 2021’s Mortal Kombat, produced by genre auteur
turned populist icon James Wan and directed by Simon McQuoid of - let me check
my notes - nothing, the key was finding a balance between everyone’s
expectations. A relatively daft task, if we are all being honest with
ourselves. Partner that with the insane combination of being one of the first
major films to drop into theaters as they start to reopen in the wake of a
still ongoing pandemic, and this film was already riding a very tight line even
before its release.
Much of the hype surrounding Mortal Kombat was
focused on its violence and the fight sequences - not a bad marketing choice
for a film spawned from a fighting game franchise, and in many regards it
delivers on those aspects. When the fights occur, they are bloody fun to watch.
The opening sequence in 1600s Japan sees the assassination of a family man
ninja, played by the expertly casted choice in Hiroyuki Sanada, at the hands of
his rival Bi-Han, also the expertly casted Joe Taslim, and its finale sees the
same two rivals come to blows again with more supernatural powers as Scorpion
and Sub-Zero. Those two sequences are easily the best parts of the film and whenever the film is focused on its fight elements then it’s working its best magic. Not
all of the fights are equal as many heavily rely on visual effects - including
an invisible Reptile battle and Lui Kang gets to just spin around as he tries
to stop fan-favorite Kabal, but even those end up being silly and engaging
enough to warrant some appreciation. To the little girl in my theater who
cheered at every fatality and danced to the modern dance remixes of the now
classic Mortal Kombat ‘95 music, it was pure bliss. Even when the film
felt overly edited or oddly paced in these moments, there was still Kung Lao
riding a woman with bat wings like a surfboard into his spinning bladed hat,
slicing her in half, and then touting to the audience with a winking attitude,
“Flawless victory.” I can accept that, warts and all.
Of course, that means the major issue that plagues Mortal
Kombat is its insistence on overcomplicating the plot. It heavily attempts
to ride the previously mentioned line between a serious reboot of the film
series and delivering on the fan-favorite lines and gags of the games and it often
falters in doing so. The film’s plot focuses on the villains of Outworld, an
evil dimension, attempting to assassinate all of Earth’s greatest - or randomly
chosen - warriors before a great tournament. The story mostly follows the new
to the IP character Cole, played by up-and-coming star Lewis Tan, as he
stumbles into the characters Jax and Sonya on their quest to find all of the
best fighters marked with a dragon birthmark. This leads them to the rest of
the cast at Raiden’s temple - somewhere else I guess - where the evil Shang
Tsung then tries to kill them all.
Just to be clear, the film never even gets to the titular
tournament that the games were based on. If anything, this departure is
refreshing to a degree that we don’t get ANOTHER tournament-focused martial
arts film, but it also suffers from trying to set up a much larger franchise.
The lore that Mortal Kombat is based on is now almost 30 years deep, but
this film easily would have benefited from “less is more.” It’s throwing fan-favorite characters at the screen, hoping they stick, and not giving them a lot
to do outside of fight each other - which, to be fair, is what most people want
from the film.
Mortal Kombat is simply a mixed bag. The CGI is
relatively hit or miss, particularly when it comes to the increased use of
gore, and the performances range from unmemorable to screen devouring. If it’s
regarding Kano, it’s both. However, when the film is working - it’s gorgeous.
The opening 20 minutes and final 20 minutes is pure cinematic fantasy in the
best way and when the film finds the balance it’s striving for - one can see
exactly why this reboot exists.
With its open ending and intention for more films in its
writing and development, let’s hope that the next installment doesn’t hesitate
to just lean into the absurdity. I’d give my heart (and spine) to that.
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