Mortal Kombat (2021)

[Citizen87645]

Title: Mortal Kombat (2021)

Tagline: Get over here.

Genre: Fantasy, Action, Adventure, Science Fiction, Thriller

Director: Simon McQuoid

Cast: Lewis Tan, Jessica McNamee, Josh Lawson, Tadanobu Asano, Mehcad Brooks, Ludi Lin, Ng Chin Han, Joe Taslim, Hiroyuki Sanada, Max Huang, Sisi Stringer, Matilda Kimber, Laura Brent, Melanie Jarnson, Nathan Jones, Daniel Nelson, Bingchen Ye, Ian Streetz, Yukiko Shinohara, Ren Miyagawa, Damon Herriman, Angus Sampson, David Field, Mia Hall, Elissa Cadwell, Mike Foenander, Michael Coward, Garreth Hadfield

Release: 2021-04-07

Runtime: 110

Plot: Washed-up MMA fighter Cole Young, unaware of his heritage, and hunted by Emperor Shang Tsung's best warrior, Sub-Zero, seeks out and trains with Earth's greatest champions as he prepares to stand against the enemies of Outworld in a high stakes battle for the universe.

Should I be surprised or not surprised there was not a thread about this movie?

 

[DavidJ]

I was actually looking for a thread about it last night.

 

[Citizen87645]

I've been watching it in fits and starts, in part because I have kids under 6 years old and the oldest already was introduced to the F-word from Mr. Snyder's Justice League, but also because...it's kind of mediocre, but I am also interested enough to try to finish it. So far, the opening scene is the best part of the movie because of Hiroyuki Sanada.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I've been meaning to watch this movie since last Friday on HBO Max, but right now I'm caught in watching a bunch of classic westerns. I hope to watch this movie this coming weekend.

 

[Patrick Sun]

It was mostly mediocre.

 

[Robert Crawford]

It was mostly mediocre.

I figured that, but I'm going to watch it anyway.

 

[WinstonCely]

I actually really enjoyed it, granted I had no anticipation of it rising above a B movie, and this was definitely a B movie. That being said, I also felt like they finally got a Mortal Kombat movie right. Not to mention the ridiculous over-the-top violence was a blast... if you're into that kind of stuff.

 

[DavidJ]

It was mostly mediocre.

I agree, Patrick. But still, I sort of enjoyed watching it.

 

[Citizen87645]

I guess my problem is that it's mediocre on top of the fact I never got into the game, so even seeing the various characters in their live action manifestations does nothing for me.

 

[Tommy R]

Was never familiar with the video games, but I liked the 1995 movie back in the day. I’m sure it probably doesn’t hold up today, but I’m a little curious to see this new one anyways. Not in a rush to catch it, but I’ll see if I have time this weekend.

 

[Citizen87645]

Finally finished it. The last 40 minutes were more entertaining than most of what came before it.

 

[Tino]

I enjoyed it. Mindless gory entertainment.

 

[Vsndesigns]

Finally got a chance to watch it today and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I enjoyed playing Mortal Combat on a 4 person arcade game at the Video Arcade which almost always had someone playing in it ot at least someone was quick to join as soon as I plucked a quarter into it. So what did I think of the movie? I feel it had all the right notes and paid homage to the original characters while adding the obligatory twists to fill in the background characteristics of the action figures which may or may not actually fit together. Bottom line, I enjoyed it and wouldnt hesitate to watch it again.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I enjoyed it. Mindless gory entertainment.

The same here! I was laughing out loud at some of the mindless gore.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

"MK" isn't a good movie but it offers sporadic entertainment - very sporadic, but I guess that's better than a kick in the head.

It starts pretty well, actually. Sure, the "feudal Japan" theme is played-out, but the opening fights are fairly exciting and they give the movie a good opening.

After that? Meh. I get that the movie needs to introduce a lot of characters and provide some semblance of backstory, but it feels like it wastes too much time since the target audience simply doesn't care. Give us the most basic of basics and get to the violence!

The 2021 "MK" certainly does that better than the 1990s version. Has a movie studio ever made a decision dumber than the choice to limit the 1990s film to "PG-13"? Yes, unquestionably, but that was still an idiotic restriction to place on a movie based on a videogame famous mainly due to its graphic violence.

A "Mortal Kombat" movie without extreme gore is like a porn movie where no one does anything more than kiss and cuddle. It defeats the purpose.

So the 2021 "MK" certainly corrects that error. I wouldn't even call the violence "mindless" because it suits the original game, and as I noted, why bother to adapt "MK" if you don't offer its original selling point?

I admit I'm not sure why the 2021 movie created a new character to be the focal point. The videogame universe includes a broad array of characters so why bother to make up Cole for the film? Why not just use one of the existing combatants?

Ultimately, there's not much of a movie here, as we find little more than trite character beats cobbled around a loose plot and graphic violence. Still, that represents the source and the action seems lively enough often enough to make the movie watchable.

Not good, but not terrible either.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

Oh, continuity choice that befuddled me:

Spoiler

Sub-Zero freezes Hanzo's wife/kid and apparently this kills them immediately.

Sub-Zero freezes Cole's wife/kid and apparently they're just in suspended animation for a moderately extended amount of time.

Huh?

 

[Jeff Cooper]

 

[John_Bilbrey]

We watched it and enjoyed it. If you're a fan of the games, you'll enjoy it. Outside of that, not so much.

Side note:

Spoiler: SPOILER

Kano steals the show.

 

[DavidJ]

Yes,

Spoiler: SPOILER

he did,

John.

 

[DavidJ]

The creation of Cole for the movie was completely unnecessary. I like how the Pitch Meeting video above covered this point. That said, I didn't dislike his character, but I wonder if better more interesting choices could've been made.