Mortal Kombat Movie Review

2021 has brought us a lot of movies so far, some good, some bad. It's safe to say that most of us didn't have the highest of hopes for Mortal Kombat, seeing as videogame movies always seem to let us down in one way or another. I had hoped this one might be the one that didn't let us down. When the movie was announced, I was nervous. When the first trailer dropped, I was hopeful. I've been a fan of the game franchise since it first came out. My brother and I searched everywhere for how to input the now-famous blood code so that we could get the game as it was intended to be played. I was probably way too young to play a game like that but I wanted the real experience. I was not disappointed. So, I've been a fan of Mortal Kombat for... oh good god the franchise will turn 30 soon. The first two films were, well, they were films. The film from 1995 wasn't terrible, in my eyes. The sequel? It qualifies as a film. How did 2021's new take on the game franchise turn out? If you ask me, it's a huge step up from the first two, even if it was severely lacking in Johnny Cage.

As I said, when the movie was first announced, I was immediately nervous. Most may only know the franchise in its base form, a fighting game with not much else. Mortal Kombat X had a great and very cinematic story mode that I fell in love with. It expanded on a lot of the lore, and I think it helped many people realize that the game HAD a lot of lore. Really, there's a lot going on in the MK world. There's a lot to work with but the film from 1995 and its sequel didn't really explore any of it.

Due to the habit of whitewashing, I immediately checked the cast for the film and found myself pleasantly surprised. Raiden was going to be Asian for the first time on film, for starters. Many of the actors listed were also Asian and very skilled. I was still nervous but was feeling a little more positive. The first trailer dropped and we got to see Scorpion in his human/living form as Hanzo Hasashi. I couldn't believe it. They'd taken a character that the previous films had made so one-dimensional and perhaps read the lore behind him.

FROM HERE THERE WILL BE SOME SPOILERS, YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

When the film was released, it had only been out for a few hours when I saw it on HBO Max. I immediately watched it. I was apprehensive, but the opening scene... I realized these writers HAD read the lore! To see Hanzo Hasashi face off against Bi-Han (Sub-Zero) after Bi-Han had sent members of the Lin Kuei clan to try and end the Shirai Ryu line, I was so hopeful. Even if the rest of the movie sucked, at least it had given me this much.

Then we meet Cole, and he isn't some random dude. Cole Young is a new character, and his actor is Lewis Tan who you may recognise as Shatterstar from Deadpool 2 or Lu Xin Lee in Netflix's Wu Assassins. Did they need to bring in a new character? As much as I hate to admit it, probably, because while the game series does have... holy shit, 64 playable characters (which yes this list includes Leatherface and Jason Vorhees), who do they pick to be the focus? Could they have made a live-action Scorpion film? Yes. Easily. And true fans of the game would have eaten it up if it had been done properly. But for the masses? No, and having Cole as a new face gives everyone across the board someone new to learn. It also gives those new to the franchise the feeling as if they're Cole and being introduced to this strange and dangerous world of Mortal Kombat.

Yes, the movie is cheesy, though it really tries hard to not be overly so. The source material is pretty cheesy in itself, so you have to let some things go. Kano is, well, mostly what I expected. A bit of a caricature of who he really is. Is there much more to him beyond what they showed in the film? Well, a bit. I mean, he's not the deepest character in the world, but he does have some more dimension than what was shown. Though someone had to be the comedic relief and he was the perfect fit for that need, I suppose.

Another reason I was excited and nervous about the film was one of my favourite characters, Kung Lao. He's always been so complex, coming off as arrogant when really he has a lot going on and a lot of insecurities. Was I disappointed with how he was portrayed? No. The only disappointment I have with Lao is that I won't get to see him again if there's a sequel. For Liu Kang, I was going to miss Robin Shou. He had done an impressive job with the character for what he had been given, but I was willing to be open-minded for our new Liu, Ludi Lin. I was not disappointed. Ludi did a great job, as did Kung Lao's actor, Max Huang.

So it may seem like I'm singing praises and praises only. The film had talented actors such as Hiroyuki Sanada (Scorpion) and Tanadobu Asano (Raiden), it gave me in-game moves and actual fatalities I've always wanted to see in live-action. It gave me a semi-complicated story that was deeper than I expected in some ways. It gave me a Goro who didn't look like he was copied and pasted into the scene. Was it perfect? No. Kung Lao died. It'll take me some time to forgive them for that. We got to see Nitara, an interesting character who lasted all of five seconds. We got to see Mileena's face, the fully ripped open mouth full of teeth face, then she died. We got to see Kabal and he was AMAZING... and then we lost him too. No Johnny Cage, though perhaps he will be in the sequel if it gets greenlit.

It's hard for videogame fans to look forward to movies. We've been burned so many times at this point. It gets harder and harder every year to hope that we will get our Iron Man moment. Was Mortal Kombat it? No, but it was close. It was closer than anything has ever been. It's a good watch, and even if you decide you don't like the addition of Cole, you have a lot of characters to choose from to watch. Sonya, Jax, Sub-Zero, Raiden, Kung Lao, Liu Kang... there are options. The story isn't bad, and I have the feeling that some of it (as parts of the film do seem a little choppy) was cut for time. I wouldn't be surprised if we get a release down the road that's a "director's cut", and if so, expect it to be at least two and a half hours. The film is already almost two hours. I would be happy with a longer cut if it gave me more of what I felt was missing though. This is definitely worth giving a chance, even if you're not familiar with the source material.