Mortal Kombat (2021)

Starring: Lewis Tan, Jessica McNamee, Josh Lawson, Joe Taslim, Mehcad Brooks, Matilda Kimber, Laura Brent, Tadanobu Asano, Hiroyuki Sanada, Chin Han, Ludi Lin, Max Huang, Sisi Stringer, Mel Jarnson, Nathan Jones, Daniel Nelson
Directed by: Simon McQuoid
Rating: R
Genre: Action, Adventure, Fantasy
2021

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: Earth's future is in peril as fighters from Outworld prepare to circumvent the normal rules for Mortal Kombat to give them an advantage to overtake the realm.

Review:

Tim: I wouldn't claim to be much of a Mortal Kombat fan, but I loved the first two video games back in the early 1990s and I still believe the first movie was incredible. Mortal Kombat: Annihilation was an absolute dumpster fire of a movie, though. That context is important, as I have some familiarity with this franchise and have loved and hated movies in it. I was more than ready for an "R" rated update. Simon McQuoid's film certainly looks slick, but it also feels like a throwback to older movies based on video games- lowest common denominator filmmaking, cringe-worthy dialogue. It's entertaining if you just lose yourself in the story, but any conscious thought creates problems.

The movie suffers from a host of problems. First off, there's far too many characters. If you're not already familiar with the lore and games, this movie had to feel like a confusing mess. We're introduced to characters so quickly and they each get such a small amount of our time that we never really care about any of them. The characters never get enough time to breathe, to develop. It feels like it took a video game approach- select your character and let's go. Backstory, emotional connection doesn't matter. That works in a video game, it doesn't work in a movie. On top of the too-many-characters problem, the movie takes the odd approach of having its protagonist as a completely new character created just for the movie. This could have worked with a smaller supporting cast, but it just felt like overload. I spent much of the movie wondering if Cole Young was going to develop into a character we knew. It was an unnecessary distraction.

Another odd feature of the movie is that it talks about the Mortal Kombat Tournament, but then the whole story subverts that. It leaves the story feeling a bit hollow. It might have worked in a sequel, but for the first film in a revitalized franchise, it felt like an odd choice. We get a few hastily thrown-together one-on-one battles, but they lack the excitement and meaning that the tournament would have provided. They often wrap up so quickly and feel low stakes that I never had any level of investment in them. It hurts when you haven't spent the time developing the characters. So, when they are faced with life-and-death battles, I didn't really care what the end result would be. The story elements are thrown at viewers so haphazardly that none of it takes on any meaning. It feels silly because the movie never takes the time to establish the mythos. This is coming from someone who at least has a general understanding of how the battle of realms and Mortal Kombat works. The movie assumes too much, focuses on telling a story for those steeped in Mortal Kombat lore. That's no way to try and start a franchise. It's too much, too quickly and so few of it actually sticks.

While I didn't love the character of Cole Young, Lewis Tan does a really good job of bringing him to life. With his family, you at least feel some level of connection with him. Jessica McNamee looks like Sonya Blade and has the physicality for the role, but her acting is often substandard. Josh Lawson is a continuous scene-stealer with Kano, but the movie goes back to that well far too often. Lawson provides nearly all the humor in the film and about 40% of the jokes feel forced and don't connect. Now, I have mostly just praise for Lawson- it felt like he had a blast playing Kano. With just a bit more restraint, it would have been better. However, even mishandled by McQuoid, Kano is a standout. Mehcad Brooks was fine as Jax, but his character gets the short end of the stick. He should have been cut. Tadanobu Asano is great as Lord Raiden. While I liked Christopher Lambert's poor performance in the original movie, I admit Asano is better for a dozen reasons. I only wish we got more time with him. Raiden is one of the best characters in the games and he barely makes an impression here. Hiroyuki Sanada is excellent. He's such a terrific actor and he played his role expertly here. He's definitely a highlight. Shang Tsung is one of the great villains ever, but Chin Han makes him feel pointless here. I can still close my eyes and see Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa as Shang Tsung in the original movie. Han doesn't even get remotely close. That was a major disappointment. Ludi Lin and Max Huang were well cast (although I prefer Huang to Lin), however Liu Kang and Kung Lao make such a little impression on the film. They needed to have larger roles. It felt weird seeing Liu Kang relegated to the sidelines. I didn't care for how his character was presented here. Honestly, there's many other characters, but they show up and disappear so quickly or have such a small impact on the overall film that I'm not going to mention them. I want to reiterate how damaging it was to crowd this film and not allow time for the key characters to develop.

The action is fine. I loved seeing the Sub Zero/Scorpion battles. Those were absolutely fun to watch. The Goro fight had some cool moments, but it also felt anticlimactic. That should have been an epic sequence and it wasn't. There's a large battle at one point with quite a few characters, but they break off into one-on-one battles, which aligns with the games, but it deprives the film of what could have been the most iconic sequence. By the end of the movie, the story just loses steam. The conclusion is fine, but unremarkable.

To be fair, I didn't dislike Mortal Kombat. It was a decent movie and I remained mildly entertained throughout. It's a huge improvement over Annihilation (but then again, it almost couldn't be any worse). However, this "R" rated remake doesn't reach the heights of the original movie. That might be an unpopular opinion, but I stand by it. This movie was decent, but the script is a mess and McQuoid directs a disappointing film. I had much bigger hopes for this.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 6.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Mortal Kombat (1995), Mortal Kombat: Annihilation