By Kevin Miller
(Image Courtesy of Warner Bros.)
In a world where Covid-19 limits our ability to watch the latest blockbusters in theaters, everything that is released on demand or on streaming devices during this time has a great responsibility to deliver. But what are they delivering? Escape. Escape from the four walls we've been isolated within for more than a year. Escape from the uncertainties the virus brings. Escape from the lack of social interactions. The stories we watch, the characters we encounter become a second family to help us through this anxious time that has already taken so much. So far Warner Bros. has delivered again and again during this time with some misses like WW84 but after a great come back with "The Snyder Cut" and Godzilla vs. Kong, it seemed like there was hope for the studio to do it yet again, but alas Mortal Kombat was another miss. Here's why...
I don't really like to kick a horse when it's down, so I'll just get to the point. There isn't much of a story, which I would be fine with considering it's a movie based on a video game. As a gamer, myself, I find it very difficult to accurately transfer a story made for a game into a 2-hour film. There's too many elements that make the game work with the story that a movie simply can't do in a short period of time, in my opinion but I still had hope that this would be a good movie. The lore of the game has a lot to offer in a Hollywood where multiple installments within a cinematic universe is the current trend.
The first thing I noticed is that the acting is so cringe worthy, even I was a bit embarrassed. I refuse to believe it was the actors themselves but something was not connecting. It seemed like a bunch of actors who came straight from acting class and are taking themselves too seriously, thinking they're big shots. Everyone in the industry comes across them and their annoyances. I got the same vibe from each of the main cast members which isn't something I'm used to feeling, and I work for SkySoft! I should be getting that vibe when I'm editing my work but I don't but this film, I did. The jokes came off too forced, the seriousness was too Zoolander-ish and there was absolutely no chemistry between any of them. Everyone came off as generic. I can't help but wonder if any character development was discussed with the actors ahead of time or if any of them even did any development, which I doubt because my boss is an actress (sometimes) and I know the kind of work she puts in to each of her roles. So it comes back to the lack of story and an added element, the directing. Now for the editing. I gotta' say, some of this is really bad! In one shot Cole is on the ground cut to Kano for a few seconds back to Cole and he's some magically standing up. Like what?! There are a lot of these in the film.
(Image Courtesy of Warner Bros.)
The good things about this come to a few apart from the visual effects which is pretty darn good, if you ask me, which you are. The blood and gore is right up there! As a fan of the game, this met every bit of what I wanted in that department. It also starts off with a Scorpion backstory which is pretty epic! I loved it! It sucked me in right away. Sub Zero was a favorite of mine in this but he has very little screen time! Some fights were amazing while others were under-whelming. There was some fan service that I appreciated. The tone of the film is great and it does have a lot of potential.
Overall, it had been over a decade since the last Mortal Kombat film which should tell you all you need to know: Hollywood does not have faith in the franchise. There is nothing that Hollywood likes to do more than make reboots and sequels to everything and yet Mortal Kombat is a franchise they've stayed clear from and this is a good example of why. If you're a MK fan, you should see this, it has some really cool elements to it and most of all, it's way better than Annihilation which is all we asked for, right? I do hope that this version gets a sequel so we can explore the lore and the characters a bit more but that may just be me as a MK fan speaking.
Overall Score: 5.6/10 = 56% (F)
Watch Mortal Kombat in theaters and HBO Max.
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