Mortal Kombat (2021) Warner Bros./Action-Adventure-Fantasy RT: 110 minutes Rated R (strong bloody violence and language throughout, some crude references) Director: Simon McQuoid Screenplay: Greg Russo and Dave Callaham Music: Benjamin Wallfisch Cinematography: Germain McMicking Release date: April 23, 2021 (US) Cast: 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, Ian Streetz, Yukiko Shinohara, Ren Miyagawa, Mia Hall. Box Office: $42.3M (US)/$84.4M (World)
Rating: ***
Never have I ever played the video game Mortal Kombat or any of its many sequels. I’m not at all familiar with any of the characters. I hated both the 1995 film adaptation and the 1997 sequel. As such, I had zero interest in seeing the new Mortal Kombat reboot. I didn’t see the point in subjecting myself to yet another crappy adaptation of a video game I know nothing about anyway. I can’t say what possessed me to finally watch it, but I did. Do I regret it? Read on, faithful readers.
I can’t believe I’m about to say this, but I like Mortal Kombat. Like the MK movies before it, it’s stupid as all get out. The storyline is silly, the acting isn’t much, it’s loud and heavy on the CGI. At 110 minutes, it’s definitely overlong. It represents everything I hate about modern-day filmmaking. By all accounts, I should be tearing it to pieces. I won’t be doing that and here’s why. It is extremely violent and bloody. For me, that’s a huge selling point. The f-bomb gets dropped a lot as well. This Mortal Kombat more than earns its R rating. I realize how shallow this makes me sound, but I can’t help it if it brought out the teenager in Movie Guy 24/7.
The story begins in 16th century Japan with the evil Bi-Han (Taslim, The Raid: Redemption) and his forces attacking and killing the family of warrior Hanzo Hasashi (Sanada, The Wolverine). Hanzo fights valiantly, but is ultimately defeated by his opponent whose main goal is ending his family’s bloodline. Bi-Han fails, of course. The god of thunder Lord Raiden (Asano, Thor 1-3) appears and takes Hanzo’s surviving infant daughter, hidden beneath the floorboards by her mother, to safety.
Mortal Kombat cuts ahead to present day where we learn that a fight tournament known as “Mortal Kombat” is about to happen. It involves fighters from two realms, Earthrealm (the heroes) and Outworld (the villains). Outworld has won the past nine tournaments and not by playing fair. If they win one more time, they’ll take over Earthrealm and enslave everybody. In order to ensure another victory, the soul-eating sorcerer Shang Tsung (Han, Skyscraper) sends his warriors to kill all of Earthrealm’s champion fighters, identified by a dragon mark somewhere on their bodies.
One of the chosen ones is Cole Young (Tan, Skyscraper), a former MMA fighter who knows nothing of his lineage. He has no idea what his dragon birthmark means. He only learns of his destiny after he and his family are attacked by Sub-Zero, the baddie formerly known as Bi-Han. Fellow champion Jax (Brooks, Supergirl), after rescuing them from certain doom, sends Cole to meet with his partner Sonya Blade (McNamee, The Meg) who will explain what’s going on. She doesn’t bear the mark, not yet. Along with foul-mouthed Australian mercenary Kano (Lawson, House of Lies), they defeat the reptilian assassin Syzoth before heading off to Lord Raiden’s secret temple to begin training for Mortal Kombat.
A big part of their training involves finding and unlocking their “arcana”, special powers unique to all dragon mark bearers. If you’ve played the games, and I’m sure at least 90% of people watching Mortal Kombat have, you know who has what power, so I don’t need to explain. However, I’d like to make special mention of the mechanical arms Jax is fitted with after losing his own in a fight with Sub-Zero. They’re cool! In one scene, he uses them to crush a foe’s skull.
I’m going to stop describing the plot now. What’s the point? It’s all a bunch of nonsense anyway. Let’s focus on the action instead. First-time director Simon McQuoid keeps things moving along at a decent clip most of the time. Mortal Kombat sags a bit in the middle with a prolonged training sequence. It does have some cool fight scenes though, especially in the final 30 minutes. Sure, they’re the frenetic, overedited kind that typically gives me a headache. Yes, it’s all CGI. They’re also brutal and fierce with plenty of splatter. The best part, however, is the prologue. It sort of reminds me of an old school martial arts movie set in medieval Asia. There’s some great sword work on display.
Let’s get real. The action and violence are the only things worth commenting on in a movie like Mortal Kombat. Who cares about trivial matters like acting, writing and directing? Certainly not anybody that puts Mortal Kombat at the top of their must-see list. They only want to see a live-action (sort of) version of their favorite video game. On that level, Mortal Kombat will not disappoint fans. All others need not apply. As for me, I’m surprised at how much I enjoyed this dumb, stupid, idiotic excuse for a movie. Of course, it could simply be my inner gorehound speaking. Either way, it’s a guilty pleasure and boy, do I feel guilty for liking this mess.
