Mortal Kombat is a 2021 martial arts fantasy film based on the video game franchise of the same name and a reboot of the Mortal Kombat film series.
Hunted by the fearsome warrior Sub-Zero, MMA fighter Cole Young finds sanctuary at the temple of Lord Raiden. Training with experienced fighters Liu Kang, Kung Lao and the rogue mercenary Kano, Cole prepares to stand with Earth’s greatest champions to take on the enemies from Outworld in a high-stakes battle for the universe.
I’ll start off by saying that it was fun and I was entertained. It was exactly what I was expecting. However, there are some areas that could’ve used a bit of polishing up, such as not enough epic fight scenes, but at least they delivered on the gore and viciousness that the franchise is known for.
The plot and characters (expect Kano, he was absolutely perfect) could’ve been better too. I found the main lead Cole Young to be bland and uninteresting. There are so many characters in the franchise that they could’ve used, but they just had to make one up for the film. If they really needed a clueless character for the audience to follow along to learn about Mortal Kombat, then why not just start off with Jax and Sonya?
Not only would that have build-up their characters, but it would been far more interesting to watch instead of hearing Sonya explaining to Cole on how she and Jax found out about the dragon mark. I would’ve rather followed their storyline than Cole’s. Even Liu Kang could’ve been an option because he told Cole his backstory of how he got the dragon mark. It certainly wouldn’t have been difficult to shift the perspective around either. He could’ve been explaining to Sonya or Jax instead.
Speaking of Cole’s storyline, wouldn’t his daughter be the one carrying the dragon mark? That mark is connected to the Hasashi bloodline, which would mean that the most recent member of it would’ve inherited it instead. Unless they’re implying she’s not his daughter by blood? Did they forgot to mention in the film that she’s his step-daughter? Or is it a plot hole they forgot to clarify?
Also, how did Hanzo Hasashi/Scorpion learned English if he was trapped in the Netherrealm all that time? It would’ve made better sense if he had said his iconic phrase ‘Get over here!’ in ancient Japanese. I’m also surprised that Cole’s family survived being frozen for however long they were in Sub-Zero’s ice. Because a person can survive in 41° F (5° C) water for 10, 15 or 20 minutes max before their body starts to shut down. But at this point I’m nitpicking, and I shouldn’t try to put too much logic on a movie base on a video game.
If they really needed a way to bring back Scorpion or give him a bigger role, then why not just have one of the characters reach out to him? They don’t need to be his kin either. Maybe he was too consumed with punishing himself in his failure to save his family? He felt that he deserved to suffer, but someone reached out to him and snapped him out of it. Or they made him realize that Bi-Han/Sub-Zero still lives on and hasn’t paid for his sins.
But I digress. The film was decently good, especially for a video game movie adaptation. The end sets up for a sequel, hinting that Johnny Cage will be in it and that some of the dead characters (especially Sub-Zero’s charred corpse) will be resurrected. After all, when Shang Tsung saw one of his fighters killed his only respond to it was that, “death is only another portal” before teleporting away.
 DamnBlackHeart · Thu Mar 10, 2022 @ 12:15am · 0 Comments |
