In the past few decades we've gotten great comic book films, films based on book series and even TV series spin-offs so you would think that video game films are next in line. Unfortunately, more often than not video game films are usually quite bad, with filmmakers unable to properly capture the lore behind the games. One such attempt was with the 1990s Mortal Kombat duology based on the video game series of the same name. However after the critical and commercial failure of second film Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, the franchise was stuck in development hell for almost 20 years, although games continued to be released. Now, after 24 years, 2021's Mortal Kombat has finally been released in theatres, retelling the age-old story of an inter-realm fighting tournament but this time with a new original character at the forefront. With promising trailers and lots of expectations riding on this product, how well does New Line Cinema's reboot hold up under scrutiny? Let's dive in.
REVIEW (SPOILER ALERT)
Introduction: Most people will recognise Mortal Kombat as one of the video game industry's foremost fighting game franchises, with tons of games and related media having been released for almost 3 decades now. As a result, there's a ton of characters with interesting stories and a lot of lore behind this expansive universe. If you're unfamiliar with the series, it generally revolves around fighters from multiple realms who enter a tournament known as "Mortal Kombat" to decide which world comes out on top and preventing invasion from evil forces. More often than not, the involved realms are usually Earthrealm and Outworld, with the former usually containing benevolent beings while Outworld houses the series' antagonists. This is also the idea behind the reboot, with Outworld having bested Earthrealm in nine previous Mortal Kombats and if they emerge victorious in another, they'll be able to invade and conquer Earthrealm.
Film vs games: The film has adapted various elements from the games' mythos while at the same time choosing to alter many things. Things that they've kept from the source material include the abovementioned battle between Earthrealm and Outworld, the bitter rivalry between the Japanese Shirai Ryu and the Chinese Lin Kuei ninja clans led by Bi-Han (played by Joe Taslim) and Hanzo Hasashi (Hiroyuki Sanada) respectively, as well as little things like Sonya Blade (Jessica McNamee) and Kano's (Josh Lawson) feud. As expected, lots of characters from the games appear, with the God of Thunder Raiden (Tadanobu Asano) of Earthrealm and soul-stealing sorcerer Shang Tsung (Chin Han) of Outworld sending their respective champions into combat. From Earthrealm, we had Jax (Mehcad Brooks), Liu Kang (Ludi Lin), Kung Lao (Max Huang) and hailing from Outworld, we saw Mileena (Sisi Stringer), Reiko (Nathan Jones), Nitara (Mel Jarnson), Kabal (Daniel Nelson and voiced by Damon Herriman), Goro (voiced by Angus Sampson) and Reptile.
Many of these characters had their powers directly adapted from the games, such as Kabal's superhuman speed, Liu Kang's pyrokinesis and Kung Lao's use of his razor-edged hat. Most importantly, the brutality from the games has definitely been properly translated onto the big screen, with lots of gore and violence present for audiences to feast their eyes on. Some of the famous fatalities and moves are depicted in the film, and it's quite awesome to see. Some of the characters' origins are also kept the same although they aren't expanded upon and with some exceptions, the champions' alignments are pretty much the same as in the games.
Apart from the stuff I just said up top, there isn't really all that much that's kept similar to the source material. The biggest change is of course the introduction of the original character Cole Young (Lewis Tan), the film's main character. A washed-up ex-MMA champion, Cole is actually the descendant of Hanzo and is one of Earthrealm's champions. In the same vein, the presence of dragon markings (which are basically the Mortal Kombat logo) on the bodies of the Earthrealm warriors is also a film-exclusive, with no such mark existing in the games. Another liberty that was taken by the screenwriters was introducing something known as "arcana", described as a special power innate and unique to each dragon mark bearer. Liu Kang's pyrokinesis, Kung Lao's control of his razor hat, Jax's metal arms, Kano's laser vision and eventually Sonya's energy blasts are all examples of arcana, with Cole's being the ability to form a suit of armour around himself similar to Marvel superhero Black Panther's vibranium suit, which allows him to absorb and redirect kinetic energy through physical attacks, as well as create a pair of tonfas. Arcana doesn't exist in the games and the Earthrealm fighters' powers are either a result of training, experimentation or other means.
A plot element that has been flipped on its head is the dynamic between Bi-Han and Hanzo, who I'll henceforth refer to as Sub-Zero and Scorpion. While both of them have done morally questionable things in the past, Sub-Zero is generally considered to be on the side of good and an Earthrealm champion. As for Scorpion, although the film gets his Netherrealm alignment correct, he's generally considered a more antagonistic character in the games purely, often butting heads with the forces of good despite not actually being evil himself. The film has changed this by making Sub-Zero pretty much evil and an Outworld champion, fighting for Shang Tsung and massacring the Shirai Ryu because of their rivalry, whereas in the games, he kills Scorpion after being manipulated by Netherrealm sorcerer Quan Chi. Truth be told, Scorpion's character isn't all that different because he's still a hellspawn born out of revenge and treads the fine line of moral ambiguity.
I may have missed out a couple of things here and there but those are the differences I could come up with off the top my head. For all intents and purposes, the film generally stays fairly true to the source material, with minor deviations here and there.
Pros: The best thing about this film is the action. Considering that (with the exception of some live-action web series) the last time we saw these characters in live-action were in '90s films, technology has advanced enough that we can get these larger-than-life characters on screen and actually get to see them duke it out like they would in the game. It was pretty awesome to see some of the classic fatalities like Kung Lao's Razor's Edge or Liu Kang's Dragon Bite, as well as some other pretty cool stuff that you would see in the games, like Shang Tsung stealing souls. Like I mentioned above, the games have made blood, gore and violence their trademark, and there's plenty of that to go around in this film. Also wanted to mention that it was nice to hear the re-recorded version of Scorpion's classic "get over here" in theaters, after the disappointing reveal in the trailers. Props to Hiroyuki Sanada for doing a better job second time round. While on the topic of quotes from the game, it was also pretty cool to hear stuff like "fatality", "Kano wins" or even "finish him". All little tidbits that're sure to make fans happy.
I also want to praise Josh Lawson's performance as Kano. By far and away, Kano was the character with the most personality in the entire film and was excellent as the film's comic relief. I feel like "aggressively Australian" would be an apt description for him, and he throws out lots of quips and one-liners that really liven up the mood throughout the film. Not only that, Lawson really portrays the scumbag aspect of the Black Dragon mercenary well, making him a character you love to hate.
Cons: Unfortunately, that's pretty much where the buck stops when it comes to my compliments for this film. Frankly speaking, the script is unbelievably weak. Oftentimes the characters end up revealing things to us through exposition rather than actually allowing us to find out what happens through specific events. It's a classic case of them telling and not showing, which just comes out very boring and bland. This also results in the film progressing too quickly and everything just blends together. For example, the Earthrealm champions are defeated by the Outworld fighters in their first team encounter, with Kung Lao even having his soul stolen by Shang Tsung. Right after they regroup, the Earthrealm warriors try again, this time by splitting up the Outworld warriors and taking them on one-on-one, ultimately allowing our heroes to succeed. The plot armour is indeed strong with this one.
At the same time, the script has wayyyy too many plot elements jammed in. Some films that kickstart a cinematic universe have this problem and that's that they focus too much on worldbuilding. Mortal Kombat is no different in that aspect because it's chockful with exposition after exposition after needless exposition. I don't need this right now. You can set up a little bit of the franchise's future and focus on the characters instead. Tell their story properly before trying to set up even more stuff. This is the same problem the DCEU suffered from and is something that this film has to tangle with now.
While not directly related to each other, the bad script somewhat leads to bad acting. Because there're so many scenes of the characters giving out boring expository dialogue, the actors can only make use of a limited acting range. A lot of the dialogue between characters is written poorly as well and it comes out campy and lame. The only cast member who I think didn't succumb to the bad writing curse was Josh Lawson, possibly because Kano worked well as a sort of goofy character. Many of the characters were also shuffled into the background with little expansion on their backstories (because of the overstuffed script), which means that audiences don't feel anything for them. I simply don't care about these characters because I know nothing about them.
That leads me to my final gripe, Cole Young. Having an original character for the film is fine and all but it should feel earned. Instead, I give no cares about Cole and his family, mostly because the script is written terribly for them. By ham-fisting in Cole's origin story about being Scorpion's descendant, they're taking away from the potential for a brand new story, something that hasn't been explored and allowing them to spin more tales and expand on their cinematic universe. Instead, they just end up making him another cog in the machine that'll churn out sequels. I also don't like how Cole is practically made the de facto leader of the Earthrealm champions (less Raiden) and the rest end up listening to his plan to defeat Outworld's forces. Man was totally getting his ass handed to him throughout the film (except for when he killed Goro, that was impressive) and then suddenly the rest who're way more experienced than him end up being subservient to him. If anything, Liu Kang should've been the leader.
Heck since we're on the topic, I personally feel that the screenwriters should've done away with Cole Young and instead focused on existing characters. Granted, some of the previous films and web series have had Liu Kang as the main character already so some might think it's repetitive but I feel that it would help the story way more. Instead, Liu Kang is very much relegated to a supporting position to a far weaker protagonist in Cole when he really should've just been the lead. Because he's in the background, you don't empathise with Liu Kang when Kung Lao, who's practically a brother to him, dies. The sorrow isn't earned and the warrior monk's death is just another stepping stone to building a bigger world. Bottom line is, the screenwriters should've gotten rid of Cole, removed a lot of exposition, tidied up the script and you would've gotten a far more streamlined story with characters that you care about, leading to a better product.
The future of the franchise: I think it's pretty obvious to everyone that this is the start of a new franchise. Even though the final product is less than stellar, it does its job of worldbuilding by packing in lots of Easter eggs and references. You don't need 20/20 vision to recognise Kitana's fan in Raiden's Temple or the pictures of Shao Kahn and Nightwolf in Sonya's hideout. The very end of this film directly sets up a sequel, with the current Earthrealm champions heading out to find the rest, with their first stop being Hollywood, where they'll recruit actor Johnny Cage (Dane Reese in an uncredited appearance). C'mon, it's all just setting up for sequel after sequel.
I also fully expect to see the return of Bi-Han, even though Scorpion burnt him to death with his hellfire. He's not going to be Sub-Zero though, oh no, that mantle will pass down to his younger brother Kuai Liang. Bi-Han is going to be resurrected as Noob Saibot, a Wraith from Netherrealm, and I guarantee you we're going to see him return at some point. In fact, I don't believe all of the Outworld fighters in this film are going to stay dead, some are too important for that. Mileena can't die so soon, she needs to have conflict with Kitana, and neither can Kano because he hasn't gotten his cybernetic eye yet. Interestingly enough, his "death" perfectly gives him a reason to receive his trademark cybernetic eye. Since his arcana was shooting laser beams out of his right eye, which was then stabbed through by Sonya, future films will probably have Kano with a cybenetic replacement.
There's lots of possibilities for the Mortal Kombat film franchise moving forward so we have to wait and see what happens.
Final thoughts: Frankly speaking, this film does its job as a worldbuilding setup film but if you're looking for a live-action Mortal Kombat adaptation that tells a more cohesive story, checking out the Mortal Kombat: Legacy web series might be a better idea. Anyway, this film was pretty much pure fanservice with lots of action so if you're a big enough fan of the original stuff, you'll probably enjoy the multiple references to the source material. Just don't expect a good script or story. 2021's Mortal Kombat is an unfortunate 6.5/10. Thanks for reading.
Comments
Post a Comment