--Sonya Blade, Mortal Kombat
Had it developed more of its characters, as well as structured the buildup to the finale better, Mortal Kombat could have truly been an excellent movie that shatters the negative expectations for movies based on games. The brutality of the kills, the effects (at times), and the hints of franchise lore are all handled rather well at their best. It is just the characterization of Mortal Kombat that is developed so unevenly from one character to the next. The uneven quality of the acting does not help this character problem--some of the best performers only appear for a few minutes with all of their scenes combined, and largely mediocre actors and actresses have the rest of the runtime to themselves. Mortal Kombat is certainly far better than HBO Max's prior offering Godzilla vs. Kong, but it would take immense effort to be as narratively pointless, artistically inept, and philosophically shallow as such a movie.
Production Values
The first ten minutes showcase an intensity of action and the disruption of intimate family life in a way that actually towers above most of the movie's thematic strength, fight choreography, and acting. Joe Taslim's role as Sub-Zero, by far one of the the best parts of the entire film and one of the few things that does not have any flaws, starts here and sets the course for important aspects of the story centuries later. Fittingly, it is Hiroyuki Sanada's role as Scorpion that matches the way Sub-Zero is utilized in the movie. Sub-Zero does appear far more than Scorpion, but the two are the highlights individually or alone. When it comes to the other cast members and their characters other than Mileena, who thankfully makes the most of her very limited screen time with the intensity of her personality and her iconic facial feature, things are not as excellent. Shang Tsung, Sonya Blade, Jax, and several other franchise characters are directed more blandly, although Kano elevates almost every scene he is in with his sarcastic, selfish style of humor that actually does not become an almost generic parody of himself, as can happen with most comic relief characters in other films. If only new character Cole Young could have received this level of individuality!
Story
Some spoilers are below.
Sub-Zero visits a family in search of Hanzo Hasashi, who later becomes known as Scorpion, and ends his life in his quest to eliminate all contenders for the tournament called Mortal Kombat. What Sub-Zero does not discover is that Hanzo had a child, a child that continues a lineage up until the present day. Modern descendent Cole Young navigates life as a professional fighter, only to be hunted because of his ancestry and a mysterious image on his chest he seems to have been born with. Entangled with people who have investigated rumors of a cosmic fighting tournament, Cole confronts the agents of Shang Tsung, who in the video games can act as a prominent force on behalf of Shao Kahn (who is the Mortal Kombat equivalent of Darkseid or Sauron).
Intellectual Content
The epistemology of history and possible universes or dimensions other than our own, the difference in values between the figures of various realms, and the personal and philosophical reasons why some people might be eager to engage in deadly combat with grand stakes could have all been explored to at least a small extent. Unfortunately, only the latter is given more than enough attention to just advance the plot from one part of the script to the next. No, Mortal Kombat would not need to dive into all of these things as deeply as a story with a more natural philosophical bent might in order to be deep on a storytelling level, yet the general mediocrity outside of a few scenes could make the lack of thematic substance all the more blatant to more thoughtful viewers.
Conclusion
The bias against movies based on video games is just that: a bias, meaning it is logically fallacious and invalid. However, there have only been a handful of good or great video game movies, like the 2018 Tomb Raider and the first Silent Hill film. The 2021 Mortal Kombat reboot is in between the thoroughly successful efforts and the atrocious ones. Its opening is excellent all around, with its superb action, introduction of key characters, and setting all being taken seriously, but the rest of the film is a mostly downhill affair with the exception of a few scattered moments--almost none of which have to do with anything more than bursts of intense or creative gore. Familiarity with the games will likely help invest some viewers more than those who have not player or heard about them, even if that heightened subjective investment will do nothing to make the quality of Mortal Kombat stay consistently strong past the opening scene.
Content:
1. Violence: The fighting itself is not always very brutal, but the killing moves, which are imitating the fatalities of the video games, involve things like a person's arms being frozen and shattered or a creature having its heart ripped out.
2. Profanity: "Shit" gets used several times, but, thanks to Kano, this movie has many uses of the word "fuck" or other variations of it.
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