PopHorror Let's Get Scared
Just when you think Hollywood can’t get any more predictable, it decides to recycle the same thing over and over again. Whether its Jurassic Park, Star Wars or the 100th Star Trek show, new ideas are few and far between. Mortal Kombat‘s turn came in 2021 when a long awaited “third” movie was finally released.
Was it good? Yeah….about that.
Without going into a historical chronicle of Mortal Kombat, I’ll be brief. In 1992, Ed Boon and John Tobias created a fighting game using rotoscoped actors to simulate realism. The game was called MORTAL KOMBAT and it swept the nation like a brush fire. It spawned sequels, movies, TV shows, toys and a legacy that continues to this day. As the craze ended in the late 90’s and games that stopped being popular by the mid 2010’s, the legacy was intact but the fad went dormant. In 2019, Boon & Tobias decided to reboot the game franchise with Mortal Kombat 11 in 2019. To capitalize on this, a new movie was sent to develop but a certain virus in 2020 put the kibosh on just about everything in the world. Once that nonsense was over, it was on to April 23, 2021 for the release of MORTAL KOMBAT. What was it about? Good grief….
Washed up MMA fighter Cole Young (Lewis Tan – Cobra Kai) is suddenly attacked by the ancient Chinese assassin Bi-Han (Joe Taslim – Star Trek Beyond 2016) and has no idea why. He is rescued by Jax (Mehcad Brooks – Desperate Housewives 2005) and Sonya (Jessica McNamee – The Meg 2018). Bi-Han, now known as Sub-Zero, destroys the arms of Jax but Sonya and Cole flee. Then they meet Lord Raiden (Tadanobu Asano – Thor 2011) and he explains what’s going on. Earthrealm has lost 9 straight Mortal Kombat tournaments to Outworld and if Outworld wins one more, Outworld’s leader Shao Khan will merge the realms. Meaning life on Earth is over.
To prevent that, Lord Raiden is preparing a team to fight Outworld in the 10th Mortal Kombat. Young will lead the crew of Liu Kang (Ludi Lin – Aquaman 2018), Kung Lao (German Chinese stuntman Max Huang), the rejuvinated Jax, Sonya and Australian mercenary Kano (Josh Lawson – The Little Death 2014). Standing in their way are Outworld sorcerer Shang Tsung (Chin Han – The Dark Knight 2008) and his crew of Kano’s former ally Kabal (Stuntman Daniel Nelson), General Reiko (WWE superstar Nathan Jones), the vampire Nitara (Mel Jarnson – Blacklight 2002), grotesque assassin Mileena (Sisi Stringer – Carnifex 2022), Shang Tsung’s reptilian bodyguard Reptile, Sub-Zero and the four armed monster Goro (Angus Sampson – Insidious 2010).
Back in the 1600’s, Bi-Han’s crew murdered Japanese ninja warrior Hanzo Hasashi (Hiroyuki Sanada – John Wick 4) and apparently a prophecy delcared his descendant would help win Mortal Kombat. Well it just so conveniently happens that his descendant is the one and only Cole Young. Can Cole win Mortal Kombat? Watch the movie and find out.
So what’s wrong with MORTAL KOMBAT? If you’re not a fan of the franchise or a casual that doesn’t know the entire lore of the franchise, its actually a pretty good action movie. The acting is nothing to write home about but its an action movie. Can’t expect Shakespearian acting out of a Mortal Kombat adaptation. The action and the stunts were just fine and in line with the characters. However, if you ARE a fan of the franchise and has been there since the beginning, the story will make your head explode.
The 2011 Mortal Kombat game already retconned the first Mortal Kombat but apparently we’re going to do it again. I understand trying not to tell the same story over and over but at least you don’t have to insult the fans’ intelligence. Turning Kabal heel makes almost no sense because he’s from Earthrealm, he wouldn’t be the type to serve Outworld. Which brings us to Sub-Zero. Making HIM the primary villain and final boss after 30+ years of other villains more powerful than him was a stretch and a half. Not that the actor didn’t pull it off, and not that the final act where Hanzo Hasashi returns to fight along Cole wasn’t epic, but this might be the only Mortal Kombat movie or game where Sub-Zero is the final fight.
On top of that, rather than center the story around Johnny Cage or Liu Kang, we created a new character out of thin air. Not that Lewis Tan didn’t rock the role he was given, but Mortal Kombat had a 28 year legacy going into 2021 and “Cole Young” is the new hero? Once again, casuals will have no problem with that but the hardcore fans weren’t exactly thrilled.
So how did MORTAL KOMBAT do at the box office? Very well. Its budget was $55 million and it grossed $84. It’s rated 6.1 out of 10 on IMDB which means fans think its at least watchable. Some critics liked it, some critics hated it, but bottom line was it wasn’t anywhere close to the disaster known as Mortal Kombat: Annihilation. So what was next for Mortal Kombat? Another game and another movie. The sequel to the 2021 movie “Mortal Kombat 2” is coming out next month starring Karl Urban as Johnny Cage….the one character missing from MORTAL KOMBAT. Yeah, the world was clamoring for KARL URBAN as Johnny Cage wasn’t it?
Anything else to whine about? Not really. What gave the first Mortal Kombat movie back in 1995 its charm was the time period and its freshness. If you want a fresh look at an old story, check out MORTAL KOMBAT and then check out the sequel next month.
