DIRECTOR: Simon McQuoid
PRODUCERS: James Wan & Simon McQuoid & Todd Garner & E. Bennett Walsh
WRITERS: Dave Russo & Dave Callahan (screenplay) & Oren Uziel (story) [Based on the video game created by Ed Boon & John Tobias]
PERFORMERS: Lewis Tan Jessica McNamee Josh Hopkins Tadanobou Asano Mechad Brooks Ludi Lim Joe Talsim Hiroyuki Sanada and Chin Hau
There was a time when Mortal Kombat was the hottest video game around. So hot in fact, that it produced a franchise filled with several sequels to the game, countless adaptations and more. The one I remember most is the game from my early childhood me an my brother used to play all the time, then came the 1995 film which to this day I still love to watch. This latest entry in the Mortal Kombat universe is a completely different take in itself.
After several years development chaos, Mortal Kombat is brought back to the screen but in a different way and light. There's several characters past and present included here and some of which I have never heard of before... like the character Cole Young. He was new news to me because I didn't remember him from past incarnations or entries. He's a struggling fighter with an unknown past, trying to make ends meet for his family and then he gets selected (no, chosen!) to compete in an ancient tournament pitting good against evil. From there he goes on this quest to gain his fighting abilities to prepare for it and it's like, you already know how to fight, why are you taking more lessons? Well we're talking about a tournament that determines the fate of the world itself, if the good side wins earth enjoys another generation of peace, but if the evil side wins it's hell on earth and let's face it, nobody wants that.
The casting of this film was quite a surprise to me in particular because it was mostly Asian driven and there were only two Americans and one Austrian. Not so bad but the resemblance to the characters each performer played clearly fitted the bill. The actor who played Kano was the one who stuck out to me the most, he had the presence, the attitude and sometimes the comic relief, but nonetheless the reputation of a tough guy. All the others I just saw for the first time and even they were a huge thing to the way the film was being played out. Despite that, the film seemed to be more farfetched and unmotivating, unlike the 1995 film. More forceful than moving, less story driven than actually necessary. All these things were being thrown out there and they didn't have much purpose to begin with because they never had resolutions. For nearly the entire film, there wasn't even any tournament in effect or taking place (major throw-off for me!) The only saving grace was the Sub-Zero and Scorpion storyline. They have been the major stars of the Mortal Kombat universe since it's early conception and here they go all out. The thing about video game adapted films is that you never know who represents what or who's who. With those two you almost did, but you didn't.
The fighting choreography also wasn't bad, but not nearly as good as the ones from the older films. But the o ne thing that makes up for that area is the fatality moves. Here this goes way over the top with the violence and gore and makes you think you're looking right at a video game instead of playing it. I found myself cringing at those scenes far more than being entertained by them. The way the fatality moves were being displayed also brought me right back to what the games used to be like. When one of the characters die fatality style, I was somewhat crushed to the point of heartbreak. The special abilities each character develops during the film, from Sonya Blade to Jaxx, Kano and central character Cole Young, was also quite interesting to see.
This film was either less than expected or not what I expected at all. Not a bad film, but not a great film either... especially in the MK universe let alone franchise. By the film's end I was left with 'okay... no tournament, no storyline, no motivational purpose', it was your average in your face rock 'em, sock 'em gore-fest with no traditional storytelling, just get to the point and go from there. Forget the story and everything else, just what the people want. Somehow I think this did way less or more than that, but gave us a taste of what today's game adaptations looks like now compared to back then. With the earlier version something was done right with that one and that's why it's such a celebrated cult classic to this day. But this one somewhat failed to capture that magic and nostalgia. Sure it took forever to get this off the ground, but was it really worth it? Probably not, not with the direction this was going in. I can only hope that a sequel will ever happen and hopefully be this film's redeemer. If nothing else, I really feel that this could have been better... because it certainly deserved better. If you're a fan of the games or anything related to this franchise, give this a shot but beware, you may get less than what you bargain for.
RATING: 2 out of 5