This isn’t the Mortal Kombat film from the 90’s … and that’s ok.
2021’s Mortal Kombat resurges the popular video game franchise to the big screen with Simon McQuiod making his directorial debut at the helm.
I have to admit, when I first saw the trailer and you hear Joe Taslim’s Sub-Zero declare “I. Am. Subzero.”, it sent chills down my spine and had me so excited for this iteration of the film. As it arrived on HBO Max, I was one of the viewers that stayed up till 3am EST to watch the epic.
For me, Hiroyuki Sanada as Scorpion and Taslim as Sub-Zero stole the show and were perfect choices to play these characters. Can we also just praise this movie for having Asian lead roles! That is a huge win.
Let’s jump into my thoughts of the movie.
The first 7 minutes set the pace and was the perfect way to introduce this world and this story. The cinematography and the acting here were beautiful. I saw it as visual poetry. I liked this take, but what kind of let me down was that there was not much follow up with Scorpion’s daughter. Maybe this was just a way to set up his bloodline still carrying on.
While I didn’t understand it at first, I didn’t mind the Cole young plot. And I’m not going to lie, I kind of teared up when I saw him and Scorpion fight Sub-Zero together. Don’t judge me!
However, besides Kung Lao, Kano, Kabal, and the aforementioned characters above, the other characters just felt dull and lacking personality.
I liked the emphasis on giving characters representation of their in-game fatalities on screen. I did not see that Kung Lao fatality coming! Vey dope.
It felt like there were two different stories going at once. I think I would have liked it better if it just had followed Scorpion’s and Sub-Zero’s arc.
Overall, I give this movie a 7/10.
I DO want to see a sequel. I just hope that characters like Raiden and Shang Tsung get more development. |THIS.
[By Grand Kai]
