Mortal Kombat (2021)

[AquaParade]

Not a great movie, but not a bad time.

As predicted, Cole didn't make or break the movie by any means. People who blame him for the film's quality most likely don't know anything about filmmaking. Yeah, he's not great, but you'd be a fool to think the film would be any better if they just left Cole out.
Like, I can understand raising an eyebrow at Cole's inclusion, but the film has such bigger things to worry about that it's trivial to get hung up on a little inclusion like Cole.

What they really need to focus on is improving the writing and atmosphere. The first film was goofy but did a fine job at balancing the seriousness of the situation while also letting us in on the joke. The exposition is clunkier here and there is little sense of dread.

The best thing about the movie is the love that pours through. The film is mediocre but not for lack of trying. They try to pay respect to all characters involved and give them their moment to shine.
Last but not least, the action was...pretty good. They need to keep shooting upwards towards the quality of "The Raid", but compared to a lot of action we see today, it wasn't half bad.

So, pretty rough overall, but still a fun time for me, as a fan of the franchise, and not completely devoid of hope in terms of a sequel. I mean, it was way better than Godzilla vs Kong, for my money.

[sdp]

Actually that explanation feels very Mortal Kombat like and I"m ok with it, starting with Mortal Kombat 2 they've pretty much come up with explanations like that.

[Leo656]

I think for it to be WORSE than "Godzilla vs. Kong", Sub-Zero would have to come out of the movie screen, freeze your penis solid, then yank it off and smash it over your head while yelling "NO SEQUEL!"

That's about the only way this movie could possibly be worse than "Godzilla vs. Kong".

Originally Posted by sdp

Actually that explanation feels very Mortal Kombat like and I"m ok with it, starting with Mortal Kombat 2 they've pretty much come up with explanations like that.

Except this isn't "Mortal Kombat 2", it's "Mortal Kombat 0.5". All That Sh*t only started happening in the games AFTER all Hell literally broke loose following the Tournaments in MK1 and MK2. The bad guys lost decisively twice in a row and THEN said "F*ck yo' rules, we wilin' out now, dawg!" Before that, there were Rules. Shang Tsung and Shao Khan and whoever else CAN'T just go off and kill everyone before the Tournament even happens. That's Anarchy and Madness.

For one thing, if that was a thing they could do, one would assume they would have done it at least once during the previous nine Tournaments before THIS one. But they didn't. Because that isn't how it works!

[AquaParade]

Lmao true. I set the bar incredibly low there.

[AquaParade]

Btw, I still think the first Mortal Kombat film is better. It's honestly hard for me to pick that film apart. It's just a quaint, semi-goofy, fun time. The violence could have been turned up, but they still captured a sense of violence, consequence, and dread. Like, Sub Zero smashing one of his underlings into a Snow Cone, during the welcoming ceremony was actually pretty ominous. Always loved that bit.

At the end of the day, the world it sold me on was more believable. I can't really put my finger on how it was done though.

Yknow, I think it had a lot to do with the acting. The acting wasn't bad in the first film, all things considered.

[Leo656]

You are far from the only one I've seen/heard say that, almost in those exact words. A LOT more people than I expected are saying that, even people who think this one is pretty decent.

Turns out "Just ramp up the Blood N' Guts" isn't enough to make a "better" or "more faithful" MK movie, in and of itself. That movie got everything right except the gore; this one apparently gets the gore right, but gets a lot else wrong.

The "perfect" MK movie, therefore, is somewhere in between That One and This One.

It's kind of amazing; 30-ish years ago, "Street Fighter" came out and split the audience, with some folks saying it was "big dumb fun for what it is" and others saying that it was just plain terrible A-to-Z (except for Raul Julia, of course, who was the shining gem in that sh*tpile). Then 10-ish years ago, "Legend of Chun-Li" came out, and literally everyone said "Well it HAS to be better than the original just by showing up, right? I mean they don't even MAKE movies that bad anymore, I think it's a federal law now." And then not only was that movie NOT better than the original SF movie, it ended up being one of the all-time worst movies ever made. Given the advancements in technology and just plain common sense, that shouldn't have been possible, not even theoretically.

And now, here we are again, kind of, with Mortal Kombat. The original split the audience, with most people agreeing it was better than it had any right to be but a few people getting hung up on the gore, or lack thereof. Sequel was almost as bad as "Legend of Chun-Li" (which is like saying "Ball cancer is almost as bad as Ass cancer", but I digress). So now in 2021, we have all this technology, the MK lore is more established, they delivered on all the gory bloody sh*t the original movie "wimped out" on... everyone assumed this movie just HAD to be better than the first, and by a lot, just by showing up.

And... turns out, kinda not really?

Like, HOW does this kinda sh*t happen? Seriously.

[Coola Yagami]

Worst of all, whoever dies in this ****** prequel won't make it to the 'actual' tournament. Like you gone ahead and shot yourself in the foot man. WTF.

And also, Mr. Leo, when the trailers talk about legends about a tournament, symbols that indicate you're chosen to take part, introduce Earth's warriors for the tournament... I'M EXPECTING A MUTHA-****IN TOURNAMENT. Like that quick scene where Goro jumps in during the trailers, I'm expecting that to be taking place at the tournament.

This movie is gonna be the death of me. I absolute hate this kind of ****. Yo, let's make a movie about Soul Calibur. Who cares about the story or Soul Edge or whatever. Just throw in some cool fight scenes, make sure Cervantes looks cool. Throw in a random OC. The ignorant masses will eat it up no matter what.

Gawd dayum if I was ten years younger I'd be flipping tables over this ****. Flippin em while yelling out GET OVER HERE!!!!

[Leo656]

Not exactly. They more or less hint that some/most/all of the "dead" characters will be brought back to life in the next one.

And at least ONE of them damn well better be, because you CAN'T have the MK Tournament without... well, you'll see.

But yeah, if MK in general has taught us anything it's that "death" is flexible.

But yeah, I do think that making this movie a full-on prequel and popping certain nuts this soon was highly questionable. But at least some of that can still be walked back.

I also think that if Cole is Cage instead, nothing else about the movie changes. EXCEPT, at first you were annoying people for no substantial reason other than the fact that you can, and now you're NOT doing that. Which is really what everyone bitching about Cole is trying to say; "You can have an 'audience avatar' character to 'lead us through' the story and all that, but at least use a Real Stooge and not a Fake Shemp."

- Remember, Coola, we have a deal; when you watch it, you gotta videotape it. No f*cking way am I gonna miss your reaction to THIS f*cking thing.

[Coola Yagami]

Originally Posted by Leo656

Not exactly. They more or less hint that some/most/all of the "dead" characters will be brought back to life in the next one.

And at least ONE of them damn well better be, because you CAN'T have the MK Tournament without... well, you'll see.

But yeah, if MK in general has taught us anything it's that "death" is flexible.

But yeah, I do think that making this movie a full-on prequel and popping certain nuts this soon was highly questionable. But at least some of that can still be walked back.

I also think that if Cole is Cage instead, nothing else about the movie changes. EXCEPT, at first you were annoying people for no substantial reason other than the fact that you can, and now you're NOT doing that. Which is really what everyone bitching about Cole is trying to say; "You can have an 'audience avatar' character to 'lead us through' the story and all that, but at least use a Real Stooge and not a Fake Shemp."

- Remember, Coola, we have a deal; when you watch it, you gotta videotape it. No f*cking way am I gonna miss your reaction to THIS f*cking thing.

lmao like how am I supposed to know when this scene is coming up? Like near the end or something?

[Leo656]

Originally Posted by Coola Yagami

lmao like how am I supposed to know when this scene is coming up? Like near the end or something?

I want a full minute-by-minute reaction video, sir. Nay, I demand it. The Elder Gods demand it!

I wanna see every nostril flare and forehead-vein throb. I wanna see blood vessels in your eyes start to pop. And I especially wanna see the part where you get up and throw your coffee table through the nearest wall when Cole kills Whatsisnuts. I want ALL of it.

Don't act like you ain't got the time or the means, when our last three podcasts altogther ran as long as f*cking Woodstock. THIS IS YOUR MISSION, SIR!!!

[Coola Yagami]

Originally Posted by Leo656

I want a full minute-by-minute reaction video, sir. Nay, I demand it. The Elder Gods demand it!

I wanna see every nostril flare and forehead-vein throb. I wanna see blood vessels in your eyes start to pop. And I especially wanna see the part where you get up and throw your coffee table through the nearest wall when Cole kills Whatsisnuts. I want ALL of it.

Don't act like you ain't got the time or the means, when our last three podcasts altogther ran as long as f*cking Woodstock. THIS IS YOUR MISSION, SIR!!!

ROFL.... I'll see, considering I might either see it in theaters or at a friends' house. Based on what you're saying, I might start filming whenever Sub-Zero and Scorpion finally face off.

[Leo656]

Originally Posted by Coola Yagami

ROFL.... I'll see, considering I might either see it in theaters or at a friends' house. Based on what you're saying, I might start filming whenever Sub-Zero and Scorpion finally face off.

I think you'll have had a stroke at some point before that even happens.

[Sumac]

Originally Posted by Leo656

Aren't those kinda shenanigans explicitly forbidden by the Elder Gods? Wasn't that actually a PLOT POINT in the 1995 movie? ((Checks)) YEP! Raiden: "Your sideshow freaks attacked my fighters. That is expressly forbidden before the Tournament!" The very plot of this movie disregards one of the most fundamental pieces of the MK lore.

Technically, yes, but this rule was violated even back in MK2 canon backstory, where Shao Kahn sent his best warrior to kill Earth warriors one buy one. So it is not a new thing.

MK Conquest was basically about Kahn trying to off his enemies, before tournament (and succeeding).

[sdp]

Not to mention that the first movie's animated prequel Mortal Kombat the journey begins also features fights before the movie that sets that plot pint. Man conquest was such a great show, I loved it as a kid.

So, if this gets a sequel then we'd get the tournament of MK1 with some other characters that weren't in the original MK1 like quan chi, and a third movie would adapt a hybrid of MK 2/3. That can be a solid trilogy. I wish if it wasn't going to be a 100% adaptation why not include other MK cast of characters in it, to see what they were doing back then.

The only problem with fatalities is some characters will die before they get to do cool stuff they do in the sequels and the games don't care about characters dying, they all return anyway but I'm guessing the movie wouldn't do that.

[CyberCubed]

Watched it, parts of it were pretty good (a lot of the fights, the humor with Kano), but this was basically a prequel. It's not Mortal Kombat 1, but Mortal Kombat 0. Which is fine...if they make a sequel.

I liked the new Liu Kang, Sonya, Jax and Scorpion/Sub-zero. Kung Lao was also great. Unfortunately both the new Raiden and Shang Tsung were boring and had no charisma or chemistry. A lot of the villains fell flat too. Cole Young wasn't as bad as I thought he would be, but he is basically just a OC.

The tournament and Johnny Cage won't be introduced till the next movie, but this one set the groundwork. The heroes are established as are the villains. We see Scorpion kill Bi-han, so his brother the main Sub-zero should be introduced in the next one, and Kitana most likely.

Now if only this movie did well enough to ensure a sequel, otherwise its a bit of a waste.

[Andrew NDB]

Saw it... and enjoyed it. I was worried it would be cheap and lame and maybe more interested in sequels and trilogies than anything else.

It's fine. My only real complaint

Spoiler:

is that Sub-Zero doesn't get to do his trademark fatality

. I would've thought that would've been first on the list to rectify in this. Anyway, it has a good heart and good pacing and Kano is legitimately funny... the theater I was in was laughing and sometimes howling at the correct moments and all.

But yeah... all the talk throughout the movie about the Tournament... but they never actually make it to one. Not really. Obviously by design, and probably that's smart if things flow forward... every movie = 1 new tournament would be... weird. Not weird on a video game console, but weird in a movie series. Like, why even try, if Shang Tsung is just going to force another tournament in the next movie? It makes the tournament more of a big goalpost to come without making the movie itself relatively satisfying. The only "get ready for the sequel!" thing was the Johnny Cage bit, which was small and I didn't mind.

While the movie is poo, the overall "structure" alone of the original movie was better. Cleaner. Strangers getting together on a boat to an island and all. We don't need a lot of Outworld and Netherworld stuff out of the gate, I think. Though it was fairly sparing here anyway, so not much of a problem.

Definitely a budget conscious movie. They keep returning to the same sets... the dojo, the trailer, Cole's house. If you think about the movie, you can tell the order they probably shot it. Like, a couple days at the dojo, a couple days at Sonya's trailer, a day at Cole's house, a day walking around some kind of Utah-like exterior, and then probably like a week on a cave Soundstage.

But it's smartly done!

[Sumac]

Originally Posted by sdp

and a third movie would adapt a hybrid of MK 2/3.

No, please. MKAn was more than enough.

[CyberCubed]

I honestly thought Cole Young would be the modern day Scorpion, as Hanzo Hattori's soul would then reincarnate himself in Cole's body and become Scorpion. Instead Scorpion comes back himself, and Cole is just a new character with armor as his descendant.

Besides that, the only other thing that annoyed me about the movie is making the MK cast superheroes by the passing of the birthmark. That literally made no sense, the MK cast don't get strong by that and it had ridiculous moments like it forming Jax's metal arms.

[ZariusTwo]

I'm 40 minutes in...

...This is the kind of movie I hoped and prayed it would be

This s*it's going to be taught in film classes on how not to do anything.

[Leo656]

I don't get it. It sounds like you're saying you wanted it to be bad. Why?