Mortal Kombat (2021)

[sdp]

It seems Mortal Kombat can't escape the original tournament no matter how hard they try to move away from it. After the original game and the movie the franchise continued to move on and in the early 2000's it continued to move on with the exception of Shaolin Monks which retold the events but it had been many years since the original game so it was ok.

We got the reboot and well it's ok, it's the reboot but now we have time travel in the latest games to return to that era, we just got an animated movie also re-telling the tournament. We all know the story by now.

Originally Posted by Coola Yagami

I mean the actual person behind the movie said so.... so um.... yeah....

Really? Where? I hope you don't mean this clickbait article linked earlier:

‘MORTAL KOMBAT': WHY COLE YOUNG REPLACES JOHNNY CAGE IN THE 2021 MOVIE
https://www.inverse.com/entertainmen...ng-johnny-cage

That article takes quotes not from the director but the producer that have nothing to do with said title, just adding PR to the movie and the one quote that might seem to fit that narrative is given absolutely no context whatsoever. So just some PR being given a spin to get more clicks. There's really no evidence but be outraged by all means. I'm not saying Cole Young doesn't suck or his reasons to include him, I agree horrible idea but it's the usual hollywood "how can we get the audience to relate"

[Leo656]

Ah, yeah, the old "We're saving that stuff for the sequel!" defense.

...99% of the time when they do that sh*t, there IS no sequel and everyone just looks like idiots.

Case in point, the Green Lantern movie teasing Sinestro's heel turn in the credits stinger when he should have been the movie's villain with Parallax saved for the sequel as an escalation of stakes. Sinestro with the yellow ring is what everyone WANTED to see; WB is all like "You'll get him next time!" and then Next Time never happened.

Just Do it Right the first time and if you get sequels then good for you. It's so arrogant to just ASSUME any movie is gonna be a big enough hit to even justify doing more of them, especially nowadays.

I mean, thanks to Covid this movie (like lots of others this year) has no chance of even making its budget back anyways, so any sequel plans are very obviously up in the air. So this is an even more egregious example of counting one's chickens.

"Too many Honkies". F*ck outta here with that bullsh*t. He's a main character in the games, Cage should be a main character in the movies, Period, end of conversation. There's NO just cause for his exclusion and anything anyone says to justify it is spin.

[AquaParade]

I like Cage and I think some of their reasoning has come across weird, but I do think it’s okay to focus on less characters in the first movie. You do have to whittle some characters out, if you want to give depth to them.

Like, if Johnny Cage was my favorite character, I’d be upset, but I’m not necessarily going to fault them for picking and choosing who to focus on for the first film. I’m not even mad about Cole’s inclusion, in theory. We’ll have to see where they go with that.

[Coola Yagami]

Originally Posted by AquaParade

I like Cage and I think some of their reasoning has come across weird, but I do think it’s okay to focus on less characters in the first movie. You do have to whittle some characters out, if you want to give depth to them.

Like, if Johnny Cage was my favorite character, I’d be upset, but I’m not necessarily going to fault them for picking and choosing who to focus on for the first film. I’m not even mad about Cole’s inclusion, in theory. We’ll have to see where they go with that.

That's just the thing, with 'so many characters' if they can't fit the main characters into the story then maybe don't add in made up characters. I'm sure all problems are solved if you remove Cole and have Liu Kang be the one to find out about the tournament.

I really wish there was someone onboard to put the kibosh on OC and do it right. It seems they're doing an amazing job this time and this could really be an amazing MK movie but then some numbnuts has to come along and be like 'duuuuuh, how bout we make this from the POV of a made up character?'

Like imagine making a street fighter movie, tournament and all, being as faithful to the games as possible, stellar fight scenes, fireballs, great actors that look and feel the part..... And let's make Gilbert Gottfried Bison, because reasons. We were soooo close and some dumb**** had to mess it up.

[AquaParade]

See, I think it's too early to get upset about Cole, even if it means there is no Johnny Cage. For all we know, they came up with a really fun concept that requires an original character like Cole. It would be one thing if the movie was only focused on Cole, but that doesn't look to be the case at all, as we are seeing a heavy focus on a good handful of fan-favorite characters. We were never going to get everyone's favorite in the first movie, but they've rounded up a pretty fun group of them.

How are you "sure all the problems are solved" by replacing Cole with Liu when you haven't seen the movie?

[TigerClaw]

I think the whole idea for Cole Young, Is a character who is the audience going into this for the first time.

[AquaParade]

Yeah, I'm just not all that upset that it isn't following Liu Kang story. Cole is, frankly, just as interesting to me.

Don't get me wrong, I got love for Liu, and Robin Shoe was cool in the role as well, but what does he really bring to the table that Cole can't? Not a big deal to me.

I'm just glad they are actually giving focus to Sub-Zero and Scorpion this time around. That's who most people are coming to see and they're getting fleshed out backstories from the looks of the trailers.

[Coola Yagami]

Originally Posted by AquaParade

Yeah, I'm just not all that upset that it isn't following Liu Kang story. Cole is, frankly, just as interesting to me.

Don't get me wrong, I got love for Liu, and Robin Shoe was cool in the role as well, but what does he really bring to the table that Cole can't? Not a big deal to me.

The fact that Liu Kang's actually in the game? Hey Cole, Alice called. She wants her shitck back.

[AquaParade]

That’s what he brings to the table - “he was in the game”?
That’s not enough to be the protagonist in a good story.

Look, it would be one thing if this were “Cole: Mortal Kombat”, but that isn’t what the trailer implies at all. Looks like we will get a great look at a handful of fan favorite characters through the eyes of Cole. And even outside the eyes of Cole. The trailers seem to feature plenty of scenes without him.

I don’t see the need for Liu to be protagonist just because we recognize his name and red headband. He doesn’t have that deep of a story so it doesn’t feel like it’s breaking the concept of MK at all, by not featuring him as protagonist.

It’s always been about the ensemble and it’s always been about the fights. We’re gonna see Liu kick some ass, we’re going to see the backstory of Scorpion and Sub-Zero, we’re seeing other fen favorite characters. I don’t see the problem, conceptually.

[Coola Yagami]

Originally Posted by AquaParade

That’s what he brings to the table - “he was in the game”?
That’s not enough to be the protagonist in a good story.

Look, it would be one thing if this were “Cole: Mortal Kombat”, but that isn’t what the trailer implies at all. Looks like we will get a great look at a handful of fan favorite characters through the eyes of Cole. And even outside the eyes of Cole. The trailers seem to feature plenty of scenes without him.

I don’t see the need for Liu to be protagonist just because we recognize his name and red headband. He doesn’t have that deep of a story so it doesn’t feel like it’s breaking the concept of MK at all, by not featuring him as protagonist.

It’s always been about the ensemble and it’s always been about the fights. We’re gonna see Liu kick some ass, we’re going to see the backstory of Scorpion and Sub-Zero, we’re seeing other fen favorite characters. I don’t see the problem, conceptually.

It's a movie called Mortal Kombat based on the game called Mortal Kombat. If you're gonna make OCs, then make your own movie/concept. The fact that we're seeing the movie through his eyes and the general concept of MK is going to be introduced to us through him is basically making the movie Cole: Mortal Kombat. He's also gonna be a fighter and he'll also take down the big bad. I mean if they're building up the movie through his eyes, storywise, it would make no sense to do all that and focus so much on him only to have Sonya or Sub-Zero save the day, you know it's gonna be him.

Liu Kang is the main character and if we're going to need a character to 'see the MK world through their eyes', it should be him. He's a shaolin monk, follow his life. We don't know much about his life before the MK stuff, well here's a good chance to show it. That's what writers are ****ing paid to do. Make him relatable and likeable. He should also have a 'wtf??' reaction the first time he sees all this stuff.

If anything, Cole should be one of the expendable side characters that dies just so they one of the good guys actually die but it's not a main character from the game that will be used in sequels.

You keep bringing up Scorpion and Sub-Zero. Well imagine if Cole's backstory and family life replacing all the Scorpion/Sub-Zero stuff. They're basically taking Liu's role and exclude Johnny Cage to make their self-insert somehow work, and then dangling Sub-Zero and Scorpion as shiny little keys for you to be too distracted to care.

It's actually annoying some people excuse this crap, similar to the people that excuse Alice in the RE movies. This is why **** like this keeps happening.

It's just annoying whenever this is discussed in some boardroom or whatever and someone says 'we should tell the story through one of the characters so we see are introduced to the world of (insert comic or game here)', who should we use? Some random OC should never ever be the correct answer.

I guess what bothers me the most is this actually looks GOOD when it comes to the Sub-Zero and Scorpion stuff (maybe just make the movie about them through their eyes), it's like so close to being perfect that they should have sent whoever came up with Cole to fetch a mop in the broom closet and just lock in there until the rest of the script was done. If it looked like a shitshow, I wouldn't have cared, but this actually looks GOOD. So why not go full throttle instead of purposely sabotaging this? If they want to squash the old 'all videogame based movies are bad' myth, maybe don't start by making the movie center around someone that isn't in the ****ing game you're adapting.

[AquaParade]

Nah, it really doesn't look like "Cole: Mortal Kombat". You're just blowing it out of proportion.

Why would I "imagine if Cole's backstory and family life replacing all the Scorpion/Sub-Zero stuff."??
So I can feign outrage? I mean, that clearly isn't the case - they look to be giving a ton of focus to these characters.

Dont you get it? Who ever the protagonist is, in the end, is just a vehicle to drive us through the tournament.
Who cares who it is? Again. It's about the ensemble and everyone getting a chance to see one of their favorite characters kick ass. Maybe they had a neat little story concept that required Cole - big deal. You're really upset that he might be the one to "save the day"? That's not the type of thing to make or break a movie for me, sorry.

I do agree that it actually looks good. That's why I'm not flipping my **** over one new character. I generally like to relax and give something a chance before I tear into it just for being a little different to the source material. I cant imagine being a filmmaker in Hollywood today, where people can't handle any type of creative change. I hope you're able to enjoy the movie despite it daring to take a few creative liberties.

[TigerClaw]

The thing you have to remember is that Mortal Kombat isn't just about a tournament. There been 11 Mortal Kombat games, and the story has gone far beyond the tournament stuff.

If you played the story mode in the recent games, There's an overarching story with all its characters, and the story mode features different chapters for each of the characters. The story isnt about one character, But it shines a spotlight in all of them and there stories intertwine with everyone else.

This movie is an ensemble piece, and we'll get there backstory as seen through the eyes of Cole Yong.

[Coola Yagami]

Originally Posted by AquaParade

I cant imagine being a filmmaker in Hollywood today, where people can't handle any type of creative change. I hope you're able to enjoy the movie despite it daring to take a few creative liberties.

If you're really creative, you'd create your own story of franchise rather than try to adapt some pre-existing property. As for creative change, centering the movie through Liu Kang's eyes would be different, the last movie didn't do it that way, it is a different take. If you can't come up with a new way to make a MK story based around the first game's tournament without the main characters, the OG 7 from the first game, then don't try. Obviously you're not the right one for the job. I mean we're not talking about Rain or Striker or Skarlet, we're talking about some of the major characters here.

It's like if I was in charge of a SF movie, which took place during the OG SF2, if I HAD to make some random OC for xyz reason, I wouldn't do it at the expense of having to exclude Chun Li or Ken.

I'm sure I'll still enjoy the movie, the Sub-Zero and Scorpion stuff looks great. I'll just roll my eyes at Cole saving the day or any other odd thing they might throw in there. I mean they kinda ****ed up Mileena as well, guess they forgot she's supposed to be Kitana's TWIN sister.

Originally Posted by TigerClaw

The thing you have to remember is that Mortal Kombat isn't just about a tournament. There been 11 Mortal Kombat games, and the story has gone far beyond the tournament stuff.

Yeah but if you're gonna start at the beginning, you gotta have the tournament. Plus the tournament is what most everyone that has even heard of the name but doesn't play videogames knows about. A tournament where people kill each other and there's blood and stuff.

The storyline does go beyond the tournament.... but I mean.... that's what sequels are for. You can't start a potential movie series by adapting part 5 or 6 of a pre-existing franchise.

[Leo656]

Canon Characters > Made-Up Bullsh*t Characters. 100%. In a franchise where there's already like 90 friggin' characters, the last thing a movie like this needs to do is yank some rando out of their ass. That's stupid.

Also. EL-OH-EL at the whole "OC is the way the audience is introduced to the story" justification. That's nonsense. Less than five people in the entire world are going to watch this movie who aren't intimately familiar with the video game series. Nobody else gives a sh*t about goddamn Mortal Kombat.

It's a movie about a video game, made for people who played the video game. One would assume that people who've played the game already know "the story", thus there's no need for them to be "introduced" to it in a "neat, fun way" through the eyes of some made-up rando. It's just a "solution" in search of a problem that doesn't exist.

Cage isn't my favorite character either, but he 100% deserves to be in the movie over Cole because unlike Cole, Cage is actually in the f*cking games. Motherf*cking Bo' Rai Cho deserves to be in the movie before "Cole", because again, at least Bo' Ra Cho isn't a made-up bullsh*t character.

Plus... kinda hard to ignore the one guy's "Too Many White Dudes = Bad" explanation considering that... y'know... he literally said that was a big reason Cage was removed.

Movie's probably good. I sure hope so. But these are Bad Choices, and not worthy of defense.

[AquaParade]

Reviews starting to come in...

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.for...ictorious/amp/

And wouldn't you know it:

"The conflict between Sub-Zero (Joe Taslim) and Scorpion (Hiroyuki Sanada) takes centre stage"

[Andrew NDB]

I don't really care who they do (or don't) focus on, as long as the characters are true to the games, the story is told well, and there is lots of blood and actual Fatalities. If they can do all of those things then I'll be satisfied.

[Leo656]

Sounds pretty good. That author definitely alludes to something going on with Cage; pretty sure it's either "He's in it for two seconds at the end to tease the sequel", OR it's the oft-rumored "Cole chooses to call himself 'Johnny Cage' as a stage name" gimmick. I'm gonna say it's the former, because this author states specifically that Cole's fighting style and special moves are unique, so I doubt that Cole will turn out to be Cage. It'll be "Cage pops up at the very end and makes everyone wish he was there the whole movie", I'd put money on it.

The only thing that gives me much apprehension is the "Story is kind of ass, doesn't matter" type of comments he sprinkles into his review. Since that's exactly what all of the rave reviews for "Godzilla vs. Kong" are saying, almost word-for-word in some cases, and as we all know that movie is a colossal misfire. "You’ll even forgive the ridiculousness of the story’s plot twists, because the action leaves you satisfied" and "The story might feel secondary at times, but you can’t deny the sheer joy and madness of it all. You get sucked into the fun aspect of it, rather than question every detail" is literally word-for-word how people are talking up that other movie, and those things, in the case of GvK, are Giant F*cking Lies. So that admittedly has me a bit nervous about this one. Whenever people say "The story is secondary, but the movie is Fun", that's code for "Someone 'wrote' this 'script' by eating a bunch of Taco Bell and then dragging their leaking ass across some printer paper, then called it a 'Story' and handed it in." Every single time.

I'm looking forward to it. It'll probably be pretty good. I'm just incredibly gun-shy after Godzilla vs. Kong. I thought there was no way in hell anyone could screw that up, and the trailers looked good, but it was dreadful. I forgot people were still allowed to even make movies that bad. Trailers look good here, too, but... well, we'll see. "Once Bitten, Twice Shy" and all'a that.

F*ck it, I'mma go look for some nice juicy Spoilers to sink my teeth into.

Originally Posted by Andrew NDB

I don't really care who they do (or don't) focus on, as long as the characters are true to the games, the story is told well, and there is lots of blood and actual Fatalities. If they can do all of those things then I'll be satisfied.

The part in bold, though... That's the thing. Like, what are the odds?

Again, the critics are saying the Exact Same Things they said about GvK. The Exact Same Things! That's terrifying!

I kinda have a bad feeling that it will look like MK, feel like MK, be bloody and gory like MK... but that the actual plot might be a pile of sh*t with atrocious dialog, just like GvK.

Last week proved that my tolerance for "Just shut your brain off!" movies is even lower than I'd ever expected. So yeah, I still have trepidations.

[Andrew NDB]

Originally Posted by Leo656

That author definitely alludes to something going on with Cage; pretty sure it's either "He's in it for two seconds at the end to tease the sequel", OR it's the oft-rumored "Cole chooses to call himself 'Johnny Cage' as a stage name" gimmick. I'm gonna say it's the former, because this author states specifically that Cole's fighting style and special moves are unique, so I doubt that Cole will turn out to be Cage. It'll be "Cage pops up at the very end and makes everyone wish he was there the whole movie", I'd put money on it.

Mayyybe. Though I'd hope they'd wait to see if this one is successful, so they can throw a little money at a "name" for Cage.

Again, doesn't need to be a BIG name, but it needs to not be "just some guy." Like, a pre-Deadpool Ryan Reynolds kind of guy. Or a Dane Cook.

Originally Posted by Leo656

The part in bold, though... That's the thing. Like, what are the odds?

Again, the critics are saying the Exact Same Things they said about GvK. The Exact Same Things! That's terrifying!

I kinda have a bad feeling that it will look like MK, feel like MK, be bloody and gory like MK... but that the actual plot might be a pile of sh*t with atrocious dialog, just like GvK.

Mmmm... I'm mostly afraid it will be a series of "look how COOL I am" moments cut together with a lot of CGI, characters we never connect with and lots of "Let's set up the rest of the TRILOGY now!" stuff. But with bloody and real-looking Fatalities.

[Leo656]

I don't think a "name" actor has anything to do with whether or not video game movies do well, and I don't think they're in any way necessary.

I mean they had Whatsisname for the "Assassin's Creed" movie, a no-name for the "Tomb Raider" reboot, and they both had about the same general (lack of) success. Jake Gyllenhaal didn't move the needle for "Prince of Persia", either; that was supposed to be a whole series of movies, he was pretty popular at that time and people actually said the movie itself wasn't half bad, but Nobody Cared anyways. The only video game movie to ever draw seriously Big Money was the Angelina Jolie "Tomb Raider" movies, and that was 100% about the padded bra they had her wear on the posters and nothing else. "Tomb Raider" didn't draw a $435 million box office; Angelina's WonderBra drew a $435 million box office. It's very important to remember that.

It really doesn't seem to matter, otherwise. Video game movies are a niche product aimed at a niche audience, and most people avoid them because they're generally known to be "bad movies". Even if someone they recognize is on the poster, the average moviegoer automatically thinks, "Eh, but it's a video game movie, so it'll be bad even if That Guy is good in it. I'll pass."

That being said, I don't see why they'd even bother getting anyone reasonably well-known for Cage, or ANY of the characters, when it doesn't seem to make any substantial difference. Might as well save a few bucks, y'know?

[Leo656]

Found some Spoilers! I was half-right about some stuff, and one thing I... definitely hadn't expected and am not sure how I feel about it, yet.

Here's the article I found which is full of Spoilers, so click on it at your own risk:
https://goggler.my/mortal-kombat-ending-explained/

So first of all, with regard to Cage... from the article...

Spoiler:

Mortal Kombat ends with Cole quitting his cage fighting gig and flying off to Hollywood in search of Johnny Cage!

If this reboot does well enough to warrant a sequel, then Johnny Cage will likely be one of the new Earthrealm fighters. They clearly haven’t cast the character, which is why the movie ends with the camera on a Johnny Cage movie poster where we only see him from the waist down.

Looks like you may still get your wish, Andrew. Guess we'll see.

As for why Cole ends up being important... I definitely didn't see THIS being the case...

Spoiler:

So it turns out that Hanzo Hasashi didn’t really die at the beginning of this movie but was in fact trapped in the Netherrealm and waiting to exact his revenge on Bi-Han/Sub Zero for killing his family. Before the final showdown, Lord Raiden gives Hanzo’s weapon to Cole, and when he uses it on Sub Zero, the blood on the blade triggers his return from hell. Only now he’s Scorpion.

EDIT: Nevermind, I found a more detailed plot synopsis that was worded better.

Spoiler:

Cole isn't literally Scorpion, as the other article made it sort of sound like, he basically just summons Hanzo back from Hell during the final fight with Sub-Zero and Hanzo takes the Scorpion form. I guess Cole can do that since he's his descendant.

And, of COURSE...

Spoiler:

Not only does Cole have to help Scorpion defeat Sub-Zero, he ALSO gets to kill Goro, all by himself.

I know that is gonna annoy the absolute crap outta me. That really is some borderline "Alice in Resident Evil" sh*t.

Altogether does sound pretty good, though, from the plot synopsis I read. Too bad Hollywood just can't resist playing the "Let's introduce an OC and make them Way More Important than the characters who actually have a valid reason for being here" game. That's Money and Ego for ya, though.