The Mosley Review: Mortal Kombat (2021)
In 1992, the world was introduced to a game that would push the boundaries of how violent a fighting game could be. The moment it hit arcades and then eventually households, it changed the gaming industry, became an instant classic and the reason why we have video game ratings to this day. I have played almost every entry in the video game franchise and I have loved the vast number of characters and rich lore that has grown over the years. In 1995, the world saw the first live action film adaptation of the game and like all of you, that first 45 seconds got my blood pumping and I loved every second of the film after that. It wasn't a perfect film, but it understood exactly what the game was all about and delivered the violent and intense fights within a PG-13 rating. It worked on so many levels and unfortunately nothing in live action and or animated has even come close to the excellence of what I still consider to be one of the best video game to film adaptations of all time. Now comes a new live action film sporting the same name with the characters you know, all the gore and some fatalities that are trademarks of the game. Unfortunately, that's all the film has. I went in to this film with the most amount of caution I've ever had in a long time and even then I was sorely disgusted. I know the lore of the games has expanded, altered, and even rebooted itself, but this was a disgrace. With almost 30 years of lore, you'd think they could've plucked any storyline from the games and not blatantly get it all wrong and serve up this shiny turd of a film. The film completely lacked any structure, levity or even charisma when it came to its characters. After the first 9 minutes of the film, it just takes a nose dive into the abyss of horrible storytelling and hallow “character development”.
The cast in the film all do a decent job with what they were given. I'm not gonna sit here and compare them to their vide game counterparts, but I'll just say that they are not the MK characters you know and love except for a few. Lewis Tan was good as the new character Cole Young and I didn't mind the bloodline story aspect, but he didn't have a compelling story at all. It was cardboard cut out of any generic fighter that’s out of element story that could’ve been retooled into a perfect story for Johnny Cage. Jessica McNamee was cool as Sonya Blade and I think she did a good job bringing to life the characters strong will. Mehcad Brooks was good as Jax and I liked the chemistry between him and Sonya. Their bond is there, but it isn't really as fleshed out I would’ve liked and it falls flat at times. Ludi Lin was awful as Liu Kang. He is supposed to be Earthrealm's mightiest champion and you turn him into a puppy that lost his chew toy. He was the weakest of the group and it hurt my heart to see him be nothing more than a punching bag at times. Max Huang was fantastic as Kung Lao and he nails the character’s pride and skill, but the film wastes his future potential. Tadanobu Asano and Chin Han were truly wasted as Lord Raiden and Shang Tsung. Both have a presence on screen, but they're both so hollow and are just boasting such great power and yet neither one of them have any character complexity or depth. They’re just talking head spewing out pointless exposition and Lord Raiden just insults everyone throughout the whole film. Joe Taslim as Bi-Han / Sub-Zero was perfect as the main antagonist of the film. He was insanely over powered, but deadly and sadistic. Hiroyuki Sanada is always great and he was outstanding as Hanzo Hasashi / Scorpion. The tragedy that befalls his family was heartbreaking and revenge glorious bloody. My biggest problem is that he wasn’t Scorpion long enough. Now the major saving grace in this film was Josh Lawson as Kano. He nailed the crude humor, violent and non existent morality of the character. I loved him and even though he isn't the most perfect portrayal of the character nor is he intimidating, he was still so much fun to watch.
The score by Benjamin Wallfisch was all over the place and belonged in a different film all together. It felt like a techno mix of a horror film and didn't do much but try to punctuate the "heroic" moments in a very cheesy fashion. Benjamin's new mix of the iconic song "Techno Syndrome" was good, but can never touch the original by the The Immortals. The film was visually good looking, but the film was horribly edited and the effects inconsistent in quality. The film does feature a number of fatalities that were cool to see and were gloriously gory. I found myself just disappointed and as a Mortal Kombat fan, this was film doesn’t deserve the franchise name. I just wish Kronika would appear now and erase this abomination out of our realm of existence. It is currently in theaters and streaming on HBO Max, but I can't rightfully recommend it. If you saw it, let me know what you thought of the film or of my review in the comments below. Thanks for reading!
