Loved it.
It was SO different to MK95, in some good ways and some not-so-good (but not 'bad').
I loved how MK95 embraced the on-location filming in gorgeous Thailand scenery (the beach and the courtyard in particular are forever stunning), I also loved George S Clinton's tribal score that recalled a lot from Japanese Taiko drum group Kodo; really gave the film a beautifully mystical feel at times that the new film didn't even attempt to capture, and the original truly had that supernatural Enter the Dragon martial arts tournament atmosphere that the first game tried to convey (would have preferred MK95 to have been more cherry blossomed Hong Kong cinema ala Chinese Ghost Story feel, rather than the cheaper Thailand-filmed Bloodsport 2 production we got, but credit where credit's due and the beaches and dragon boats are utterly beautiful to this day). I also loved MK95's licensed soundtrack; it changed my life, the new film just has a nice modern score that I doubt I'll listen to in isolation. The mixture of 95's timeless Asian score mixed with contemporary industrial, metal and electronica made for a stunning audio journey that corrupted my 13 year old mind and made for a crazy MTV music video set to ninjutsu. Plus fabulous performances from Tagawa and in his own way, Lambert.
The new film feels very MK Legacy but with a good budget. But that's not a complaint as I loved that series and could see its potential irrespective of its budgetary limitations. Other than the return of Tagawa, Legacy felt very different from both MK95 & Conquest's universe and yet I also loved all those visions of Mortal Kombat in contrast to one another.
The initial feedback comments of Legacy-meets-Legends are very accurate but that's a good thing, I enjoyed it thoroughly.
I laughed at lot in this movie, Kano was excellent, was surprised at how much Kabal channeled MK11's rendition of the character. Loved Sonya, Jax, Mileena, Liu Kang, Sub Zero, Scorpion and Shang Tsung. Different interpretations yet felt familiar all the same. Not once did I feel that hideous feeling that they'd thrown in a character with a familiar name yet no sense of accurate characterisation just to name-drop them for the fans (like the godawful King of Fighters movie). Ok, maybe Reiko? But seriously... it's Reiko. If you're going to stick a jobber in your franchise-starting movie, MK4 is the best place to pluck characterless losers from to sell over the heroes. MK4's roster was full of knockoff jobbers, needless to say there's a reason most of them never came back.
The fatalities were excellent, I think it was a nice decision to off some 3D era characters knowing that means there's lots of potential for a whole roster of beloved Outworld fighters in a sequel. Reptile was far more lithe than initially expected, he looked more heavy and brutish in the trailers, but was surprisingly on form with his slender Deadly Alliance characterisation. I can't deny the movie was kind of simplistic in its logic at times, but it's Mortal Kombat. The closest any live-action MK media has come to channeling what my mind interpreted from the original trilogy of games' atmosphere was probably the MK2 live action TV advert, with all the costumes designed by the team behind Hellraiser. But I don't think there's a mainstream market for that kind of supernatural martial arts horror to be funded with a big budget via a video game licence, so I'm very happy with this regardless.
A tiny part of me almost wishes it had been Lambert that turned up at the end when Raiden reappears for the scene where they need to build a new team of Earthrealm fighters, it's one of those moments that just felt like I craved that ridiculous nostalgic touch, not that I would expect them to put it in, not that it would make sense either, just the child in me wanted that "never had a clue" bromance moment from the inimitable king of raspy cool to be smiling at his champions. Not that Lambert as Raiden even made much sense, but I loved him all the same.
Cole was fine, since it wasn't actually the tournament it never felt offensive that effectively the 2021 version of Art Lean was the lead character. He didn't come across as an offensively corporately inserted new character, he felt in line with Siro, Taja, Art Lean, any number of original characters the Threshold productions brought in. The fact that he was a new member of the Scorpion lineage really wasn't any different than Chris Casamassa's new version of Takeda in Conquest who took over the Scorpion title way back in 1998 so I didn't mind at all.
It sets up for sequels beautifully and left me smiling ear to ear.
Is it better than MK95? Hmm, in many ways. In every way? Not necessarily. I'm fully aware of MK95's faults, but it did do a lot of things right and give that movie a firm 7.5 out of 10 (as a video game movie and interpretation of Mortal Kombat).
This gets an 8 out of 10, objectively better in many ways, but lacks some things I loved about the original. Namely those beautiful Oriental moments and mystical atmosphere, this almost felt more X-Files than Big Trouble in Little China, Enter the Dragon or A Chinese Ghost Story. But maybe that's just the MK Legacy influence which also had that feeling at times?
But it sets up for a magical sequel I can't wait to see. I waited 24 years for this, and enjoyed every minute. Here's hoping we not only get a sequel, but that it's not an Annihilation either.
In many ways, this feels like another Judge Dredd situation. In both instances, the 1995 version of each actually had far better cinematography and on-location shooting that made for a far more beautiful and accurate representation of their respective worlds (say what you like about Stallone's Dredd but the 95 movie was WAY better at capturing Mega City One as a gloriously ridiculous future cyberpunk world than 2012 did, which was just Johannesburg.... but bigger). The contemporary reboots (Dredd 2012, MK2021) have a far more viscerally impactful and accurate representation of the characters, their attitudes and the violence their universes represented, but miss out on the beautiful cinematic magic the originals had. Just like the two Dredd films, the two franchise-starting MK films (95 and 21) have a perfect franchise movie between the two if the best of both was combined together.
All in all though (just like Dredd 2012), two thumbs (and a severed head) up!
I have the most straight to the point explanation that sums up the movie it was good no debate . All that nitpicking it’s just attention begging trying to seem “different” .. Didn’t like it just ain’t as big on MK as you thought. That’s all...no debate.
