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Mortal Kombat (2021) Movie Discussion Thread

Jynks

some heroes are born, some made, some wondrous
re-posting my review here...

[This is a review of the MK Film... it has NO SPOILERS of any sort.... even so... be warned. READ AT OWN RISK]

Mortal Kombat 3 (2021) - [Simon McQuoid]

It is fair to say I am bias with this movie. From the day I saw Mortal Kombat in the arcade over 25 years ago I have been playing this game. I have unremembered hours of time sunk into this game series over those 25+ years and to this day I am still playing MK almost daily. We are up to MK11 now, but it is really MK, MK2 and the Ultimate that really hold my heart.

My point is... I am a MK fanboy, so take this with a grain of salt.

This movie was fucking awesome!!!

The only thing that sucks about it is that if you are a fan you're sure to see some of your favourite characters die, and that is depressing, though of course death is never the end in MK! I am not sure what people are expecting but this is an old school American Martial Arts film. Think "Bloodsport" but modern. The movie is a weak, and I mean weak, framework to get people into a fight sequence. While the plot works, it never is able to rise above the fact that it is a framing device for the fight sequences. This is not a weakness of the film, this is the film makers understanding what they are making and who they are making it for. We are not forced to sit through much mellow drama or other assorted crap.. it is just blood and gore fight sequences pretty much non-stop peppered in with some fun jokes.

What makes the film really step up a notch is the amazing performance of Kano. He carries the movie as he is fun to watch, and funny as fuck. In fact Kano and Kabal are both fantastic in this movie. Everyone else is taking it a little to seriously. Still the casting is just boss. Scorpion is perfectly cast from Hiroyuki Sanada, and Sub-Zero being played by Joe Taslim is genius. (Can not wait for his version of Noob Saibot). Chin Han dose a perfect Shang Tsung and well, really, all in all.... everyone nails it.

The movie has its problems. The forced game lines like "Finish Him" and "Flawless Victory" stand out like dogs balls. With Kano's "Kano Wins" the only one that works. This is probably the films biggest issue, while the dialogue writing is actually really good, particularly the comedic stuff with Kano which is all working, the attempts to call back to the game constantly breaks the reality of the movie.

The gore is not as gory as I would have liked. It is not nearly as gory as the actual modern games, apart from a few "fatalities". If you have seen "The Night Comes for Us"... that is what the gore should have been. More vicious and brutal. This is more like "glory shots".. so the gore is there, but it is more cartoonish than brutal. Even so, in the modern age of Disney and WB comic book films with all the bloodless violence having actual gore and blood in a mainstream movie is 5 aces as far as I am concerned, even if the Indonesian Martial Arts film scene is way in front.

I do not really know what more people could have wanted from a MK film. Lets not pretend that the original movies are some kind of high art. You see some great realizations of your favourite characters, you see them fight... all in all it is a much better MK film that I expected and I was very happy with what I saw.

Verdict : Round 2.... FIGHT!!
 
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DarksydeDash

You know me as RisingShieldBro online.
The Mortal Kombat movie is full of cheesy wise cracks and beautifully gory fatalities.

That's what we love and expect of the series but as a huge fan of the video game series its based on, its very hard for me to love it or hate it. There's plenty of fan service for MK fans, especially in the backgrounds, but then there's some very questionable moments, and one of those is the new character, Cole Young, and his purpose in this movie.

I can't help but think the entirely movie would be infinitely better if he was excluded or replaced but he's here and we gotta put up with him.

My final thoughts are Sub-Zero and Scorpion, to no one's surprise, are easily the best part of the movie. That being said, Kano is an absolute treat and you can't help but love everything that comes out of his mouth.

It's very hard for me to properly score this movie, because it does a lot right and a lot wrong. I can't give it higher than a 7/10 as an MK fan but for someone who is not an non MK fan and this is their introduction to the series, I can easily see it as 5/10 or lower.
 

KiD INsAnitY

Z of The Leaf -Team R.A.N
I liked it. Just cheesy enough to give off those old school MK vibes . Shook the story up alil too so it wasn’t the exact same old. Liked that they used more foreign actors for their respected characters too.
 

NickDaGreek1983

Oh, my days !
For me it was a 7 or 7,5 out of 10.

Some (not many) fight scenes could be longer .
My biggest complain was the music. If there was a less generic, more upbeat score, it would elevate the fight scenes.
As far as Simon's direction goes, EVERY "horror" like scenes and edits were pure gold ! ! ! He used Subzero's presence in an old school, horror movie style sometimes. I cannot describe how cool it was!
Shang Tsung had one great scene.... It shocked me! ! ! I was sad actually, it was hard to watch...

Liu Kang could use another fight.
Cole was just... ok or maybe good... I can understand how he was useful for exposition and to avoid the "Liu Kang rules all" once again, but... I don't know maybe Lewis Tan's acting has some limits.
Ludi Lin, Josh Lawson, Joe Taslim, Hiroyuki Sanada and Jessica McNamee were great .

I can't wait for them to announce the sequel. I am optimistic that we'll get one.
 

Courante

Give all to another and save yourself
Movie was horrible. The pacing and scope of the narrative was poor. Cole Young is wooden as hell and only exists so the studio can justify the lore changes (and not for the better). Hanada was underutilized.

All the fights in the latter half of the film (save the final confrontation between Sub and Scorp) felt rushed and lacked payoff, considering so much of the film was hyping up the arcana nonsense.

Characters just teleport all over the place (going wherever they need to go) in the most contrived way possible and next to no actual character development happens.

Kano is the best part of the movie but people here need to ask themselves WHY

THE ANSWER: he is literally playing Johnny Cages role.


All the pop culture quips and the arrogance is literally Johnny's character. I'm surprised no one is picking up on that. Yes, the vulgarity and general menace is up Kano's alley, but just because you filtered the style of Johnny cage through an Aussie accent does NOT mean you made a good Kano.

Rewatch the movie and you will understand.

Score was obnoxious. The production overall felt like cheap sci fi at some points and a competent marvel show at others. I think set design is mostly to blame here.

Long story short, if they had fixed the pacing (long build up to rushed finale), fix the scope of the movie (theres no stakes because the actual consequences of the tournament are being avoided), and stop the studio meddling in the lore the film might have been good.

I'm an MK fan but this movie is a light 6.
 
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Sutter Pain

Your mothers main.
I enjoyed it way more more than I thought I would for sure. I thought it was gonna be all super serious and I am glad I was wrong. I was ready to hate the shit out of it lol.
 

Courante

Give all to another and save yourself
re-posting my review here...

[This is a review of the MK Film... it has NO SPOILERS of any sort.... even so... be warned. READ AT OWN RISK]

I do not really know what more people could have wanted from a MK film. Lets not pretend that the original movies are some kind of high art. You see some great realizations of your favourite characters, you see them fight... all in all it is a much better MK film that I expected and I was very happy with what I saw.

Verdict : Round 2.... FIGHT!!
I really dislike the excuse of "it's not high art" to justify a poor movie being made. Even if you are only in it for the fanservice you have to feel cheated here.

Marvel has proven you can still do fanservice and make a decent movie. The movie was amateurish and smacks of behind the camera inadequacies. The script, as you yourself mentioned, is lacking, with the plotting getting in the way of character development and nuance.

The dialogue is stilted and falls flat multiple times. The fact that the films excellent performances (most of the time) in front of the camera still cannot outweigh the production missteps behind it means the film is bad.

As an MK fan myself I think we can all expect more from the series in the future.
 

Sutter Pain

Your mothers main.
I really dislike the excuse of "it's not high art" to justify a poor movie being made. Even if you are only in it for the fanservice you have to feel cheated here.

Marvel has proven you can still do fanservice and make a decent movie. The movie was amateurish and smacks of behind the camera inadequacies. The script, as you yourself mentioned, is lacking, with the plotting getting in the way of character development and nuance.

The dialogue is stilted and falls flat multiple times. The fact that the films excellent performances (most of the time) in front of the camera still cannot outweigh the production missteps behind it means the film is bad.

As an MK fan myself I think we can all expect more from the series in the future.
Lets be real man no real writer\big name or director is gonna get the green light from a studio to do a big budget MK movie.
 

Courante

Give all to another and save yourself
Lets be real man no real writer\big name or director is gonna get the green light from a studio to do a big budget MK movie.
Budget is not the issue here. Studio interference and poor writing is. Theres not enough experience or talent behind the camera to back up this film. It's a shame.
 

Sutter Pain

Your mothers main.
Budget is not the issue here. Studio interference and poor writing is. Theres not enough experience or talent behind the camera to back up this film. It's a shame.
I am saying no one with real experience or talent is gonna waste time on a MK movie. Unless some studio pays big fucking money which they wont. So we gonna get people using it as a stepping stone for their career which is perfectly fine. MK is more or less a damn meme in the cinematic world.
 
Lol I think people just have to admit to themselves that a mortal kombat movie (and like 60% of video game properties) don't lend themselves well to linear narratives. Especially a premise as dumb and flimsy as Mortal Kombat's. I have low expectations of the movie and know the movie will meet at least those. Some people expect too much I feel.
 

DeftMonk

Noob
Ya this kinda sucked not gonna lie. My expectations were low af and somehow they managed to not even meet that. If you just wanna see a dumb ass action movie that is so bad its funny save urself the time and go watch this
 
Good:
Kano and Kabal were spot on awesome.
Fatalities
Costumes
Nod to spamming leg sweep was hilarious
Fight scenes


Bad:
Killing off characters that had tons of potential.
Cole Turner‘s character was pointless.
Bad acting, dialogue and pacing.
Liberties taken with the lore (especially Kane’s eye).


Verdict: Fun action / Kung Fu flick mixed with superhero elements that isn’t going to win any awards. I still can’t tell if being an ultra mega MK fanboy helped or hurt my enjoyment. For every “hey look it’s the (insert Easter egg)” there was a “wait that’s not right, that’s not how the character / scenario / story goes in the game”.
 

colby4898

Special Forces Sonya Up-player
So I didnt know what HBO max and apparently it's just a streaming service, but it's only available in the US. So how do I in the UK watch this? I don't want to pay for a vpn, pay $15 for a month subscription just to watch 1 film once... why would they not make it available elsewhere??
 

colby4898

Special Forces Sonya Up-player
Lol I think people just have to admit to themselves that a mortal kombat movie (and like 60% of video game properties) don't lend themselves well to linear narratives. Especially a premise as dumb and flimsy as Mortal Kombat's. I have low expectations of the movie and know the movie will meet at least those. Some people expect too much I feel.
What do you mean linear? Arent the game stories linear too?
 

Sutter Pain

Your mothers main.
So I didnt know what HBO max and apparently it's just a streaming service, but it's only available in the US. So how do I in the UK watch this? I don't want to pay for a vpn, pay $15 for a month subscription just to watch 1 film once... why would they not make it available elsewhere??
Put a eye patch on fuck WB.
 
I loved it. I give it easily a 8/10.

My only few complaints is there are certain characters I wish they spend more time on. Particularly the ones they promoted a lot before the release of the movie.

Other than that, everything else was awesome. Scorpion's arc was great. I didn't think I would get behind the Cole Young character, but I did and actually wouldn't mind if he was a playable character. I liked how they made Sub Zero very menacing and intimidating. He's almost like the terminator of the movie. Kano was hilarious and probably the highlight of the movie for me. I don't really care if he was meant to replace Johnny Cage. The actor's portrayal was gold and they did the character justice. Doesn't hurt for them try something different.
 
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Swindle

Philanthropist & Asshole
I’ve seen all the “movies based on fighting games”: Tekken, Street Fighter, DOA, King of Fighters, the OG Mortal Kombats...
This film is better than they are, and gives me hope that future MK films will be even better (and will actually get made).
That pleases me.
 

Metzos

You will BOW to me!
Just saw the movie. It was not good but it was not bad either. I have a feeling WB is gonna pull another "Snyder JLA" move on us. The movie seemed unfinished in many ways.