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My fears for the MK movie have been realized...kinda (spoiler tags included)

Kindred

Kindred

Let Be Be Finale Of Seem
Quote from my gf who knows nothing of MK (aka the bulk of their audience):
  • "The white chick is useless"
  • "Actors suck ass"
  • "Story is confusing"
As an MK fan, 9/10, but as a movie, its a 5-6/10 for me. Average really.
  • My initial fear was that there are too many characters to be able to properly develop them. What can you tell me about Cole other than hes a bad MMA fighter who loves his family? Fuck all lol
  • Characters act dumb for the sole purpose to advance the plot. Conveniently stupid characters are a symptom of bad screenwriting.
    A 4-armed monster, something you didnt even think existed in this reality wants to kill your husband. Do you (a) stand there and watch (b) get the fuck out with your child. I guess (a) because you need to be there for the main character to find his power
  • The Show Don't Tell rule in screenwriting exist because it is much more effective to show characters loving their family than having them flat out say "Im grateful for you". Have some banter that displays their chemistry, their love,
    so that when they die and the survivor cries, we feel for his loss...
  • The thing that bothered me the most though is the lackluster fighting in an MK movie.... Why are there so many cuts in the fight scenes. Why is it that films like The Raid, John Wick, Oldboy have more intense fight scenes than a freaking MK movie... You have actual martial artists, why not make a longer choreography instead of relying on editing to make it fast paced by cutting after every 2 blows...
  • Speaking of fighting, you dont need to have 4 fights happening at the same time. Constantly cutting between different characters mid-fight gets jarring. That's what happens when you cram too many characters in a 1hr35 movie (yea the 1:50 run time is with credits).
  • Simplify the story, reduce the characters, take more time to develop them. You wanna make 4 of those movies, why cram so much info in the first one. You end up losing most people who know nothing about MK.
    Why even bother having a throw away scene of Liu Kang explaining his complex backstory in less than 2 min. Use that to make us connect with the main character or a character that will die soon so that his death is more impactful
  • What's the point of being "chosen" by the mark
    if it transfers to whoever kills you...
I have more issues with it but it was still enjoyable as a movie. As an MK fan though, this movie, the screenplay were clearly made with us in mind. All the characters were fucking SICK, especially Shang Tsung who was the highlight of all the scenes he was in. Only Kabal's cringy dialogue and Reiko were the bad elements I found in terms of characters
 
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DeftMonk

DeftMonk

Warrior
my friennd wanted to see it so i watched it again. Honestly the first time I think the main reason i thought it was so bad is because the score is just booty buttcheeks. I do music production for tv /djs/rappers as my job and this has to be like the worse score I have ever heard. It just makes the movie feel like a fan made film where the score was bought in a movie score pack. It is really really bad and gives the movie a vibe much worse than the movie itself imo. Some of the shots aare cool but the score does not go with it AT ALL. When it does it still sounds cheap. Sad really i woudla done the score for free just out of love for the series and I am sure many others would have as well. Some of the acting imo just purely comes off as horrible because there is a score so bad behind it that it can't seem anything other than cheap.
 
Art Lean

Art Lean

Kombatant
DeftMonk said:
my friennd wanted to see it so i watched it again. Honestly the first time I think the main reason i thought it was so bad is because the score is just booty buttcheeks. I do music production for tv /djs/rappers as my job and this has to be like the worse score I have ever heard. It just makes the movie feel like a fan made film where the score was bought in a movie score pack. It is really really bad and gives the movie a vibe much worse than the movie itself imo. Some of the shots aare cool but the score does not go with it AT ALL. When it does it still sounds cheap. Sad really i woudla done the score for free just out of love for the series and I am sure many others would have as well. Some of the acting imo just purely comes off as horrible because there is a score so bad behind it that it can't seem anything other than cheap.
Click to expand...
I really enjoyed the film but agree the soundtrack is generic as hell, I loved Clinton's score to MK95, but I literally know I will never find myself listening to this one in isolation. Tracks like this in the original were just so wonderfully mystical and fitting of that ancient world (a very under-appreciated score in my opinion) but nothing on the new one comes within a million miles of the atmosphere this creates:

 
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Marinjuana

Marinjuana

Up rock incoming, ETA 5 minutes
The worst thing that could have happened was them to butcher the movie and it be unsuccessful which I don't think it the case. I think we'll see a lot more MK
 
D

Deleted member 5032

Guest
Yeah, it seems be blowing up. Lots of celebrities tweeting about it. I'm sure the fact it's a free watch on HBO is making a huge difference. If people had to spend $20 to see it in a theater, I doubt it would have made any impact whatsoever.
 
Kindred

Kindred

Let Be Be Finale Of Seem
I definitely think it was successful enough for them to continue the franchise, which is great.
Here's hoping we dont get another MK annihilation for the next one. I really wished they addressed the glaring issues of this one in the sequel.

Also, boy am I glad Johnny wasnt in the movie. Kano was the highlight in terms of quippy dialogue. They tried to do the same with Kabal but his dialogue felt so cringey to me. Unfunny and forced.
 
DeftMonk

DeftMonk

Warrior
Art Lean said:
I really enjoyed the film but agree the soundtrack is generic as hell, I loved Clinton's score to MK95, but I literally know I will never find myself listening to this one in isolation. Tracks like this in the original were just so wonderfully mystical and fitting of that ancient world (a very under-appreciated score in my opinion) but nothing on the new one comes within a million miles of the atmosphere this creates:

Click to expand...
Ya because of my job it really rubbed me bad when i watched it first. The score is just constant brass with random cheap 90s techno sounds. Also the fight scenes would constantly swap minor to major key brass depending on iff the bad guy was winning or losing. It was honestly done extremely poorly. It sounded like the injustice 2 soundtrack which i guess was mediocre at best for a fighting game (nothing like tekken 7 where streamers are going to use half the tracks even if they dont play fighting games). But that level of production is pitiful for a full feature movie.

The movie has a few points where u are like "why did they know this"or lack of character development but who gives a shit. Everything was done pretty well imo except 2 things: Score is buttcheeks. Literal worst modern day score ive ever heard and #2 I do appreciate the stuff like flawless victory fatalty lines after someone dies but the way they were delivered wasnt well thought out. I think they could have made it sound natural AND be an easter egg for people who like mk. It came off kinda cheese imo. Wasnt that bad tho. I am honestly thinking of rescoring one of the fights and uploading to youtube just to show what a difference it can make. That score sucks butt. Even when they kicked in the MK theme at end it should be chillbumps inducing but instead it was like "neat thats mk theme".
 
D

Deleted member 5032

Guest
DeftMonk said:
The score is just constant brass with random cheap 90s techno sounds.
Click to expand...
It's samples from the original 95 soundtrack. Well, not "samples" as much as half-assed recreations, but yeah, the 95 theme is playing through most of the movie.
 
DeftMonk

DeftMonk

Warrior
RoboCop said:
It's samples from the original 95 soundtrack. Well, not "samples" as much as half-assed recreations, but yeah, the 95 theme is playing through most of the movie.
Click to expand...
Ya thats the problem is it's not using samples, its using recreations that are done with sampled synths and brass. Sampled synths and brass should never be used in that high level of production. Sounds like doodoo. If u can find me a video of a symphony recording that score i will pay u 100 dollars. They could have just used more atmospheric tones don't need shitty sounding brass but I digress. I totally agree with Art the movie from 20 years ago had a better score.
 
Kindred

Kindred

Let Be Be Finale Of Seem
DeftMonk said:
The movie has a few points where u are like "why did they know this"or lack of character development but who gives a shit.
Click to expand...
Character development is the basis for any 3-act structure story. How do you want a general public to be invested if they barely know the characters? What can you tell me about Cole other than he supposedly loves his family (which is the most cheap way of making a character relatable because most ppl love their family. its lazy writing). You can tell me nothing beyond some superficial throw away lines. What makes him tick, what are his passions, what makes him laugh, etc. This makes his arc, from zero to hero, that much more engaging when it happens. And if you want your movie to not be as forgettable as Tomb Raider (2015), it helps to have a memorable hero's journey.

Character development....It's the difference between Steppenwolf and Thanos.
 
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CrimsonShadow

CrimsonShadow

Administrator and Community Engineer
Administrator
Kindred said:
Character development....It's the difference between Steppenwolf and Thanos.
Click to expand...
That and the fact that Thanos is a cool purple dude rocking some chin swag, while Steppenwolf is that same design that's been in every popular media franchise from Lord of the Rings to Diablo II to Doom to (insert movie here)

You could slap Steppenwolf into any of those franchises and just have him roar or breathe fire, and nobody would notice :cool:
 
T

ticklebandit!

Apprentice
I totally agree about the lack luster martial arts choreography and abundance of cuts. They focused way more on special powers/abilities and fatalities than actual hand to hand fighting. Which was cool to see but overall a huge shame because a lot of the actors are phenomenal martial artists (like sub zero actor from the raid). The mk95 movie had better fight scenes but (of course) worse special effects. But in all honesty the fight choreography from the first movie still holds up thanks to (I believe) the actor who played Kang who was also the fight choreographer. Bring him back for the sequel!

I still enjoyed the movie but need to watch it again sober and with less people
 
S

supahotbean

Noob
RoboCop said:
Yeah, it seems be blowing up. Lots of celebrities tweeting about it. I'm sure the fact it's a free watch on HBO is making a huge difference. If people had to spend $20 to see it in a theater, I doubt it would have made any impact whatsoever.
Click to expand...
Which celebs are talking about the new movie?
 
StormGoddess

StormGoddess

Your mind tricks won't harm me!!!
for better or worse the movie is doing well despite the circumstances...

‘Mortal Kombat’ Conquers ‘Demon Slayer’ After Intense Brawl For No. 1 As Moviegoing Rebounds From Pandemic

1.) Mortal Kombat (New Line/WB), 3,073 theaters /Fri $9.08M/Sat $8.7M/Sun $4.765M/3-day $22.5M/Wk 1

2.) Demon Slayer (Fun/Ani) 1,605 theaters/Fri $9.5M/Sat $6.44M/Sun $3.56M/3-day $19.5M Wk 1

3.) Godzilla vs. Kong (WB/Leg) 2,856 theaters (-145),Fri $1.1M/Sat $1.9M/Sun $1.2M/ 3-day: $4.2M (-46%)/Total: $86.57M/Wk 4

4.) Nobody (Uni) 2,252 theaters (-153) Fri $500K/Sat $850K/Sun $510K/3-day: $1.86M (-26%)/Total $21.67M/Wk 5

5.) Raya and the Last Dragon (Dis) 1,819 theaters (-126), Fri $400K/Sat $800K/Sun $480k/ 3-day: $1.68M (-12%), Total: $39.8M/Wk 8

6.) The Unholy (Sony) 1,835 theaters (-222) //Fri $425K/Sat $610M/Sun $365K/$1.4M (-32%)/Total: $11.5M/Wk 4

7.) Tom & Jerry (WB) 1,930 theaters (-98), 3-day: $650K (-32%)/Total: $43.4M/Wk 9

8.) Together Together (BST) 665 theaters, Fri $181K, Sat $211K, Sun $130K, 3-day: $522K/Wk 1

9.) The Girl Who Believes in Miracles (Atlas) 941 theaters (-71) Fri $90K/Sat $155K/Sun $92K/ 3-day $337K (-40%)/Total: $2.4M/Wk 4

10.) The Courier (RSA) 713 theaters (-210),/Fri $84K/Sat $120K/Sun $60K/3-day: $264K (-43%)/Total: $5.9M/Wk 6

deadline.com

‘Mortal Kombat’ & ‘Demon Slayer’ Overperform On Sunday After Intense Box Office Brawl; Anime Pic Busts Past $21M

Domestic box office showing further signs of life post 'Godzilla vs. Kong' as 'Mortal Kombat' & 'Demon Slayer' set to make $20M each.
deadline.com deadline.com
 
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