Mortal Kombat (2021)
April 30, 2021 7:30 PM - Subscribe
Washed-up MMA fighter Cole Young, unaware of his heritage, and hunted by Emperor Shang Tsung's best warrior, Sub-Zero, seeks out and trains with Earth's greatest champions as he prepares to stand against the enemies of Outworld in a high stakes battle for the universe.
I will appreciate this movie for making me lose it when, after all that Bi Han monologuing in Mandarin, Hanzo simply replied in Japanese that he didn't understand anything Bi Han just said. What a terrible, no-good day he had.
posted by cendawanita at 9:04 AM on May 1, 2021 [5 favorites]
posted by cendawanita at 9:04 AM on May 1, 2021 [5 favorites]
Well, uh, that existed. The choreography was fine to good but the editing ranged from fine to really bad, which took the bite out of what could have been some pretty cool fight scenes.
The best parts by far were the opening and the training section. I agree with everything bfranklin and cendawanita said about Hanzo and Bi Han, and the first 10 minutes are the one part where they got do solid work without the movie's overarching flaws weighing them down. The scenes in the temple had cartoonish characters bouncing off each other in fun ways, especially that bit with Liu Kang sweep-kicking Kano over and over -- genuinely one of the smartest nods to the source material I've ever seen in a video game movie.
My biggest complaint after the action editing is that the whole ending just doesn't make a damn bit of sense, and in a really distracting way. Mainly because on the movie's own terms there is no reason at all for Cole's "let's split up" plan to work -- okay, you divide up the heroes, and that allows you to dictate which villains come after them.....how, exactly? Why didn't Team Outrealm just keep operating as a unit and kill each of the chosen in five-on-one fights? It goes from that to Cole summoning Hanzo/Scorpion, again pretty much just because, which leaves the supposed main character as a bystander in the climax. I mean, Hiroyuki Sanada is great, not complaining that he gets the big fight, but narratively it's a mess.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 12:48 PM on May 1, 2021 [3 favorites]
The best parts by far were the opening and the training section. I agree with everything bfranklin and cendawanita said about Hanzo and Bi Han, and the first 10 minutes are the one part where they got do solid work without the movie's overarching flaws weighing them down. The scenes in the temple had cartoonish characters bouncing off each other in fun ways, especially that bit with Liu Kang sweep-kicking Kano over and over -- genuinely one of the smartest nods to the source material I've ever seen in a video game movie.
My biggest complaint after the action editing is that the whole ending just doesn't make a damn bit of sense, and in a really distracting way. Mainly because on the movie's own terms there is no reason at all for Cole's "let's split up" plan to work -- okay, you divide up the heroes, and that allows you to dictate which villains come after them.....how, exactly? Why didn't Team Outrealm just keep operating as a unit and kill each of the chosen in five-on-one fights? It goes from that to Cole summoning Hanzo/Scorpion, again pretty much just because, which leaves the supposed main character as a bystander in the climax. I mean, Hiroyuki Sanada is great, not complaining that he gets the big fight, but narratively it's a mess.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 12:48 PM on May 1, 2021 [3 favorites]
Yeah, that was also weird.
To be more specific, Shang Tsung's evil plan is to kill all the Earthrealm fighters before the tournament actually starts, so Outworld will win in a forfeit. He can do this because the gods who supposedly set up the whole thing are, and this is a direct quote, "too lazy" to bother with enforcing the rules. Except Raiden, of course.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 1:00 PM on May 1, 2021
To be more specific, Shang Tsung's evil plan is to kill all the Earthrealm fighters before the tournament actually starts, so Outworld will win in a forfeit. He can do this because the gods who supposedly set up the whole thing are, and this is a direct quote, "too lazy" to bother with enforcing the rules. Except Raiden, of course.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 1:00 PM on May 1, 2021
I think they were having Raiden teleport people to set up one-on-one matches? The bad guys weren't sticking together in a group so in theory, moving quickly, you could pick them off.
It seemed to me like the villains were coming to them, but on second thought I might have jumped to that conclusion from the part where Kano is stalking Sonya in her home?
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 1:28 PM on May 1, 2021
It seemed to me like the villains were coming to them, but on second thought I might have jumped to that conclusion from the part where Kano is stalking Sonya in her home?
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 1:28 PM on May 1, 2021
She zapped after, he really was already looking for her in the trailer.
And don't judge me because I watched it twice, but i mentally checked out at the exposition at the trailer so I'm still unclear why exactly is Sonya Blade the Fox Mulder/Lone Gunmen of this movie?
Damn waste of Ludi Lin's Liu Kang too.
posted by cendawanita at 2:10 PM on May 1, 2021
And don't judge me because I watched it twice, but i mentally checked out at the exposition at the trailer so I'm still unclear why exactly is Sonya Blade the Fox Mulder/Lone Gunmen of this movie?
Damn waste of Ludi Lin's Liu Kang too.
posted by cendawanita at 2:10 PM on May 1, 2021
...wait, now I'm having a Futurama "that just raises further questions!" moment. Cole said he wanted to force Team Outworld into one-on-one fights they didn't want, but they were already split up and looking for the good guys?
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 2:36 PM on May 1, 2021
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 2:36 PM on May 1, 2021
So, that was bad.
Basically a bunch of boring set pieces, most which end with our heroes needing to go 2 on 1 just to survive.
Really disappointing that they didn't let Sonya Blade win on her own merits, but instead luck into a dragon mark by getting her butt kicked and then conveniently finding a weapon.
Also, Christopher Lambert is the only Raiden we need.
posted by madajb at 11:57 PM on May 1, 2021
Basically a bunch of boring set pieces, most which end with our heroes needing to go 2 on 1 just to survive.
Really disappointing that they didn't let Sonya Blade win on her own merits, but instead luck into a dragon mark by getting her butt kicked and then conveniently finding a weapon.
Also, Christopher Lambert is the only Raiden we need.
posted by madajb at 11:57 PM on May 1, 2021
This was gorier than I expected, but comically so. I only know Mortal Kombat as a pop culture reference/video game so it was nice to go into this cold, yet armed with a knowledgeable partner to fill in gaps.
posted by Kitteh at 4:59 PM on May 2, 2021
posted by Kitteh at 4:59 PM on May 2, 2021
Is it true that they made a Mortal Kombat movie, but saved the existence of an actual tournament for a sequel?
Hollywood's evolved from "everything needs to be a franchise" to "everything needs to be a cinematic universe".
posted by Apocryphon at 1:07 PM on May 3, 2021
Hollywood's evolved from "everything needs to be a franchise" to "everything needs to be a cinematic universe".
posted by Apocryphon at 1:07 PM on May 3, 2021
My computer decided to do a lengthy update around about the invisible lizard fight in the trailer park / junkyard? and I am not going back to finish watching, so my sole opinion on this movie is that Sub-Zero had a real big problem with clearing areas of all survivors (just left without taking care of that baby - pretty sure he didn't even check the house) and making sure his opponent was, ya know, actually dead (take a second Mr. Zero and make sure the guy whose arms you froze off and then knocked off a ledge has no pulse.)before he waltzed off to the next "kill".
posted by Julnyes at 1:55 PM on May 6, 2021
posted by Julnyes at 1:55 PM on May 6, 2021
All I know about this film is that it apparently has a very expensive four point car hoist in one scene that a friend of mine obtained for not much more than the cost of hauling it away after photography wrapped. I look forward to watching it intently looking for the hoist’s cameo!
posted by MarchHare at 3:03 PM on May 7, 2021
posted by MarchHare at 3:03 PM on May 7, 2021
I have watched a "best of Kano" clip on YouTube this morning which was mostly funny, and I think that is sufficient experience with this film.
posted by turbid dahlia at 2:54 PM on May 9, 2021
posted by turbid dahlia at 2:54 PM on May 9, 2021
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I somehow came out of this feeling like there wasn't enough fighting. I think the issue actually is that the fight choreography was consistently built around positioning pieces for specific fatalities. Western martial arts films often do this thing where fights don't help characterization. Compare Ip Man's elevator fight and what you learn v. getting my butt kicked has unlocked a superpower. The fighting felt bland, and largely pulled from the same well just with different weapons.
Oddly, the sub zero/bi Han scenes didn't have this issue. I'm a huge fan of the fight callback, and Sub Zero catching Scorpions spear in round two was glorious.
That said, I'd love to see a sequel where magical powers are assumed and we're not burning screen time rationalizing. There are some good bones in this film to build on.
posted by bfranklin at 4:59 AM on May 1, 2021 [1 favorite]