(CCR Original Content) Mortal Kombat 2021 Review [Spoiler Free Review and Spoiler Section below picture] (6/10)
Mortal Kombat is a 2021 Martial Arts/Fantasy movie directed by Simon McQuoid. It's screenplay was written by Greg Russo and Dave Callaham with story written by Russo and Oren Uziel. Producers on the film include James Wan, Todd Garner, Simon McQuoid, and E. Bennett Walsh and production companies New Line Cinema, Atomic Monster Productions, and Broken Road Productions and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. The movie stars Joe Taslim, Hiroyuki Sanada, Lewis Tan, Jessica McNamee, Josh Lawson and Mehcad Brooks.
Cole Young, (Lewis Tan) a young MMA fighter accustomed to taking a beating for money is targeted by a lethal assassin (Sub-Zero/Joe Taslim) with the ability to control and manipulate ice. Jax (Mehcad Brooks) tells him the truth behind his dragon shaped birthmark and that he must find Sonya Blade (Jessica McNamee).
I thought this movie was good. I kind of had high expectations going into it and I can say that in some ways it lived up to the hype and in other ways it didn't. This movie certainly isn't your "daddy's" Mortal Kombat and delivered the goods when it came to blood and gore but I have to say that it was a little more than disappointing when it came to the plot of the movie and how they re-arranged or changed up the storyline. I for one love the opening of the movie that you can see the first 7 minutes of right now everywhere on the internet. How it opens up with the history of the characters Sub-Zero and Scorpion was just awesome. I have to admit that I'm a big Mortal Kombat fan and especially of Scorpion, he's probably my favorite character. So to see the back story to his character done right was just great. I'm still mixed on how I feel about the new kid to the group Cole Young. I mean Lewis Tan did a pretty good job on playing the character in the movie and his action scenes were pretty great too, I guess I'm just not that big a fan of the director throwing in a character into the story that wasn't in any of the games. I also didn't like how they took "poetic license" so to speak with the whole storyline of the franchise and make some rather big changes to the whole Mortal Kombat universe. Like the origin of their powers or even the significance of the whole dragon markings that they have. I will go over in detail all the things that I liked and didn't like in the spoiler section. Although I have my qualms to pick with this film, it was quite enjoyable and I really liked watching it in theaters. That being said though, I think it's worth waiting to see this movie or watch it at home on HBOMax instead of paying more to see it in theaters. I'm at odds on whether to give it my "Must See Seal of Approval" and therefore I don't think that I can but if you are a fan of the old movies or video games then you definitely have to see this movie. I give Mortal Kombat 2021 a 6/10.
Look Below This Picture For Spoiler Section Or Click On Picture For Our YouTube Review
Spoiler Section Review:
Get over here!!! Man this movie really delivered with the blood, guts and gore with its rated-R rating and it's really awesome action scenes and great special effects. I was really impressed with the way they made Sub-Zero look and the opening scenes of the movie showing the past and history of Scorpion and Sub-Zero's characters. Hanzo Hasashi/Scorpion was a beast killing all those Lin Kuei ninja after Bi Han/Sub-Zero killed his family and their duel was awesome and the stuff of legends. I'm just really disappointed in a lot of the changes they did to the storyline of the Mortal Kombat universe and how they presented a lot of things in this film compared to the original movies and especially the video games. So first off like I said in the non-spoiler section Lewis Tan was really good as Cole Young, I just kind of didn't like his character that much. And it's not like I hated him, he's a pretty cool character and I like his motivations to keep his family safe and how he goes along with everything, I guess I just don't like how they could have had a different character in the movie instead of him, like Johnny Cage or how they diminished the role of Liu Kang (Ludi Lin) to a side character. So in the beginning of the movie they show Cole Young fighting as an MMA fighter which is cool and Jax asks him about his dragon "tattoo" which turns out something he was born with. This is interesting as in the old movies, mainly the sequel Mortal Kombat Annihilation, there were dragon tattoos that were a sign of Raiden's father, the Elder God Shinnok, that were seen on enemies working for Shao Khan who wound up being Raiden's brother. In this movie the dragon symbols are supposed to mark those who have been chosen to fight in Mortal Kombat. The movie shows Shang Tsung ordering Bi-Han who now calls himself Sub-Zero to kill Earthrealm's champions and prevent an ancient prophecy stating the "blood of Hanzo Hasashi" will unite a new generation of champions preventing Outworld's 10th and final victory over Earthrealm. As far as I know this isn't in the movies or game but not a horrible idea or concept. Sub-Zero goes after Cole Young and Jax rescues him and his family and tells him to find Sonya Blade before going after Sub-Zero alone. I thought this was pretty dumb for him to go after him solo and thought that there was going to be a group of soldiers or cops or something that would all be going after him at the same time but nope. So this goes about as good as expected and well, from watching the trailer we all knew what was going to happen especially if you've played the games. So Sub-Zero easily defeats Jax and freezes and breaks off both his arms. The fight between them was actually pretty good and I liked it a lot too even though it was kind of one sided. So Cole gets to Sonya who actually has Kano captured at her hideout already. Kano was a character I think they did really well, I just wished they would have left him as a bad guy because they totally changed him into a good guy in this movie. I admit that he was a pretty funny character and lead to a lot of laughs but Kano is not a good guy and is as rotten as they come and they failed in showing him that way big time. Sonya tells Cole that the dragon mark can be transferred to anyone who kills the bearer which is really stupid in my opinion. This has nothing to do with the games or movies and seems like something they thought would be cool so they just threw it in there. They get attacked by a reptile monster Shang Tsung sends after them which was kind of cool because of it being a throw back to the original movie and the character "Reptile" but it would have been a lot cooler if they would have thrown in a character like Baraka instead but that's just my opinion. They all fight Reptile together and Kano rips his heart out all badass. They travel to Raiden's Temple and train with Liu Kang and Kung Lao after being brought before Raiden himself who isn't impressed with them in the least. Raiden by the way was done pretty good in this movie, the only thing I was critical of was that they didn't give him white hair and they could have made him more likeable because he was kind of indifferent to the Earthrealm champions instead of embracing them like the original film. Shang Tsung boldly attacks them at Raiden's Temple with Sub-Zero and Mileena by his side which is totally out of character to me. In the original movie Shang Tsung was way more cunning and evil compared to this version and I think they totally underplayed his character and didn't do him justice. Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa who played Shang Tsung in the original Mortal Kombat was way more charismatic to me and definitely came off as scarier and more evil as well as more clever. I don't think the character Shang Tsung would have openly attacked the Earthrealm champions especially when Raiden himself is there to protect them, it just doesn't make sense. Raiden sets up a protection barrier so they train with Liu Kang and Kung Lao, which I have to say both actors and their characters were awesome in their portrayals were spot on and it's a shame in a movie where Asian actors are the stars that they were forced into the background as secondary characters. They are trying to unlock the other fighters' "arcana", which is a special power unique to all dragon mark bearers. This was a really different concept and veers way off course from the video games and prior movies and was okay when I was watching the movie but the more I think of it, I really don't like that they made this a thing. I mean it doesn't really make any sense to me and turns out it comes off as kind of stupid, not to mention it doesn't explain any of the powers everyone else has like Sub-Zero or Shang Tsung, but whatever. Kano unlocks his power which is his signature laser eye which doesn't make sense now because he doesn't have a metal implant on his face and Cole unable to unlock his is allowed to go back to his family. Also Jax had been recovering after he was rescued by Liu Kang who saved him but is being treated for his arms and now has these mechanical skeletal arms that are rather flimsy instead of the robotic/cybernetic ones from the video games. He too is trying to unlock his "arcana". Shang Tsung mounts another attack on the Earthrealm fighters after recruiting some additional fighters such as Nitara, Reiko, Goro and Kabal who advises Shang Tsung that Kano can be persuaded to switch sides. This was confusing to me because I remember Kabal being a good guy so they totally changed Kano to a good guy in this movie and Kabal to a bad guy which was kind of unnecessary. I mean I didn't think they could get me to like Kano as a good guy but he was pretty likeable compared to the old one who was quite despicable. Also the characters they had on the bad guys side were pretty cool but I don't understand with all the characters they had to choose from, why in the world would they choose Reiko and why they would give him a sledgehammer. They pretty much just made him come off as a poor Shao Kahn knock off and they could have put a way cooler character like Baraka, Reptile but the ninja version, Smoke or even Ermac. Kano destroys the barrier Raiden setup from within after switching sides at the same time Goro is sent to kill Cole and his family. The editing and cuts in these scenes were done pretty bad or at least the pacing was off or something because it didn't feel quite right to me but the fight scenes themselves were pretty good. In the ensuing battle Kung Lao defeats Nitara rather easily and we don't even get to see what she can do, also Mileena chooses to not even fight Sonya because she doesn't have a dragon mark and so isn't even worth killing. Kabal is easily one of the coolest bad guy characters and shows his speed power in his battle against Liu Kang and Cole awakens his "arcana" fighting Goro. The fight with Cole against Goro was really cool because I didn't expect for Goro to come out until the end of the movie because like the first film they hinted at him but didn't show him at first. But not only was I surprised that he wasn't the main "big bad" in the movie but also how Cole is able to kill him so easily after barely learning his power which is not really power but this armor that covers his body and weapons (tonfas) he summons. I can't believe they did Goro dirty like that and let a nobody like Cole Young defeat him. I mean Goro is so hard to beat in the original Mortal Kombat game and he is literally a legendary fighter. He defeated the original Kung Lao who this Kung Lao is a descendant of and he continued to win every Mortal Kombat after that undefeated and solely responsible for the 9 win streak that Outworld has over Earthrealm. I don't remember all the specifics of the fights in this scene but I don't remember Sub-Zero being as involved as he should have as well as Shang Tsung who barely does anything except dodge Kung Lao's hat at one point. Reiko takes out Jax who goes to protect Sonya and Kano uses his laser eye to drop a statue and debris down on them. Jax awakens his "arcana" which winds up being his "iconic" robot arms which doesn't really make sense but he lifts a boulder off of Sonya. Cole returns after defeating Goro by Raidens' teleport and Raiden teleports the fighters out of harms way after telling Shang Tsung and Sub-Zero that Cole is of Hanzo Hasashi's bloodline. Before they all leave however Kung Lao is defeated by Shang Tsung who steals his soul when he defends Cole from Sub-Zero. They all mourn the loss of Kung Lao and Cole comes up with a plan of taking their opponents on one on one before joining up against Sub-Zero together and Raiden teleports them all to their targets. Liu Kang fights Kabal in a pretty good fight where he does a fatality on him with a fire dragon, Jax fights Reiko and fatalities him as well and crushes his head with his new robotic arms, Sonya has a pretty decent fight with Kano but really lackluster finish where she impales him with a lawn gnome from her front yard. But she gets his dragon mark and unlocks her "arcana" in time to help Cole defeat Mileena with it. Suddenly Sub-Zero appears luring Cole into a one-on-one fight by abducting his family and even though he's unlocked his "arcana" Sub-Zero is quite the adversary. While they are fighting Cole's blood falls on the kunai belonging to Hanzo Hasashi given to him by Raiden releasing Hasashi from the Neatherrealm. He has been reborn as the vengeful specter Scorpion and recognizing Cole as his descendant they both fight against and defeat Sub-Zero with Scorpion burning him to death with his hellfire fatality. This was probably the best fight scene in the whole movie and worth waiting the whole movie for. In a way I'm kind of glad they made Sub-Zero the "big bad" instead of Shang Tsung because I feel this ending was way more satisfying. I also like that while they were fighting Sub-Zero's armor gets damaged and he actually removes some of it to move faster and he has the look of another character Noob Saibot from the Mortal Kombat games. If I remember correctly Noob Saibot is actually Sub-Zero returned from the dead and the Sub-Zero that comes out in the games after the first one is actually Sub-Zero's brother and I think winds up being a good guy instead of a bad guy from there on. Scorpion departs as Raiden and the others arrive but not before telling Cole to look after the Hasashi bloodline. Shang Tsung also arrives and vows revenge teleporting his dead champions back to Outworld before Raiden banishes him from Earthrealm. Raiden tells the remaining champions that they will need more champions for the next tournament and the movie ends with Cole telling his old fight promoter/manager that he's given up fighting for $200 and going to Hollywood. It then cuts to a poster of Johnny Cage before going to the credits. Like I said quite an enjoyable movie, definitely did a lot of things right like Sub-Zero and Scorpion characters, Liu Kang and Kung Lao, the action scenes and blood and gore, really great effects but also equally did some pretty terrible things story wise like adding a character that isn't even in the video games as the main character, changing Kano to a good guy, doing great characters like Shang Tsung and Goro dirty, putting characters like Liu Kang and Kung Lao as secondary characters not to mention the whole thing with the dragon markings and "arcana" powers. I really wanted to give this movie a higher score/ rating but I'm not sure if it's because I'm such a fan of the games and the movies or if it's because of all the hype going into to it but with all these qualms or issues I have with it I have to give it a 6/10. I would recommend that you don't rush to go see it in theaters unless you're a big fan of the franchise or games because you might just be disappointed. But if you have HBOMax or if you're thinking about getting it for this movie, then I would definitely recommend it for that.