“Mortal Kombat” Review
Liu Kang, played by Ludi Lin, (Left) and Kung Lao, played by Max Huang, prepare to battle evil forces in “Mortal Kombat:” a film adaptation of the popular video game series.
For most of my life, film adaptations of video games were a laughing-stock from 1993’s “Super Mario Bros.” to 2015’s “Assassin’s Creed.” Now, they’ve become perfectly serviceable with films like “Mortal Kombat,” recently released to both theaters and HBO Max, which proves to be a solid film that has enough memorable one-liners and fun action to satisfy both the average filmgoer and fans of the video game series.
Set in modern day, the film follows Mixed Martial Arts fighter Cole Young (Lewis Tan) as he becomes pursued by sinister agents from the fantasy realm of Outworld who wish to defeat him and other fighters in a contest known as Mortal Kombat. Taking refuge in a mystical temple, Cole joins forces with the superpowered fighters of the temple to defeat the fighters of Outworld through bloody fights and save the world from their tyrannical rule.
With fun fights and bloody fun, the action of this film is where “Mortal Kombat” excels. This is partially due to the fact that the film is rated R, unlike the two film “Mortal Kombat” series of the 1990s, so the violence of the games is well-represented and treated with respect.
Director Simon McQuoid knows what the fans of the games want and promptly gives it to them without taking too much time to turn the film into an boring epic that tries to rip off franchises with a superior universe like “Lord of the Rings.” As a result, the film is well-paced with a running time of one hour and 50 minutes and enough exposition and character development so the audience isn’t insulted.
The performances of the actors is what sells this universe as everyone takes the story with enough seriousness to add credibility while also having a sense of fun. Young is a perfect fish-out-of-water who is introduced to this world while more experienced fighters like Sonya Blade, Liu Kang, Kung Lao and Jax (Jessica McNamee, Ludi Lin, Max Huang and Mehcad Brooks respectively) showcase all of the epic fights and superpowers one expects from an adaptation of “Mortal Kombat.”
Hanzo Hasashi a.k.a. Scorpion, played by Hiroyuki Sanada, (Left) duels with Bi-Han a.k.a. Sub-Zero, played by Joe Taslim, in a grand opening to “Mortal Kombat.”
“Mortal Kombat’s” best performances come from Josh Lawson as Kano and Hiroyuki Sanada as Hanzo Hasashi. Kano, in particular, is a load of fun as a mercenary who winds up becoming part of the cast of fighters. He’s a disrespectful scoundrel who only cares about himself and spews profane one-liners and I loved every minute he was on screen.
While the film offers enough entertaining fights, the editing in fight sequences relies too much on quick-cutting instead of having more seamless camera movement showing off these fighters from head-to-toe as they throw bloody punches. Instead of relying on the genius of stunt-people, who still aren’t getting recognition at the Oscars, the editing room decides to chop up the fights which can result in more tame film.
There’s also an inconsistency with some fights feeling like they’re from a PG-13 film while others feel more R-rated. This could be that the filmmakers are trying to ease the viewer into the violence, but the opening fight scene is pretty gruesome and pulls no punches. Another minor gripe I have with the film is that, the games are most famous for the way players can kill others by ripping their spines out, that signature move is lacking from this R-rated film. While it’s definitely a nit-pick, I can’t help being a touch bloodthirsty when watching “Mortal Kombat.”
After a great season of award-worthy films like “Minari” and “One Night in Miami,” it’s nice to have an action palette-cleanser like “Mortal Kombat” which has enough intelligence and fun action to make me feel like I got my money’s worth. It’s not an action masterpiece but fans of the games will certainly have a fun time as I did.
