Mortal Kombat

Video game franchises have the potential for various television and film adaptations but there's always one hurdle to overcome: Trying to figure out how to use the lore of the source material in a watchable manner for the audience. What can appear simple as Tomb Raider brings a challenge with having it standout from other adventure genre movies or complex as Warcraft to compete with other fantasy flicks. The results have often left much to be desired and introduced the "video game adaptation curse". This brings us to Mortal Kombat, which was the directorial debut of Simon McQuoid and based on the fighting series of the same name. There have been 2 live action versions in that past that aren't good (though the 1995 one has decent cheese in it) and an animated feature, Scorpion's Revenge. The marketing for this adaptation was rather enticing, alongside the fact that it was R rated (compared to the 90's PG-13 ratings). It was released simultaneously in theaters and on HBO Max (latter for 30 days) though I was curious about its quality. After watching it, however, it ended up failing to reach it potential.  

Note: I'm unfamiliar with the Mortal Kombat franchise and will be only judging this as a movie, not comparing it to the source material. 

What's it about? The story follows a group of fighters being gathered to represent Earth realm in a tournament to keep it safe from nefarious forces. There's definitely some fascinating promise that can be found throughout the narrative. The opening scene knows how to make a pretty good impression in setting up an event as a connection in a well executed manner. There are attempts in adding humor to try and have some personality in a few characters that aim for that cheese factor. The final 20-30 minutes are definitely a showing of great promise that can be rewarded IF this adventure gets a sequel.

Unfortunately, as a whole this story fails to bring an interesting flow in the chunk of story that lies between the opening and the third act. It doesn't help matters that some of the more recognized figures of the series are sidelined in favor of a blandly written studio insert protagonist who hogs a fair amount of importance here. In fact, the plot went into too much of a stretch with connecting him to a particular figure that can be seen by just about any viewer and it felt forced. The script attempts to build up excitement by having leaders of the competing heroes and villains constantly mention an "upcoming tournament" and how important it is all throughout this section. As a result the good effort of the opening and final third are competing against the boring dull nature that's thrown onto these numerous characters.

How's the action? The fighting definitely delivers the violence the series is known for to the best of its capabilities. The ridiculousness of matchups carries over here and the famous "fatalities" are pretty cool to watch. The editing and choreography, however, leave much to be desired with a handful of the sequences. It does the annoying blockbuster method of having too many quick cuts when trying to see what's going on. The choreography needed far more polish as it felt rather inexperienced for whoever the stunt coordinator was (in fact some tussles were quick and done with). The battles of the opening and final act as a whole are a highlight to check out

 

How are the actors? In regards to story importance, the actors to focus on are Lewis Tan, Josh Lawson, and Ludi Lin. Lewis was cast more for his stunt work rather than his acting and he struggles to elevate a basic rushed exposition of his lead role, though it doesn't help having a first time director at the helm. Josh is definitely a standout in trying to makeup for some of the badly directed performances with his jokes that tries to compensate for that. Ludi is decent in aiming for his determined subdued type of attitude. Honorable mentions go to Joe Taslim and Hiroyuki Sanada for doing the most with their limited screen time. Dishonorable mentions Jessica McNamee for being the weakest performance among the cast, which is saying something.

 

Overall Consensus: Mortal Kombat struggles to live up to its potential due to an uninteresting plot, lackluster directing, and weak character execution, but has some competent action sequences. ⭑⭑1/2 Runtime: 1 hour 50 minutes R

 

Reasons to watch it: You are a fan of the aforementioned actors. You are a fan of the titular fighting games and are curious to see how it's translated here. You want to see the famous fatalities. You want to see how it compares to the previous Mortal Kombat movies. You want to see the iconic song during the end credits.

 

Reasons to avoid it: You aren't a fan of the aforementioned actors. You are a fan of the titular fighting games but aren't curious to see how it's translated here. You dislike adaptations of video games.