Flawless victory mortal kombat movie movie#

It became a running gag with Cappi: “I suppose you want more detail.” And I’m like, “Yeah, that’d be kind of nice.” “I was just pushing the costume designer every day that we need more layers and we need more texture. In an interview with ScreenRant, director McQuoid discussed his insistence on reworking costume designs after wanting to avoid a “bad Halloween party” feel: Updated costumes for the characters create a gritty, more realistic world than those found in the original 90s video games. Transportation to distant places and realms such as Outworld, or even just a frozen over fight club is seamless with the incredible filming locations and set designs.

Unfortunately, some of the fight scenes contain so many cuts that it can be difficult to truly appreciate the stunt work being done. In fact, many of the film’s actors also have their own background in martial arts, creating much more fluid, confident, and grounded fight scenes. Signature moves pulled straight out of the game are beautifully recreated through intensive choreography, practical effects and computer graphics. Yet it was inevitable if the film wanted to be faithful at all- and it certainly puts it to good use.

Flawless victory mortal kombat movie movie#

An R rating for a movie can be a huge risk, especially for a video game adaptation. “Mortal Kombat” is filled to the brim with gruesome death scenes, brutal violence and blood that mirrors its video game counterpart.

If there is too much of it, it feels insincere, but luckily this film has just as much heart in it as it does blood. Everybody knows you can’t have a video game movie without fan service. There are plenty of references and Easter eggs, but they are never shoved in your face. Kano definitely has a love-hate relationship with his audience, and Lawson does an incredible job at maintaining that balance. Lawson gives the audience a chance to laugh at all the madness happening on screen. The character of Kano is constantly questioning the eccentric and bizarre revelations rapidly taking place around him, voicing thoughts that the audience might be having too. Lawson’s strong background in comedy is put to great use in his portrayal of the vulgar, witty bastard king himself. Fortunately, the film has plenty of self-awareness, most of it taking the form of its Australian bounty hunter Kano (Josh Lawson). Hell, even the games take pride in and poke fun of their campy ridiculousness. With characters that range from giant four-armed princes to soul-sucking sorcerers, it would be fatal for a movie like “Mortal Kombat” to take itself too seriously. For non-Mortal Kombat fans, it can also be pretty difficult to keep track of names and people with so many characters being introduced one after another. Video game film adaptations sometimes run the risk of alienating those who aren’t already invested in the game, so the necessary exposition is just a small bump to get over. While it is often very obvious that chunks of dialogue are only there to service world-building, catching new audiences up to speed, it doesn’t drag. Cole essentially acts as a sponge for exposition, which at times is spewed out in awkward blocky lines by Sonya Blade (Jessica McNamee) or the god of thunder, Raiden (Tadanobu Asano). Cole joins the other champions of Earth, all of whom are being tracked down by Sorcerer Shang Tsung (Ng Chin Han) and his warrior Sub-Zero.Ĭole Young is a completely new addition to the world of Mortal Kombat, acting as the vessel for audiences not familiar with the franchise’s lore and world mechanics. The film introduces the audience to the film’s main protagonist, MMA fighter Cole Young (Lewis Tan), who comes to find out that the dragon symbol birthmark he dawns is actually an invitation to a fighting tournament called Mortal Kombat. Following a recent film marketing trend, the first seven minutes of the film are up on Youtube, so audiences can have a sneak peek at what they can expect from the adaptation. Sanada breathes fiery life into the character of Hanzo, both as an actor and as a skilled martial artist.

After being hunted down by Chinese assassin Bi-Han/Sub-Zero (Joe Taslim), Hanzo’s family is murdered and what follows is an intense, beautifully bloody battle. “Mortal Kombat” opens in 17th century Japan, where the audience meets Hanzo Hasashi (Hiroyuki Sanada) and his family. Although I have an HBO Max subscription and could have very easily watched this at home, as a huge fan of the video game franchise, I just had to experience director Simon McQuoid’s “Mortal Kombat” in that loud, immersive room that I think many of us have been missing for quite some time. With it being over a year since I had last stepped foot in a movie theater, I was reluctant - but nonetheless excited - to return.