Mortal Kombat (2021) film review: This Franchise is Dumb, But We Love It! - Renegade Arcade Theater Special
Welcome to RPC’s Mortal Kombat celebration, featuring Mike, Brock, Keona, and the return of Josh and Kristal to the show! After 24 years, we finally see the return of the classic video game franchise to theaters and HBO Max, and IT IS GLORIOUS!!! Well, at least some of us think so! Check out our thoughts in the video below! And now for a taste of things to come…
Here’s the video stream:
And here is the audio-only podcast:
So, Mortal Kombat as a franchise has been a part of my life since I was eleven years old. Although it was initially frowned upon in my household, due to the level of violence and buckets of digital blood, eventually it became a perennial favorite. Even to this day, I may actually prefer it to the Street Fighter series, mostly because of the deep lore and fun combos—I mean, kombos, excuse me. While both franchises, and indeed, most fighting games, have become mired in microtransactions and season passes on top of charging players full price for the base game, I actually prefer the characters and narrative content that MK offers, for the most part. To this day, with MK 11, franchise co-creator Ed Boon and his team at NetherRealm Studios continue to deliver a mechanically solid, surprisingly deep gameplay experience steeped in lore and narrative. Personally, I’m a lifelong fan, especially of Scorpion. That’s an awesome character right there.
So, let’s talk about the movies really quick. In 1995, I sat in a theater dumbfounded, as I had just witnessed one of the most incredible action movies my young mind had ever processed. Director Paul W.S. Anderson and his cast and crew created one of the most iconic western martial arts movies ever, even though its plot was simplistic (basically Enter the Dragon with superpowers) and its depiction of the franchise’s lore was…not so accurate. Still, the cast was game, with star Robin Shou proving to be an incredible Liu Kang. He looked the part and had the action star chops (no pun intended) to pull off the role. Lynden Ashby was perfectly cast as Johnny Cage, the egotistical (yet insecure) movie star who’s accused of being a fake by the media. Bridgette Wilson was a fun choice to portray Sonya Blade, though I think she was the softest link in the chain, in my opinion. She put forth the effort, though. And while Christopher Lambert was hilarious as Raiden (or perhaps we could call him “Rayden,” as his portrayal of the Thunder God was a bit inaccurate), Cary Hiroyuki-Tagawa’s performance as Shang Tsung was actually my favorite part of the movie! I mean, his facial expressions alone were worth the price of admission!
Although I was not exactly picky with my favorite movies when I was a teenager, I genuinely enjoyed the Mortal Kombat movie, though its sequel, MK: Annihilation, was disappointing outside of a couple of action sequences. Which brings us to the latest big-screen adaptation of the franchise, with Aussie director Simon McQuoid taking the reins. While I’m not exactly crazy about this version, there were things I loved. The opening sequence with Hanzo Hasashi (Hiroyuki Sanada) and Bi Han (Joe Taslim) establishing their rivalry as Scorpion and Sub-Zero was probably the best scene in the whole film. I wish Hanzo had been our lead character, to be honest. Besides that, the cast here is pretty good, with standouts including Jessica McNamee as Sonya Blade, Josh Lawson as Kano, Ludi Lin as Liu Kang, Tadanobu Asano as Raiden, and Max Huang as Kung Lao. Chin Han was also decent as Shang Tsung, though I did miss Cary Hiroyuki-Tagawa in the role. But his likeness and voice are in MK 11, so that covers that.
The action sequences in this film are entertaining, if a bit haphazardly edited, and the special effects and CGI are vastly improved, as they should be. I was disappointed by the soundtrack, for the most part, as Benjamin Wallfisch relies too much on synthesized drums and a heavily produced, Hans Zimmer-esque score. Nothing sounds organic or symphonic; rather, everything seems vaguely like dubstep, which I suppose modernizes it but loses a lot of personality and soul, in my opinion. Another aspect of the film I disliked, as you can tell from the podcast episode, is the new audience surrogate character, Cole Young (Lewis Tan). While it is cool that they finally included an MMA fighter in the cast, Cole feels very much like an unnecessary addition, with his bland “everyman” portrayal, doting family, and, of course, his bloodline connection to one of the leading characters from the games. It wasn’t exactly a dealbreaker, but Cole could have had more development and a better arc, but seeing as this is a Mortal Kombat film, I guess that may be asking for too much.
Ultimately, the 2021 MK movie may not be the best video game movie ever, or even the best film version of the franchise. That being said, there are definitely cool moments in the film, including the fatalities, which are as gruesome as they should be! The R-rating is perfect for the franchise as well, as Mortal Kombat should totally contain all the bad language and blood and gore that can fit into a film. Hope you all enjoy the podcast, in both audio and video form, as well as Brock and Mike’s Zero Hour review, posted right above this outro! We’ll see you next time, Renegades! FLAWLESS VICTORY!
If you’re interested in reading the Captain’s full thoughts on the film, his review can be found here!
