mortal kombat (2021) review
According to Kano, all the best artists are a bit twisted. I couldn’t agree more. I also never expected to begin this review of 2021’s Mortal Kombat “reboot” with a sage Kano quote. He’s the most enjoyable thing going in the film and the only character who talks and behaves like a real-life human. Can we get a standalone Kano film? Mortal Kombat has three characters who feel like they are in a film with aspirations of appealing to anyone outside of die-hards who happily gobble up anything new from the franchise: Kano, Sub-Zero and Scorpion. When any of the three are on screen, the film is very good. The first ten minutes are slow, measured and similar in tone to Tom Cruise’s The Last Samurai. The opening re-introduces us to the classic Scorpion/Sub-Zero conflict through a brutally zestful action set-piece that feels dropped in from a better film. Maybe they used all the budget up in the first ten minutes? (Note: that ISN’T what happened). I really thought I was about to experience the Mortal Kombat film I didn’t know I wanted but would happily accept. The film turns out to mostly be an exercise in stilted dialogue, fights without emotional stakes, comically campy exposition, and actors (looking at you, Raiden, Liu-Kang and Kung-Lao) behaving as if they are in a Mortal Kombat video-game cut-scene rather than a big budget blockbuster adaptation. That all said, the visuals are largely excellent, Sub-Zero feels like a horror movie villain whenever he shows up to freeze and dismember and the fight choreography is occasionally excellent. Mortal Kombat is like a fighting game – imagine that – in that your mileage and enjoyment will vary depending on if you can accept a roster, or in this case cast, where several are unfun and unplayable (unwatchable in this metaphor). I watched Mortal Kombat with a close relative recently returned to the US from a tour of duty overseas. I had to apologize to him for hyping it up. I’m still 100% excited for the sequel. Don’t judge me.
Mortal Kombat receives a score of 5/10 for general audiences with a 2-point bump to 7/10 for those, like me, who simply love Mortal Kombat.