Anthony's Film Review - Mortal Kombat (2021)

The plot is thin, but at least the action is fun and reminiscent of the video game series...

The 2021 movie Mortal Kombat is just like the video game series it's based on. It's all about the bloody fighting, and the plot and characters are minimal, just enough to provide some kind of context for the action. After all, when Ed Boon and John Tobias created the first Mortal Kombat game in 1992, I doubt they were striving to be storytellers. They just wanted to provide a fun video game experience, so the focus was about how to keep players amused. The game and its sequels proved to be popular, such that many players could pick out their favorite characters from the games.

On that note, let me talk about some of the characters from the games who appear in this movie. First off, you have two members of the U.S. military, a tough female fighter named Sonya Blade and a big black man with metal prosthetic arms named Jax, along with the mercenary Kano. You also have several Asian warriors: the yellow ninja Scorpion, the blue ninja Sub-Zero with the power to create ice, the Shaolin warrior Liu Kang, and the metal hat-wearing fighter Kung Lao, not to mention the ruler Shang Tsung. Other characters include the sai-wielding Mileena, the thunder god Raiden, and the four-armed humanoid beast Goro.

The main character isn't any of those listed above, but rather a young man named Cole Young. We don't know much about him, other than the fact that he participates in cage fighting and that he has a wife and daughter. One night, he is unexpectedly forced to go on the run because Sub-Zero is trying to kill him. He soon learns about the Outerworld, the Earthrealm, and the fighting tournament that Earthrealm must win or else it will be enslaved by the Outerworld. In addition, he and several others are the chosen champions of Earthrealm, each with a mysterious dragon mark on their skin (based on the dragon symbol in the Mortal Kombat logo).

At first, the movie appears to follow the simple premise of the game: participate in the tournament that will decide the fate of Earthrealm. But even as training of certain characters for the tournament is underway, the story really goes in a different direction. Going against Raiden's order that the tournament must be held fairly, Shang Tsung plots to kill the Earthrealm champions even before the tournament begins. And that's all I'll say about the story, because that's pretty much it. It's so thinly written. I even remember how Cole's wife and daughter are only mildly surprised about the supernatural events they witness. Does this mean I hate the movie? No. It just means I won't rate it super highly.

Again, it's about the action, not the story or characters. The best thing about it is that the action dares to be extremely violent like in the Mortal Kombat games. Expect dismemberment, stabbing, slicing, exposed guts, big flames, and hard-hitting punches and kicks. The movie is rated R in the United States, which is appropriate given the source material. From what I've heard, this adaptation of Mortal Kombat is definitely better than the two adaptations from the mid-1990s, which were both rated PG-13 and could possibly not live up to the games.

If you're a Mortal Kombat fan, you may have fun spotting the direct references to the games. I certain did, having played the first three Mortal Kombat games. When I say game references, I'm not just talking about the characters. I'm talking about specific combat elements, like Sonya shooting pink energy rings, Kano's red eye, Scorpion's finishing move, and Liu Kang's bicycle-like kicks. In addition, certain lines of dialogue are nods to the games, like Scorpion's "Get over here," "Flawless victory," and "Finish them" (a variation of "Finish him"). Still, one difference is notable. Whereas fights in the games occur mainly in different spots of the Outerworld, many fights in this movie take place in Earthrealm, like the gym where Cole normally fights.

Is this movie even close to perfect? Far from it. But is it mindless fun? Absolutely. I found myself reliving the fun of playing Mortal Kombat more than a decade ago. After the movie ended, I even found myself wanting to play a Mortal Kombat game again just for nostalgia. Ultimately, I didn't, but whatever. For Mortal Kombat fans, this is undoubtedly the best attempt of a movie adaptation that lives up to the games. And before you ask if there will be a sequel, the answer is yes. There will be one, and it will introduce a Mortal Kombat character not yet portrayed on screen in this new Mortal Kombat film series. The biggest die-hard fans will certainly look forward to it. Overall, this movie may not be a flawless victory, but it's a winner in its simplest terms.

Anthony's Rating:

For more information about Mortal Kombat, visit the Internet Movie Database.