They setup Cole like they setup Alice in the Resident Evil movie. Why is this person ahead of other main characters of the actual series? Why does this character have the ability to do what they do? Why introduce a new character when you will likely have to kill him off eventually so the other characters can shine instead of trying to write your own story that never happened or had the chance of happening in source material? I'll watch a sequel, but if they keep making Cole a big deal, I might lose interest just like I did with the RE franchise of movies after the second one.
Other than that, same thing as everyone else, Kano was awesome, Sub Zero was well done, and when Scorpion and Sub Zero tangle, it's the best fight of the movie hands down. Kung Lao was spot on, Liu Kang was underwhelming and more of a human fortune cookie than a fighter, I don't see how he reaches the heights of what he's supposed to become, especially with Cole in the way. Maybe when they introduce Kitana that'll be his man viagra and he'll bounce back. Jax and Sonya were well played, the other villains are forgettable, with Reiko being a villain in one of the worst acted fight scenes I've ever seen when he goes against Jax, he just screams a bunch and when he takes a hit it looks so damn fake lol. This movie needed to be 20 more minutes of fight scenes for me to say great things about it, but it was good, worth snagging your family's HBO Max credentials to watch it. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Ceej:
My assumption is Cole will be killed off once JC is introduced.
Also, I'm okay with Goro being killed off, I GUESS.
But, I want Sheeva, Kintaro or Motaro in the next movie.
That was complete horseshit.
Goro, Grand Champion of Mortal Kombat. Killed by a turd who just got his ass kicked earlier by a nobody in a fight club. And not even in the tournament itself. So stupid and unearned.
It should have been another reptilian. It took 3 to kill the first one, maybe I buy that he could learn his dumbass ability and kill one on his own, but Goro?
Get of my face with that noise he could kill Goro. Raiden banished him back to his family because he had no ability, and would be a liability to the group.
And then he just facerapes one of the strongest characters in the lore? Just like that? Use your uppercut daddy? Lmmfao get the fuck outta here. [Reply]
Yeah Goro being killed like that is absolute bullshit. I would’ve had more respect if they threw us a curve ball and had goro killed all of them right then and there.. now that would’ve been epic and unexpected and great story telling. [Reply]
Originally Posted by ThaVirus:
I thought it lacked the charm of the original but I was still entertained. As you'd expect, there was some clunky dialogue, a convoluted story, and the low budget really took some bite out of the costume design and fight choreography. That said, Kano stole the show and the fatalities were pretty awesome.
Also, the idea of the dragon mark and arcana was a fresh take. I'm not entirely sure how I feel about it, but I definitely didn't hate it, I know that much. I am a little confused as to what Cole's arcana was supposed to be, though..
Spoiler!
As a huge Mortal Kombat nerd, there were quite a few things that bothered me:
1) Liu Kang and Shang Tsung took a backseat as secondary characters. Shang Tsung should be the main baddie and Liu Kang is the fucking Chosen One.
2) The original character Cole Young was completely unnecessary. MK has like 100 fighters they could have chosen for a lead role, and they decided to create a new one for no apparent reason.
3) Building on that last issue, they featured fucking Reiko and Nitara in this one? Lol. Like, I literally couldn't think of two less interesting characters from the MK roster.
4) I'll start by saying Kung Lao was fucking awesome. Outside of Kano, he was the best represented of all the characters, I think. His intro throwing the hat, teleporting into the hat, the fatality, etc. just.. *chef's kiss*. It was exactly what the 8 year old in me wanted to see.
But, kinda going back to my first big issue, I think they missed an opportunity here. They built up Kung Lao as the Chosen One which is kind of cool. Apparently, he was originally selected and trained as the great savior since he's the direct descendant of the Great Kung Lao, but he washed out for some reason and it ended up becoming Liu Kang instead. They could have transferred the mantle here, but didn't. They had Lao unceremoniously killed by Shang Tsung, Raiden's all like "lol sorry bruh", and Liu Kang made it seem like they were gay lovers ("we were supposed to die together").
Killing Kung Lao could have been the spark that set Liu Kang on his destiny as the Chosen One. Or, ya know, he can shoot fucking fireballs from his hands. 'Member when he met the other guys and immediately blasted them only to be like "totally kidding, I'm not your enemy"? Why not do that shit and save your cousin?
5) Raiden was absolute trash and the most worthless character in the movie
6) They killed Goro already. Dude was the 9 time MK champion and they kill him off before the tournamenr even started. He's been running fades and killing folk for 450 straight years yet some douche whose secret power is literally plot armor killed him in his driveway lol hate it, hate it, hate it.
Yeah, pretty good points.
Spoiler!
Kinda pissed me off that Kung Lao was so fucking cool, and yet he was the first one to die. The actor really nailed it, and then boom a lame grab from Shang Tsung and he's a shriveled afterthough? That just didn't make any sense, and as bad ass as that actor was, that was a complete waste. When he was provoking Kano trying to get him to find his arcana, that was good stuff.
Same with Goro. The instant Goro showed up to kill Cole, I had a bad feeling they were going to waste Goro just so stupid Cole could get mad enough protecting his family to find his arcana. Totally backwards. Goro should have kicked the holy fuck out of him at that point.
Raiden should have been this powerful badass that dominated his scenes. But this actor was immediately forgettable. Just nothing at all to give the character any cool detail other than him teleporting around. Felt so flat, when he should have been the opposite.
Was pretty disappointing to see Liu Kang use his powers as a spaceheater about as many times as he actually shoots any fireballs. The fire dragon was cool though.
Sub Zero was pretty evil for most of the film. Really did well making him a ruthless bad ass.
Originally Posted by Fish:
Was pretty disappointing to see Liu Kang use his powers as a spaceheater about as many times as he actually shoots any fireballs. The fire dragon was cool though. [/SPOILER]
Guys, this was AWESOME! This destroys the first two films from the mid to late 90"s (95 and 97 to be exact). This was a hang your brain at the door and enjoy the ride type of movie. I liked it and can't wait for the next one. :-) [Reply]
It's a tough ask to create a Mortal Kombat movie in this day and age that are worse than Mortal Kombat (1995) and Mortal Kombat: Annihilation (1997) but this movie accomplishes that task in spades. The story in convoluted, the characters plain, wooden (Kano being the one exception) and utterly forgettable, and the costumes look like something from a Troma flick from the 80's.
The charm, if you can call it that, of the original movies from the 90's is that these movies helped enhance and expand the storyline from the game. This most recent nostalgia cash grab, and let's be honest that's what this was, neither enhances or expands the story or the characters from the games.
What the producers of this movie missed is the fact that the Mortal Kombat games have a deep and expansive story that has been a huge part of the games. You get to play through the story as different characters and be part of the plot as it unfolds. Hell, the writing, plot and voice acting from the story mode from MK 10 and MK 11 are light years ahead of this dreck.
I couldn't even enjoy this movie as a "shut your mind of and enjoy mindless entertainment" type flick. It's not a dumb action movie, it insults my intelligence as a long time fan of the franchise. Maybe the next movie, if it gets made, will be better but I have my doubts.
And if you have around 12 free hours, here's all the cut scenes from MK 9, MK 10, and MK 11.