Movie Review Rewind: Mortal Kombat (2021)

Stoney Keeley offers up his full review of Mortal Kombat, now streaming on HBO Max.

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Before we get started here this morning, I think we need to have an honest discussion about how we take in the cinema. I need to establish something real quick. My main point here today is going to be that it’s okay to mindlessly enjoy something while also acknowledging the weaknesses in a film. Just because we like something, it doesn’t mean that we have to vehemently defend it as the greatest video game adaptation of all time. We don’t have to call it underrated. We can simply say “yeah, there were some big time problems, but I thought it was a blast.” That was the case for me watching Mortal Kombat on Friday night.

In Mortal Kombat, we find a collection of Earth’s champions – Cole Young, Sonya Blade, and Jax – who have no real idea that they are champions, on the road to a mythical tournament. But, before we get there, they have to discover their selves, and their true power. That dastardly Shang Tsung from Outworld sends his top guy, Sub-Zero, to Earth, to try and murder said champions so they can’t even compete in the mythical Mortal Kombat tournament. And, boom – there’s our premise. We’re off to the race. It’s a veritable parade of some of the most popular Mortal Kombat characters in the franchise’s history, and it’s packed to the brim with violent action, a nice homage to what made the brand so popular all those years ago.

But, since I’m a ‘bad news first’ kind of guy – let’s go ahead and get that out of the way. It’s a challenge to pull a story out of what was originally, by and large, a directionless cast of characters. But, they pivoted way too hard from ‘no story’ to ‘way too fucking much story.’ At times, it felt like Mortal Kombat’s plot was tripping over its own two feet just to get to the next part. It’s as if there was a checklist, and Mortal Kombat’s story was simply checking off each box. I dare say the movie would’ve benefitted from a bit of simplification and streamlining. Maybe don’t try and tell half a dozen character’s journey stories in one movie that gets by on the effects and action anyway. My hot take after watching it: you could’ve just made this a story about Sub-Zero, Scorpion, and Cole, and it probably would’ve been a banger. I can see the vision for several arcs, but you just didn’t have the time to properly develop a dozen different characters. On a personal note – trying not to give away spoilers here – I couldn’t stand what they did with four of the characters. And, the acting was just effortless at times. I understand the material here, but let’s at least get a little bit of fire and inspiration at some point. It’s noticeable, and at times, all of this made me pick up my phone and scroll through Twitter instead of paying attention.

Now, this is probably going to sound crazy after reading that last paragraph….but I actually enjoyed the movie. And, we come full circle here. I can point out where this was a shit show, and I can suggest that you probably didn’t win over any new fans, who weren’t previously Mortal Kombat fans, with this movie. And, I can also say that, for me, I thought it was the perfect movie to just pop on the TV and watch while I turned my brain off for a little bit. I thought the action was intense and brutal, just as it should be. I loved the way they set the whole thing up with that wonderful opening sequence between Sub-Zero and Scorpion. It really awakened my inner child in a way that I haven’t felt in awhile. I loved seeing some of my favorite characters on the big screen in 2021, when the effects are state of the art and done well. It got the job done to pull on just the right nostalgia screens.

Overall, if that is your introduction to Mortal Kombat, I think you’re probably feeling a little underwhelmed. Really, whoever made that trailer that came out and got everyone riled up deserves a pay raise. But, if you grew up with Mortal Kombat in your life, you might be feeling like me…that Mortal Kombat is just what you need it to be to reignite interest in the franchise. I can’t speak for every 34-year old man that was likely traumatized by watching some of those Fatalities at a young age, but I spent a good portion of last week down a YouTube rabbit hole reliving some of the characters and learning about some of the lore surrounding the brand. I still think there’s enough meat on the bone here for a successful couple of movies. But, they’re banking on our collective nostalgia for Mortal Kombat. If they don’t have that, I’m not sure what they have here.

Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network, and a Dogs Playing Poker on velvet connoisseur. He is a strong supporter of Team GSD and #BeBetter. “Big Natural” covers the Tennessee Titans, Nashville, and a whole wealth of nonsense. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley

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