| Action, Fantasy, Adventure |
Director(s): Simon McQuoid
Writer(s): Greg Russo, Dave Callaham
Cast: Lewis Tan, Jessica McNamee, Josh Lawson, Tadanobu Asano, Mehcad Brooks, Ludi Lin, Chin Han, Joe Taslim, Hiroyuki Sanada
Release Date (Theaters): Apr 23, 2021, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Apr 23, 2021
Runtime: 1h 50m
MOVIE REVIEW:
The expression “a video-game movie” has become the byword for really bad stuff. For good reason too, as films that use video-games as their source material almost invariably turn out to be, at best, substandard.
Simon McQuoid’s Mortal Kombat does not really lift that curse, if that’s what it is, but for the fans of the series, it comes as a blessing. It has its issues, and is not a flawless victory, by any stretch of imagination, but it more than delivers on its promise of being a faithful, entertaining Mortal Kombat movie with plenty of callbacks and winks to hardcore fans.
The movie, like the games, is set in a fictional universe made up of eighteen realms or worlds, in which the Earthrealm is one. If the chosen warriors of a particular realm defeat the warrior of another in the titular tournament ten times, the victorious realm is allowed to conquer the vanquished one. Earthrealm stands on the verge of defeat after losing nine tournaments.
The story begins with a flashback from 17th century: a corker of a scene in which Joe Taslim’s Bi-Han (later to become Sub-Zero) of the Lin Kuei clan murders the wife and son of the last surviving Shirai Ryu warrior Hanzo Hasashi (Hiroyuki Sanada). Hasashi is also killed by Bi-Han. But his baby girl, safe in her crib, survives.
Mortal Kombat is easily one of the best video-game movies ever made. Especially if you are a fan, this film is going to be an entertaining 110-odd minute vacation to Nostalgialand. As Scorpion would say, get over here!
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