# Mortal Kombat 2021



## KnightBrolaire (Feb 18, 2021)

I am hypeddd


----------



## TheBlackBard (Feb 18, 2021)

One of the reasons I'm keeping HBO Max. Honestly, I couldn't care less about the story, because everything I've seen so far is how Mortal Kombat should be. Violent and brutal.


----------



## MFB (Feb 18, 2021)

Oh yeah, I forgot to post this earlier.

Honestly, I might rent out a theater for this because I'm so fucking on board. MK was the first ever video game I played at 6 years old on a SEGA Gamegear, and I still love the franchise to this day. MK3 will always be the highlight to me, the absolute pinnacle of rosters. I know people like to crap on the original MK movie, but honestly, it's not even _bad_ - a bit campy at times, but so is the entire MK franchise. _Annihilation _rightfully gets shit on, but at least the original MK movie respected the characters and their roles (and they all looked the part as well, Robin Shou was fucking _cut_, Bridgette Wilson is hot as shit, etc etc), whereas that one is just a cheap attempt at cashing in.

Jax being a victim of Sub-Zero to get his arms? Never even thought of it but's brilliant. 
Finally bringing in my #2 of the franchise Kung Lao? Fan-fucking-tastic.
Kano with fully on laser eye attack? Give it to me now.
Absolutely SHOCKED they're bringing in someone like Baraka AND Mileena right away, but sure, why not.
Sub-zero cutting Scorpion's arm and then freezing his blood into a weapon? Utterly insane.

No part of this has me worried that it will be a flat out BAD movie. It might end up as just a solid action flick, but I feel like based on what's here, for it to actually straight up suck would be quite surprising.


----------



## KnightBrolaire (Feb 18, 2021)

MFB said:


> Oh yeah, I forgot to post this earlier.
> 
> Honestly, I might rent out a theater for this because I'm so fucking on board. MK was the first ever video game I played at 6 years old on a SEGA Gamegear, and I still love the franchise to this day. MK3 will always be the highlight to me, the absolute pinnacle of rosters. I know people like to crap on the original MK movie, but honestly, it's not even _bad_ - a bit campy at times, but so is the entire MK franchise. _Annihilation _rightfully gets shit on, but at least the original MK movie respected the characters and their roles (and they all looked the part as well, Robin Shou was fucking _cut_, Bridgette Wilson is hot as shit, etc etc), whereas that one is just a cheap attempt at cashing in.
> 
> ...


The first MK movie is a cult classic imo. Christopher Lambert as Raiden was awesomely campy. 
MKI and II were my first fighting games back in the day so the series has always had a special place in my heart. 
I think I remember them saying this was made by the guys that did the excellent live action MK youtube series that was on Machinima back in the day too, so there should be a metric ton of great fights. Hell the trailer already showed some awesome bits like you mentioned.


----------



## diagrammatiks (Feb 18, 2021)

not enough gurl ninjas


----------



## spudmunkey (Feb 18, 2021)

It looks hilariously terrible, and I can't wait.


----------



## MFB (Feb 18, 2021)

Holy fuck MK continues to get even better, according to this article, the 1995 movie adaptation came out _on my birthday_ a year before I ever even played the game and fell in love with it. How fucking serendipitous.

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/mortal-kombat-movie-oral-history-815287


----------



## mongey (Feb 18, 2021)

Well that was some kick ass fan service. 
It really isnt that hard. Take the material the fans love and work with it. 

Don’t make some hyper complicated , derivative shit.


----------



## Manurack (Feb 19, 2021)

I can't wait to watch it! I grew up playing the games and watched the original, which is such a great movie. The sequel Annihilation was meh, but still a good movie - too bad they couldn't get the original cast like Johnny Cage, babe Bridgette Wilson as Sonya Blade and the guy who played Raiden.

Lui Kang's Dragon Animality looks sick as fuck in the new movie!



And Goro looks mean as fuck too.



The movie theater in my town is shut down until the summer, so I'll definitely start a subscription to HBO to stream the movie, or buy it if it's available on Google Play Movies. I can't wait to watch this movie!


----------



## soul_lip_mike (Feb 19, 2021)

MFB said:


> Oh yeah, I forgot to post this earlier.
> 
> Honestly, I might rent out a theater for this because I'm so fucking on board. MK was the first ever video game I played at 6 years old on a SEGA Gamegear, and I still love the franchise to this day. MK3 will always be the highlight to me, the absolute pinnacle of rosters. I know people like to crap on the original MK movie, but honestly, it's not even _bad_ - a bit campy at times, but so is the entire MK franchise. _Annihilation _rightfully gets shit on, but at least the original MK movie respected the characters and their roles (and they all looked the part as well, Robin Shou was fucking _cut_, Bridgette Wilson is hot as shit, etc etc), whereas that one is just a cheap attempt at cashing in.
> 
> ...



I'm gonna watch this movie and am hyped but I just want to point out your over the top use of terms like "Utterly insane" sounds like you're a paid promoter of this movie. 

Has anyone here watched the latest MK Scorption animated movie? It's really quite good. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9580138/


----------



## MFB (Feb 19, 2021)

soul_lip_mike said:


> I'm gonna watch this movie and am hyped but I just want to point out your over the top use of terms like "Utterly insane" sounds like you're a paid promoter of this movie.



This movie has been in development for some time, not sure if it was ever dire enough to call it development hell like some productions, but it's certainly had it's share; it's just so refreshing that for once, it looks like a movie taking the time it needs will pay off and be well received by the intended audience (and hopefully newcomers) instead of coming out, and being dead on arrival to everyone.


----------



## Manurack (Feb 19, 2021)

soul_lip_mike said:


> I'm gonna watch this movie and am hyped but I just want to point out your over the top use of terms like "Utterly insane" sounds like you're a paid promoter of this movie.
> 
> Has anyone here watched the latest MK Scorption animated movie? It's really quite good. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9580138/



I haven't seen that one, but I'll definitely watch it now.

However, this Mortal Kombat: Legacy episode of how Hanzo Hasashi became Scorpion is _damn goooooooood.

_


----------



## Manurack (Feb 19, 2021)

Sorry, I forgot there is part II of how he became Scorpion.


----------



## soul_lip_mike (Feb 19, 2021)

Manurack said:


> I haven't seen that one, but I'll definitely watch it now.
> 
> However, this Mortal Kombat: Legacy episode of how Hanzo Hasashi became Scorpion is _damn goooooooood.
> 
> _




Also funny note, in that movie I linked, the voice of Scorpion is done by the guy who voices Arthas and Garrosh in Warcraft.


----------



## Lax (Feb 19, 2021)

I can't wait to see this new movie 
MK was one of the only game adaptation that was worth a view (I look at you street fighter), and it looks gruesome and punchy !


----------



## DudeManBrother (Feb 19, 2021)

I haven’t followed the game series since MK3 probably, nor have I watched any movies or anything; but I’m definitely ABACABB for life. One of the best games ever.


----------



## lewis (Feb 19, 2021)

no joke, i watched it about 20x yesterday and spent all day watching Youtube reactions.

In total Ive probably seen the trailer close to 40 times now - no joke.
This is massive to me.

Im about to buy the 95 movie on Blu Ray (hopefully 2021 leads to a 4K remaster of the original too) and I never picked up MK11 so thats going to be added to my PS5 later too!


----------



## akinari (Feb 19, 2021)

I'll watch it and probably go "well, that was fine" just like I've done with 85% of new movies I've watched since 2014.


----------



## Mathemagician (Feb 19, 2021)

Well now you’re all making want to watch it.

And annihilation is imo (one of) the best bad movie of all time. You can watch it with ANYONE and laugh. It’s so crap. I love it.


----------



## elkoki (Feb 26, 2021)

It looks awful


----------



## TheBlackBard (Feb 26, 2021)

elkoki said:


> It looks awful



Thank you for your insightful contribution.


----------



## Bloody_Inferno (Feb 26, 2021)

While I'm excited for the new MK movie, there's a few things I'm a little wary about. And it's largely due to the original casting it's shadow. 

If I'm going to be frank about the MK series, it's as camp pulpy and shlock as all hell. It got sillier as the series progressed, thankfully, which makes the series more fun as a result. Paul W.S. Anderson understood that all too well when making the 1995 original and knew what to do to deliver it, hence why the movie was good dumb fun. It literally opens with the title being yelled then the techno song, now synonymous with the series starts playing. Christopher Lambert is a riot, making wise cracks, and Johnny Cage is the comic relief needed keeping together the all too serious Sonya and badly acted Liu Kang (Robin Shou is a terrible actor for the most part). 

Despite being completely over the top with the gore (which are great pulp and shlock elements), there's none of the humour in the trailer for the new reboot and it also feels like it's taking itself too seriously (the Kano finale is more wink wink to the original than actual humour). Certainly doesn't help when Cole is the less comic replacement to Johnny Cage (I do like Lewis Tan as an actor so I'm curious either way). Of course this could also mean that WB could be hiding all of this from the public until the movie drops.


----------



## elkoki (Feb 26, 2021)

TheBlackBard said:


> Thank you for your insightful contribution.


Any time


----------



## KnightBrolaire (Apr 6, 2021)

FYI, Scorpion's Revenge is on hbomax and is actually really awesome. It's basically a tweaked version of the MK1 events storywise, but with more emphasis on Scorpion. The gore is excellent and the kills are utterly ridiculous (as they should be), with a bunch of throwbacks.
It's pretty fun and should slake the thirst of MK fans til the new live action movie comes out later this month.


----------



## Bloody_Inferno (Apr 21, 2021)

Just saw it from the theater a few hours ago. It does exactly what it says on the tin: big dumb gory fun. 

I initially thought that the lack of humour advertised in the trailers will hurt the film but Kano put all of that to rest. They made him the Aussiest Aussie because with a property like Mortal Kombat, you may as well lean hard into the camp, hire Josh Lawson and have him chew up everyone around him. Add that the film was shot in Adelaide with a fair amount of Aussie talent, made my fuzzy about my home country. 

As for the actual stuff you'd want to see in a Mortal Kombat movie, well they're here: The plot is woefully dumb, thankfully, and it's moves at a breakneck pace, though rushes hard and panting on the third act. Lots of silly dialogue, though the 'flawless victory' and 'fatality' drops may have felt a little too ham fisted. The fight scenes were well shot given the history of the cast (all are great martial artists), and the fatalities all look as ultra gory and ultra goofy as promised. 

I like the cast a lot here, even if they're not really acting that well (except Hiroyuki Sanada since he is great in everything he does, and the aforementioned Josh Lawson), though ultimately it's Lewis Tan who has to carry a lot of the weight, and a lot has to do to playing a brand new character specific for the film, so MK fans are going to, if not already, throw him some crap. Tan himself is fine, he can certainly throw down in action, not quite bona-fide action star yet, but he'll get there. 

I mean, it's still a big dumb schlock movie, but it's a fun big dumb schlock movie.


----------



## mastapimp (Apr 21, 2021)

Excited for this movie. Growing up, the Mortal Kombat series was the new standard after Street Fighter II ran its course. I probably spent $1000 over the years in the arcades playing MK1 through MK3. 

I guess this is the appropriate thread to share this. In middle school, I was lucky enough to win an arcade machine at the height of MK2 popularity and still have it in my possession. My wife even found this crazy rug that kind of ties the game and music room together, however ridiculous it may look. 







Sadly, the motherboard stopped booting up in 2020 and I have to take a stab at repairing it (probably a supply cap issue). 

Back when we used to have visitors, any guy over 30 that saw this thing wanted to stop whatever they're doing to fire it up and play a few rounds. The game still holds up and I imagine the movie will do very well.


----------



## KnightBrolaire (Apr 23, 2021)

Watched the new movie and it's a great dumb action film. Kano is hilarious and steals every scene he's in. The fight sequences are pretty great at times, with lots of MK worthy gore.


----------



## TheBlackBard (Apr 23, 2021)

This movie delivered everything I wanted in a Mortal Kombat movie. The story is pretty much a non-issue for me, given that I don't care about the story when I play the games, either. I'm there for gratuitous violence, which is what this movie delivers on. Not only that, I feel that this is the one movie based on a video game that's actually been done respectfully. Now can we please get a Doom movie done Hardcore Henry style?


----------



## MFB (Apr 23, 2021)

I'm shocked at the amount of characters that were brought in right out the gate for this, but they were all used well. Plus not everyone was outright dropped, there was a photo for Nightwolf and a mural of Quan Chi and Kotal Khan as well, Kitana's fans, shit was wild.

My biggest disappointment is the death of Kung Lao, as he's my favorite MK character behind Sub Zero, but his flawless fatality over Nitara (what a surprise) tips the scales to evening out. 

Bi Han might have died, but I'm given the recent news, that all but confirms Noob Saibot for sequels. I'm hoping we also get to see Sub Zero II and some of other ninjas like Smoke and Ermac. Kano will no doubt be back with his classic metal plate, and I'm so here for it. I got giddy just seeing him get the Bowie knife so early.

Scorpion was under used by far, and the misdirect of Cole's armor made it seem like he was going to be Scorpion but apparently not. As other have said, seems like it came from the rewrite but who knows. When the sequel happens I'm hoping Liu takes over as main character and they just move away from Cole, he's just so bland, and at this point we've been introduced to the MK world so ditch the training wheels. It's going to be tough to beat Linden Ashby as Johnny Cage, so I'm super curious to see how the role goes for the next one.

Overall, I'm incredibly impressed with how well it turned out for what seemed like an eternity of waiting and rumors of production hell that could've ended in a much different film. As a long time MK fan, it did exactly what it needed to and I'd love to see more of it.


----------



## SpaceDock (Apr 24, 2021)

I just watched this and had more story than the last few marvel movies I watched.


----------



## TheBlackBard (Apr 24, 2021)

The only complaint that I have is that Cole is a boring character, but I don't look at him as anything more than a vehicle to showcase everyone else. It's honestly gotta be a bit difficult to not give the other kombatants too much of the spotlight, which is what happened with the X-Men franchise. Instead of X-Men, it instead pretty much was Wolverine and Friends. A lot of reviews are bitching about there not being much of "substance" or "story." Who the fuck plays the game for the story or watches this kind of movie for that? Most of the people I know get right to towers or playing against friends. Just like Doom? Sure a story is well, fine I guess, but I don't play Doom for the story, I play to mow down some demons with a heavy metal soundtrack. Complaining about story in MK or Doom is like bitching that the local Chinese restaurant has really shitty burgers and pizza (that are meant for the kids who probably don't like Chinese food). I'm hoping we get a sequel, because there is SOOOOOO much they can do with characters that haven't been showcased yet.


----------



## MaxOfMetal (Apr 24, 2021)

There was just no climax. No dynamics. It was the same pace and intensity just about the whole way through. 

But it was fun and just campy enough.

I think the biggest problem is that it's a movie and not a show on a streaming service. This would have been killer as 6 to 8 hour long episodes. They certainly have the material for it. It cost like $50 million, that's nearly four episodes of The Mandalorian. 

I really hope we get that sequel.


----------



## Thep (Apr 24, 2021)

I enjoyed it, but I really wish they didn't try to cram so many classic MK references into a short movie. So many aspects felt a forced and brought nothing to the story line other than a bit of nostalgia, which is understandable.

I think the overall plot and visuals had the potential to be a serious classic film if they were just a bit more subdued and deliberate with the screenplay.


----------



## diagrammatiks (Apr 24, 2021)

critics are kinda panning this but I don't know what they were expecting.

My only complaint is the show is too dark on my phone. so hard to see what's happening.


----------



## TheBlackBard (Apr 24, 2021)

diagrammatiks said:


> critics are kinda panning this but I don't know what they were expecting.
> 
> My only complaint is the show is too dark on my phone. so hard to see what's happening.



1.) They more than likely aren't gamers.

2.) It didn't feed their DeNiro/mobster boner.


----------



## thrsher (Apr 24, 2021)

just too much to fit in a 2 hour window. i hope the squeals are realized. they need to do a better job with the *villians* side of things. i think they feel very short on that aspect. Reiko was a total goon. i accept all the decisions made and understand why they did them, just felt unsatisfied at the end.


----------



## TheBlackBard (Apr 24, 2021)

A few gaming website scores: Game Informer: 8, IGN: 7, Gamespot: 9. I'm seeing a trend here, it's almost as if the movie was catered to the gaming audience, not the "a film needs substance" audience.


----------



## MaxOfMetal (Apr 24, 2021)

TheBlackBard said:


> A few gaming website scores: Game Informer: 8, IGN: 7, Gamespot: 9. I'm seeing a trend here, it's almost as if the movie was catered to the gaming audience, not the "a film needs substance" audience.



Just sort of shows how bullshit those reviews are.


----------



## TheBlackBard (Apr 24, 2021)

MaxOfMetal said:


> Just sort of shows how bullshit those reviews are.



I don't think it's bullshit when the audience that the movie is for reviews the game. Gamers are sticklers, and have been shitting on pretty much every video game movie that comes out, and have since God knows when. Not exactly bullshit when one pops up that they finally like. It's not like they've been singing the praises of video game movies forever.

EDIT: I would also venture to say that gamers knew exactly what they wanted from this movie and it delivered. Just because what gamers want differ from what most people want doesn't make those reviews bullshit. It also shows that most movie critics/non-gamers probably went into this movie with the wrong mindset.


----------



## MaxOfMetal (Apr 24, 2021)

TheBlackBard said:


> I don't think it's bullshit when the audience that the movie is for reviews the game. Gamers are sticklers, and have been shitting on pretty much every video game movie that comes out, and have since God knows when. Not exactly bullshit when one pops up that they finally like. It's not like they've been singing the praises of video game movies forever.



I think they're into it because they like the franchise and want it to flourish vs. thinking it's a great ("9/10") film, so yeah, sort of bullshit reviews. But that's okay, it's just a movie. NBD.


----------



## TheBlackBard (Apr 24, 2021)

MaxOfMetal said:


> I think they're into it because they like the franchise and want it to flourish vs. thinking it's a great ("9/10") film, so yeah, sort of bullshit reviews. But that's okay, it's just a movie. NBD.



Depends on their criteria. I personally believe that each movie should have its own set of expectations. Something to live by or something fans want to see. This is especially true of already established universes. Yeah the story could have been better, but I think this is one of those cases where story takes a backseat to the experience overall given that most fans of the game just want to dive right in, rip someone's spine out, land a huge combo, and get their fix for gratuitous violence. In terms of that, this movie definitely delivered, and if that's the criteria (which it should be, given the nature of the game) then a 9/10 isn't really that hard to believe. Now again, if you wanted something with a bit more drama, more character development, you've got other options, especially outside the "nerd" genre (MCU, video game movies, DCEU) but that was never what this movie was going to be, nor should it have been. It didn't need it.


----------



## MaxOfMetal (Apr 24, 2021)

I'm not looking for Citizen Cane, but it's not like the fight choreography was all that great by today's standards. Effects weren't that special either. Heck, the fan service wasn't even especially present. 

Like I said, it was fun, not absolutely terrible, and hopefully the franchise will get better after the boring premise building.


----------



## TheBlackBard (Apr 24, 2021)

MaxOfMetal said:


> I'm not looking for Citizen Cane, but it's not like the fight choreography was all that great by today's standards. Effects weren't that special either. Heck, the fan service wasn't even especially present.
> 
> Like I said, it was fun, not absolutely terrible, and hopefully the franchise will get better after the boring premise building.




I think it will get better, but the real question is, will they make another one? Most people didn't love this one. I want more, of course, but that might be looking bleak. I think there is room for improvement, but I'm worried they might not get that chance.


----------



## MaxOfMetal (Apr 24, 2021)

TheBlackBard said:


> I think it will get better, but the real question is, will they make another one? Most people didn't love this one. I want more, of course, but that might be looking bleak. I think there is room for improvement, but I'm worried they might not get that chance.



It's only been two weeks, and they're a little half way past making thier money back. Doesn't help that they're streaming this for free. 

I think that's why we're seeing some fairly "generous" reviews, folks want it to succeed and they want more and if this is panned it won't happen.

That doesn't mean this was a good movie though, which is the point I'm making.


----------



## Emperor Guillotine (Apr 25, 2021)

Just watched the new movie on HBO Max for the same reason as all you guys.

Pros:
- the film pays tribute to the game's origins by including memorable lines of dialogue along with signature fight moves (fatalities) for specific characters
- all of the endless Sub-Zero CGI effects actually look great
- Sub-Zero's attire and Scorpion's attire nails what the characters look like in latest games in the series, rather than the wardrobe/costume department simply rehashing the two's old, archaic, original attire that everyone recognizes from the early games
- Tadanobu Asano cast as Raiden
- Benjamin Wallfisch's musical score is top-notch (everything he composes is top-notch, even if he is just another one of Hans Zimmer's boys on Zimmer's Remote Control roster)

Cons:
- very poor writing (but I mean, it's a video game adaptation...so there's not much that can be done when the source material is just _"FIGHT!!!"_)
- far too much _deus ex machina_ moments
- Cole Young was a very boring, lame, paper-thin, 2D character with nothing to him, which made it hard to root for him, especially when the "big fight" at the end barely involves him
- it feels like there isn't a main antagonist to the film and the conflict is just a bunch of lesser antagonists setup against a bunch of lesser protagonists until Sub-Zero steps into the camera frame
- it feels like Sub-Zero is the closest thing to what you'd call a main antagonist in the film rather than Shang Tsung (even though we know it should be Shang Tsung)
- Goro's character was totally wasted
- there was no climax to the film, and any falling action or resolution wasn't there because


Spoiler



Raiden simply teleports Shang Tsung away.


 - time for Hollywood to start milking this for sequels of exponentially depreciating quality


----------



## Bloody_Inferno (Apr 26, 2021)

Looks like MK is making bank. 50 mil on the box office in it's first week, they'll definitely make a sequel at this point.

The movie is still far from a flawless victory. I've already said it was a big dumb fun schlock entertainment, but there's some obvious flaws that bring it down hard. Some have already been said but for me personally:

I said it was the right amount of camp, but there's a ton of moments where the movie doesn't want to be made fun of and wanting to take itself more seriously. Which is pointless because YOU'RE MORTAL BLOODY KOMBAT, you're not meant to be taken seriously. A lot of it has to do with Cole Young, who is more or less a cipher and the grounded audience POV character. And a lot of the movie is wasted developing him as a character, while admirable, it's also boring. The whole training segment could've been replaced with anything more interesting. I really want Lewis Tan to succeed and grow, but his character has a lot to catch up on being interesting to the rest of the cast (even Liu Kang, one of the more dull characters in the cast, is more interesting than Cole). There's some reports saying that Cole is the result of WB interference insisting of putting a brand new character, which explains a lot.

The world building is also on the clumsy side. You're supposed to weave exposition into the narrative not have Sonia and Liu Kang straight up explain it to the audience DCEU style. This is something that every studio except Marvel hasn't got the hang of yet, and even Marvel trip over this every now and then (Iron Man 2).

Lastly, there's actually not enough fight scenes. Again, odd since YOU'RE MORTAL BLOODY KOMBAT. Lean into the camp harder.

Now with the movie being successful, completing the planned trilogy is inevitable. They ending has already planned on it, and Joe Taslim (Sub Zero) has already stated he's signed for 3-4 more movies. And being Mortal Kombat, a character death just means to sit on bench for a bit, so it works for Taslim's character but perhaps not the D-List fodder like Nitara.

I may sound down on it now but I still had fun. Though it's flaws do make me feel that it's a few notches below the 1995 original (which wasn't that great to begin with either). Still it's better than Annihilation by a large margin.


----------



## Bloody_Inferno (Apr 26, 2021)

A few cool things that I overlooked:

I'm glad Hanzo and Bi Han spoke their respective languages, and both were subtitiled. Normally, the protagonist would either speak in English or subtitled and the villain would be subbed, so viewers know who to root for. This arrangement gives the whole opening scene some moral grey shades. I might go as far as that intro is the best part of the whole movie, which was arguably too high brow compared to the rest of it. 

The use of Sub Zero's moves were cleverly done. I'm glad they managed to weave how painful ice burn can be into his fighting style.


----------

