REVIEW #108 Mortal Kombat (2021)

Mortal Kombat is a Martial Art fantasy film based on the popular game of the same name. Hunted by a warrior named Sub Zero, Cole Young finds sanctuary at the Temple of Lord Raiden. It’s there Cole prepares to stand with Earths greatest champions.


CAST & THE ACTING 

Lewis Tan plays Cole Young and his performance is probably one of the better ones out of the film. However I still feel like there wasn’t much substance to it and like the other performances, it all seemed a little cliche. Some of the other cast members include Jessica McNamee, Sisi Stringer, Joe Taslim and Josh Lawson, but as I mentioned above I wasn’t to fond of any of them. Lawson as Kano was entertaining at times and I feel like he suited the role but I would probably say the best overall performance would have to go to Hiroyuki Sanada as scorpion. It felt like he portrayed the emotion of his character a lot better then his colleagues, although that could be down to the tragic origins of his character. He is also the most well known actor in the cast, with a lot of experience. 


PLOT & THE STORYLINE 

I probably am a little biased here because I hate the game and I don’t particularly like the storyline of the film either. There are some interesting characters, sure, that makes for some good battle sequences. However I just wasn’t keen on the idea of a tournament of fighters from different realms, fighting for the rights to own that realm. I have probably described it very poorly there but I think it pretty much summarises it. The premise of the film is that one warrior is breaking the rules and sending his own warriors to kill earths champions outside of the tournament and that they must be stopped. It just all felt hollow, which meant I lost interest very quickly. I can see how you would enjoy it if you’re a big fan of the game and even the original film but for me it wasn’t very good. 


CINEMATOGRAPHY & SPECIAL EFFECTS 

I think the film actually had pretty good cinematography, it was probably the best part of the film. There were some scenes that looked really good, for example at the start of the film when scorpions family are killed, I think that had a nice aesthetic to it. The special effects made the action sequences entertaining, really emphasising the power of the champions. The colour and tone of certain scenes was handled really nicely, especially the last battle between Cole Young and scorpion vs Sub Zero! I think the design for Scorpion in general was really good actually, especially at the end. It’s rated R which meant there was some gruesome killing ‘finishers’ similar to the game, that provides the shock factor for sure! Seeing that being transitioned from the game to live action was exciting. So this category is definitely where the film thrived.


OVERALL (4/10)

Unfortunately Mortal Kombat was a big disappointment, I wasn’t surprised because I wasn’t a fan of the game and I assumed I wouldn’t be a fan of the film… I was right. The acting was average at best, it all felt a little cliche. In terms of the storyline, it had its moments where it had my attention but that was mainly down to some of the entertaining action sequences. The cinematography was definitely the best element of the film, a lot of thought went into the colour and the tone of scenes and that combined with the impressive effects really emphasised the champions power. I would only recommend the film if you’re a fan of the game or the original film, if not I wouldn’t bother. 


Thanks for reading

Callan

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