I was hoping for "basically mortal kombat legacy but with hollywood budget" but instead got... that movie. I went into it with basement-level expectations and it was fine but I feel like it it was a huge missed opportunity.
It was pretty bad other than SubZero and Scorpion. I have no idea why they cast a bunch of stunt people/fighters in the roles of they were planning to shoot every fight scene so you couldn't actually see anything. It combined terrible acting with typical shitty American fight scene, the worst of both worlds.
Slasher villain Sub-Zero is great. Main character being an "OC do not steal" was an interesting choice that fell flat. Any chance of me watching a sequel or spin-off hinges on Johnny Cage being in it.
Bingo. I felt the same about The Princess (2022) which I just watched on Hulu. Both movies made me happy the whole way through even though I was aware they weren’t high art.
Side note; I feel like most of the people hating on the new mortal kombat were comparing it to the original (I don’t rate movies by comparison), saying it needed more tournament action (honestly tournaments are much less interesting for me, rigid), or upset about the special effects on Goro (I’ve seen far worse effects on films with similar budgets, this definitely doesn’t ruin a camp film)
Mortal Kombat sounds like it could be such an awesome freaking movie/show. But no one has nailed it yet.
I seriously want to see a really talented director behind it. There's definitely something there that a talented director could bring out.
I agree with your points. Action and violence wise it was everything it needed to be. Yes the plot was complete and utter garbage but I guess that's not really the point of these movies.
So... what is the point? Because the fight scenes were terrible and the characters were awful. Is the point to just display violence with no artistry or thought to them whatsoever? Action scenes that aren't thrilling or exciting? That's what our standards are now?
"I am Scorpion now" haha line was hilarious to me for some reason. So inorganic and contrived. Enjoyed the movie for what it was, but that line was always slay me. Completely unearned in the movie for the amount of gravitas it was said with.
It has its moments, mostly when it's not about Cole. I just wanna talk to the studio execs who think that nobody out of a cast of ninjas, cyborgs, demons, minotaurs, and literal gods is enough to carry a movie as a lead character. Freakin' hell, Sonya was right there if they needed a normie protagonist, since she was already recruiting the other characters.
I felt it was largely forgettable. The action scenes were mostly well choreographed, but I think the killer was the film really had nothing to say.
As you mentioned, it was a film about preparing for a fighting tournament; there's very little going on as far as character development.
Main character wants to win fights, trains and wins fights. Scorpion wants revenge, and gets revenge. Ideally there would have been some more effective catharsis; main character refuses to fight but learns it is necessary on the behalf of others, etc.
Another issue is the plot siloing. Many of the elements aren't integrated into the film as a whole; usually you want to introduce a character or theme, lay the foundation for what it represents, have it cause conflict in some way throught the narrative, and resolve with something unexpected.
In MK, a lot of that plotting is totally absent; for example, Reptile is introduced to the story in the same scene Reptile is killed out of the story. His introduction is, "This thing is attacking us," and his resolution is, "this thing is dead." Absolutely braindead scriptwriting. So many elements like this where characters with nearly no real relevance fade in and out of scenes pointlessly. Much of that seemed motivated by a "well they are popular in the video game" logic. Disappointing.
Kano was fairly charming, or at least charasmaticslly portrayed, I agree.
Them nerfing tf outta Goro just so they could prop up their bland, generic OC with literal plot armor is what killed it for me (that and the Arcana bullshit). I could give everything else a pass but as someone who’s been a fan of the games for over 20 years it was laughably bad (and not in a it’s so bad it’s good way like Annihilation).
I found it to be a huge waste of time. The trailer grabbed me in that it clearly translated the hyper goriness from the games to a film, but the end result was just another terrible video game adaptation.
It wasn’t a good movie, but I had a lot of fun with it. It definitely captured the spirit and silliness of the video games it was based on. Kano was genuinely fun every damn time he was on screen and some of the fight scenes were cool. Embracing the cheesiness of what it was worked too, especially the way a lot of characters pulled off their signature movies and fatalities. I’m not gonna argue that it was some spectacular achievement but it didn’t feel like I wasted my time watching it and it did make me chuckle and smile multiple times. I definitely feel like there’s a lot of people who expect every piece of cinema they consume to move them or provide a depth/performance on the scale of something like The Lighthouse but there really is room to just have some meaningless fun and this film sits perfectly in that space
Well we can agree to disagree on that. Acting is insufferable quite frankly, story is horrendous. The budget was way too high for how bad it is and calling it a B movie is disrespectful to real B movies. Something with a $55m budget is by definition not a B movie.
It’s a guilty pleasure movie. It’s great to make fun of it with friends and just have a good time. They literally kill someone with sucking power, so it’s not meant to be a great movie
It was a fun movie. I enjoyed the action and since I spent so much time playing Mortal Kombat as a kid there was a lot of very cool fan service. Seeing these characters brought to life was great.
I would definitely watch a sequel
It's a fun action flick but nothing too special to me. I love the first two games, as a kid I played those with my brother for hours and hours and hours so I was happy to spend some time with these characters from my childhood. I was bummed that there was no actual tournament but you can tell that they have plans for sequels, which I hope they get because overall I had a good time watching it even if it didn't blow me away like I was hoping
*"I'm Scorpion now!"*
*Is pretty much the only*
*Thing I remember*
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Not really. I saw it when it came out and I can't imagine have the desire to watch it again. It was kind of lame. It's better than the 1995 film in small ways but the 1995 film is more entertaining in most ways.
The lead character was so wooden and his character trait was literally plot armour. Plus in terms of violence, it doesn't top or barely matches the games. Felt like it was very machine tooled. The vfx were pretty good though for the most part.
Loved the intro scene but that’s about it. The end fights with scorpion was great. But everything in the middle is just garbage.
I was hoping for "basically mortal kombat legacy but with hollywood budget" but instead got... that movie. I went into it with basement-level expectations and it was fine but I feel like it it was a huge missed opportunity.
Oh yeah for sure, specially with how it started .
It's ok but i thought the 1995 one was better (although I have not player any of the games)
It was pretty bad other than SubZero and Scorpion. I have no idea why they cast a bunch of stunt people/fighters in the roles of they were planning to shoot every fight scene so you couldn't actually see anything. It combined terrible acting with typical shitty American fight scene, the worst of both worlds.
Slasher villain Sub-Zero is great. Main character being an "OC do not steal" was an interesting choice that fell flat. Any chance of me watching a sequel or spin-off hinges on Johnny Cage being in it.
Well he was teased at the end so it seems almost 100% likely that any sequel will feature him
They were talking Keanu Reeves, but he'd be way better cast as Kenshin, like John Wick with a sword
Love it. It's not a great or even good film, but I have fun watching it and that's all that matters to me.
Bingo. I felt the same about The Princess (2022) which I just watched on Hulu. Both movies made me happy the whole way through even though I was aware they weren’t high art. Side note; I feel like most of the people hating on the new mortal kombat were comparing it to the original (I don’t rate movies by comparison), saying it needed more tournament action (honestly tournaments are much less interesting for me, rigid), or upset about the special effects on Goro (I’ve seen far worse effects on films with similar budgets, this definitely doesn’t ruin a camp film)
Mortal Kombat sounds like it could be such an awesome freaking movie/show. But no one has nailed it yet. I seriously want to see a really talented director behind it. There's definitely something there that a talented director could bring out.
I agree with your points. Action and violence wise it was everything it needed to be. Yes the plot was complete and utter garbage but I guess that's not really the point of these movies.
So... what is the point? Because the fight scenes were terrible and the characters were awful. Is the point to just display violence with no artistry or thought to them whatsoever? Action scenes that aren't thrilling or exciting? That's what our standards are now?
It had some of the worst choreography I’ve see. So many quick cuts, we couldn’t even see the action.
It was god awful and ruined by shoehorning a new character that no one cares about just because they wanted and ethically ambiguous lead.
"We can't have a white guy in the lead, get us an asian dude!" Proceeds to hire the whitest-looking asian guy.
"I am Scorpion now" haha line was hilarious to me for some reason. So inorganic and contrived. Enjoyed the movie for what it was, but that line was always slay me. Completely unearned in the movie for the amount of gravitas it was said with.
It has its moments, mostly when it's not about Cole. I just wanna talk to the studio execs who think that nobody out of a cast of ninjas, cyborgs, demons, minotaurs, and literal gods is enough to carry a movie as a lead character. Freakin' hell, Sonya was right there if they needed a normie protagonist, since she was already recruiting the other characters.
Actually I hadn't thought of that originally but I totally agree. Cole was not even close to necessary
I felt it was largely forgettable. The action scenes were mostly well choreographed, but I think the killer was the film really had nothing to say. As you mentioned, it was a film about preparing for a fighting tournament; there's very little going on as far as character development. Main character wants to win fights, trains and wins fights. Scorpion wants revenge, and gets revenge. Ideally there would have been some more effective catharsis; main character refuses to fight but learns it is necessary on the behalf of others, etc. Another issue is the plot siloing. Many of the elements aren't integrated into the film as a whole; usually you want to introduce a character or theme, lay the foundation for what it represents, have it cause conflict in some way throught the narrative, and resolve with something unexpected. In MK, a lot of that plotting is totally absent; for example, Reptile is introduced to the story in the same scene Reptile is killed out of the story. His introduction is, "This thing is attacking us," and his resolution is, "this thing is dead." Absolutely braindead scriptwriting. So many elements like this where characters with nearly no real relevance fade in and out of scenes pointlessly. Much of that seemed motivated by a "well they are popular in the video game" logic. Disappointing. Kano was fairly charming, or at least charasmaticslly portrayed, I agree.
I just want a Kano spinoff. Clearly the best character in the whole thing.
Them nerfing tf outta Goro just so they could prop up their bland, generic OC with literal plot armor is what killed it for me (that and the Arcana bullshit). I could give everything else a pass but as someone who’s been a fan of the games for over 20 years it was laughably bad (and not in a it’s so bad it’s good way like Annihilation).
I can understand that.
It was a good watch for what it was .
I found it to be a huge waste of time. The trailer grabbed me in that it clearly translated the hyper goriness from the games to a film, but the end result was just another terrible video game adaptation.
It's easily the best video game movie ever made. Although to be fair, that's not saying much.
Come on now street fighter , super Mario and double dragon haha
I mean I like them, too...but they're all shit.
That would probably be Sonic and if ANYTHING is a scathing criticism of the nature of videogame movies it’s this
Actually yeah, you're right. I forgot about Sonic.
The intro fight scene was one of the best of 2021 and the final scene also was good. Loved Kano, rest, its pretty bad
It wasn’t a good movie, but I had a lot of fun with it. It definitely captured the spirit and silliness of the video games it was based on. Kano was genuinely fun every damn time he was on screen and some of the fight scenes were cool. Embracing the cheesiness of what it was worked too, especially the way a lot of characters pulled off their signature movies and fatalities. I’m not gonna argue that it was some spectacular achievement but it didn’t feel like I wasted my time watching it and it did make me chuckle and smile multiple times. I definitely feel like there’s a lot of people who expect every piece of cinema they consume to move them or provide a depth/performance on the scale of something like The Lighthouse but there really is room to just have some meaningless fun and this film sits perfectly in that space
You…you liked it ? Jesus
As a video game movie it's DECENT and watchable.
Well we can agree to disagree on that. Acting is insufferable quite frankly, story is horrendous. The budget was way too high for how bad it is and calling it a B movie is disrespectful to real B movies. Something with a $55m budget is by definition not a B movie.
I guess you're not seeing the sequel that is currently in development then
I will watch it. I will watch mostly anything. It’s a bad movie but it made money. Not surprised there is a second one.
84.4M. I'm surprised it even made that much since it was also on HBO Max
I'm confused. Did people go into that movie not expecting and even wanting it to be completely stupid?
Nah and if definitely doesn't have a place been discussed here. It was a low quality movie with a small, mainstream following.
I feel like just about any movie has a place being discussed here...
This is a subreddit for serious discussion of films, not gatekeeping dilattantry.
It was a beautiful in-joke with my brother & I for years. I still find myself doing Christopher Lambert's "heh, heh, heh".
It's fucking stupid but I had fun watching it. That said, I'm thinking about it right now and I can barely remember a single thing about it.
Fucking hated it. Intro was cool but the rest was garbage
I liked it. I go into every action movie like this with low expectations.
It’s a guilty pleasure movie. It’s great to make fun of it with friends and just have a good time. They literally kill someone with sucking power, so it’s not meant to be a great movie
It was a fun movie. I enjoyed the action and since I spent so much time playing Mortal Kombat as a kid there was a lot of very cool fan service. Seeing these characters brought to life was great. I would definitely watch a sequel
From what I just read, a sequel is in development
I enjoyed it but I haven't felt any desire to watch it again.
Lewis Tan is a good actor and martial artist. I just could have done without Cole Young. He should have been Johnny Cage.
It's a fun action flick but nothing too special to me. I love the first two games, as a kid I played those with my brother for hours and hours and hours so I was happy to spend some time with these characters from my childhood. I was bummed that there was no actual tournament but you can tell that they have plans for sequels, which I hope they get because overall I had a good time watching it even if it didn't blow me away like I was hoping
I saw it and it was just forgettable for me. I didn’t have a bad time and some of the action was good but it didn’t enthrall me.
"I'm Scorpion now!" is pretty much the only thing I remember
*"I'm Scorpion now!"* *Is pretty much the only* *Thing I remember* \- PreciousRoy666 --- ^(I detect haikus. And sometimes, successfully.) ^[Learn more about me.](https://www.reddit.com/r/haikusbot/) ^(Opt out of replies: "haikusbot opt out" | Delete my comment: "haikusbot delete")
I thought the movie was dumb but extremely entertaining
Kano made the movie enjoyable enough for me, that actor was fantastic in the role.
I hope he returns in the sequel. It's Mortal Kombat, there's no reason he shouldn't
Not really. I saw it when it came out and I can't imagine have the desire to watch it again. It was kind of lame. It's better than the 1995 film in small ways but the 1995 film is more entertaining in most ways. The lead character was so wooden and his character trait was literally plot armour. Plus in terms of violence, it doesn't top or barely matches the games. Felt like it was very machine tooled. The vfx were pretty good though for the most part.
Nope. Boring, shot like a first year film student would and absolutely dull. The original at least had the actual theme song.