[Review] Mortal Kombat (2021) is a Frenetic and Gloriously Over-the-Top Love Letter to the Fans

Photo Credit: Courtesy New Line Cinema & Warner Bros. Pictures

Caption: JOE TASLIM as Sub-Zero/Bi-Han in New Line Cinema’s action adventure “Mortal Kombat,” a Warner Bros. Pictures release.

In 2010, a short film called Mortal Kombat: Rebirth began making the rounds at various video game and film sites. Represented as a potentially “gritty” reinvention of the storied video game franchise, it’d eschew the more fantastical aspects of the game’s lore to focus more on realism. It began as director Kevin Tancharoen’s pitch video pitch to sell his reimagined Mortal Kombat film and eventually evolved into a web series called Mortal Kombat: Legacy. This short film brought into sharp relief the disconnect between the over-the-top video games and the more family friendly films released in the 90s. It stands to reason that 2021’s Mortal Kombat wouldn’t exist without the public’s very passionate response to that short film because this new version tries to find common ground between the more grounded and “gritty” short film and the fantastical video game series. 

It opens at the Hanzo Hasashi Compound in 1617, where Hanzo Hasashi (Hiroyuki Sanada) spends a brief respite with his wife and kids before Bi-Han (Joe Taslim) shows up to kill pretty much everyone. The only survivor is Hanzo’s hidden daughter, who is ferried away by Raiden (Tadanobu Asano) with a burst of lightning. It’s a beautifully shot cold open that embraces an almost fairytale aesthetic; a romanticized period of time that director Simon McQuoid and cinematographer Germain McMicking use to contrast with the gritty modern era when we’re brought 400 years into the future. 

Cole Young (Lewis Tan), a cage fighter whose singular talent seems to be that he is a literal punching bag in the arena, was created for the movie and it shows. In a film with fire dragon abilities and buzzsaw hats and invisible lizards, Cole feels bizarrely restrained and underdeveloped as a lead to base a potential franchise on. Nevertheless, he was born with the dragon sigil on his body and that makes him one of Earth’s champions…and a target for the nefarious forces that want to destroy him. 

Photo Credit: Courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures

Caption: SISI STRINGER as Mileena in New Line Cinema’s action adventure “Mortal Kombat,” a Warner Bros. Pictures release.

In a brief bit of written exposition, Mortal Kombat catches those who might be unaware of the story up to speed as it introduces the conflict between Earthrealm (our world) and the Outworld. Earthrealm is approaching collapse because we’ve lost nine tournaments and should it lose one more, Outworld will invade and bring general chaos to Earth. To ensure this happens, Outworld sorcerer Shang Tsung (Chin Han) sends Bi-Han (now named Sub-Zero) to hunt and destroy all of Earth’s champions under the idea that if Earth doesn’t have any champions, Outworld will win the tournament by default. 

Mortal Kombat’s narrative unfolds in three rather distinct parts. It’s part chase film, with Cole trying to stay one step ahead of Tsung and his menagerie of fighters like Sub-Zero. It’s part Karate Kid as Cole and his motley group of human champions try to discover their arcana. And it’s slightly a tournament film. These discrete sections easily move from one to another without much fanfare, punctuated with a who’s-who of familiar character who pop in with the kind of self-important aggrandizement you’d expect. Fans will undoubtedly cheer when characters show up to toss out a signature ability while shouting iconic lines while the casual viewer who doesn’t know the difference between a Kung Lao and a Liu Kang will race to Wikipedia. 

It sometimes feels like Old Home Week which can be slightly alienating for someone who doesn’t have the game series’ rotating cast of characters locked down. In this way, Mortal Kombat feels made for the fans because the frenetic pacing of the film doesn’t allow much in the way of character development for the main characters...let alone the slate of villains. As such, Tsung will helpfully announce his lackeys’ names before the plot moves onward to the next introduction or fight scene. It assumes, for example, we understand the history and bad blood between Kano (Josh Lawson) and Kabal (Daniel Nelson) when they both reference the Black Dragon clan simply because the preexisting video game lore has established it. 

Photo Credit: Courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures

Caption: (L-r) MEHCAD BROOKS as Major Jackson “Jax” Briggs and JOE TASLIM as Sub-Zero/Bi-Han in New Line Cinema’s action adventure “Mortal Kombat,” a Warner Bros. Pictures release.

Luckily, the main event for the video games and the films is the fight sequences and they are incredibly engaging and varied in location and styles. This couldn’t be more obvious than in an early fight between Jax (Mehcad Brooks) and Sub-Zero. As they brawl in a frozen building, the two’s fighting styles couldn’t be more different, as Jax utilizes brute strength while Sub-Zero relies on using his strength against him, coupled with his signature ice attacks. When the copious amounts of blood is spilled, it’s dark red and goopy in a slightly cartoony way that feels like an homage to the ridiculous geysers from the game. And when the fatalities come into play...well, they would fit perfectly in line with some of the newer games and their tongue-in-cheek reveals and gory staging. 

And that’s really all we can ask about a film based on a video game that’s simply about people duking it out in fantastical arenas, tossing fireballs and acid spit at each other.

The actual tournament portion of the film feels under-developed and fans who expect continual arena-like brawls might be disappointed, as Mortal Kombat is focused on establishing the prologue of what could be a much larger story. On the plus side, it’s incredibly amazing to see a big budget, studio-produced action movie where the majority of the cast is not white. Conversely, Cole feels like a wet noodle of a character whose abilities pale in the face of his companions and the small number of female characters are basically sidelined through a good chunk of the film. But the frenetic pacing, quippy dialogue and bursts of kinetic and explosively violent fights outweigh some of the narrative fumbles...because, let’s be honest, the backstory of the Earth’s champions is not why you’re here. 

It’s a roster of Mortal Kombat characters spouting deliciously pretentious fantasy dialogue and then breaking the arms off their foes. You know if you’ll enjoy it or not.