Director: Simon McQuoid
Writers: Greg Russo and Dave Callaham; Oren Uziel (story by); Ed Boon and John Tobias (based on the game)
Stars: Lewis Tan, Jessica McNamee, Josh Lawson, Joe Taslim, Hiroyuki Sanada, Tadanobu Asano, Chin Han
Synopsis: MMA fighter Cole Young seeks out Earth’s greatest champions in order to stand against the enemies of Outworld in a high stakes battle for the universe.
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The Mortal Kombat games have storylines?! They do, as co-creators Ed Boon and especially John Tobias intended — as well as every subsequent developer in this lasting beat-‘em-up franchise, and they will either adhere or riff off the concept of markedly different worlds conquering each other after 10 victories in one-on-one fights. Such dedication and polish for something that is often considered filler for players in the bigger picture, even if, without a doubt, there is more than one person out there who describe all the effort as “ah, the fighting game with a guy who shoots ice.” Quite the Brutality, methinks.
That said, when Mortal Kombat transports itself from game-realm to cinema-realm, it better has a narrative. Twice this had happened, in 1995 and 1997, so if the saying goes this attempt from Greg Russo and Dave Callaham, working off a story from Oren Uziel, should be where the charm is. Strictly B-level, but no apologies there. Yet after laying out how the sorcerer Shang Tsung (Chin Han) and his chosen brawlers — teethy Mileena (Sisi Stringer), winged Nitara (Mel Jarnson), brutish Reiko (Nathan Jones), four-armed Prince Goro (Angus Sampson voicing an all-CG creation), Yautja-like Kabal (physically Daniel Nelson, vocally Angus Sampson) and chilly Sub-Zero (Joe Taslim) — is only one fighting tournament away from completing his invasion of Earthrealm, and that Shang Tsung himself is unfairly setting up an easy takeover by tasking Sub-Zero to wipe out our chosen warriors — the tragic Scorpion (Hiroyuki Sanada), sagacious Liu Kang (Ludi Lin), his smooth cousin Kung Lao (Max Huang), measured Jax (Mehcad Brooks), determined Sonya (Jessica McNamee), crude Kano (Josh Lawson) and our lead Cole Young (Lewis Tan) — the plot loses tension and drifts away from coherence fast. Apparently there are gods in this universe, as Lord Raiden (Tadanobu Asano) but-everyone-keeps-saying Ray-then can prove, but their most important function is to… deliver exposition? Is that dialogue meant to be humorous? Why does that serious dialogue sound humorous? So that was the cue to care about Cole as a person! The inability to embrace the inherent popcorn-silliness, introduce some popcorn-gravity or find a functioning combo is apparent, up until Act 3 where it’s highly likely that the most of the script pages have only the phrase “FIGHT!” sitting dead-center. Time to start #RestoreMortalKombat or #GetOverHereMKAssemblyCut if it can get the rest of the film to reach the same heights of the thrilling opener that falsely promises a Big Beatdown underlined by contrasts, retributions, and heritages.
Skipping all that aside, as folks would say one should since Mortal Kombat has never attempted to be high art, it’s still difficult to receive what Simon McQuoid and company are ready to give. Despite a budget of nearly $100 million that easily makes this the best-looking and best-sounding adaptation of the game to date — Cappi Ireland’s costumes are uber-detailed, Naaman Marshall’s sets can switch between epic tableaus and even-more-epic arenas with ease, Benjamin Wallfisch’s score is a holy union between retro gaming and grand orchestrating, and the fatalities are well visualized (Razor’s Edge!) — the visuals and direction are hampered by editors Scott Gray and Dan Lebental’s damaging reliance on choppiness. Bringing excitement it does not, and in its place are the difficulty to soak in the carnage and the recurring belief that there needs to be a patch to fix this thing’s frame rate. Right when our heroes and villains ask for the gifts and sensations that cross-cutting can bring, Gray and Lebental turn a four-way fight with one same cause into a hodgepodge with flailing figures and the occasional spurts of crimson. What a way to undermine the action choreography, which is gorgeous when you assemble it in your mind palace. To slander McQuoid, almost, by implying he couldn’t handle an action-heavy, game-based production when his portfolio asserts otherwise. And perhaps most fatally, to reduce the characters into machinations — Tan is supposed to be this MMA fighter-slash-family man who realizes he’s part of something grander, but in the end, the film finds him better suited as “Audience Surrogate.”
As for the rest? “Plot Advancers Excellently Cosplaying Mortal Kombat Characters.” Such a shame as every actor who has to embody a character exudes great comfort in being one, namely Han, Sanada, Taslim, Lin, Lawson, and Huang. The latter two know they’re part of a game-to-film project for sure; Huang, a member of the Jackie Chan Stunt Team, however, seems to have been waiting for this moment. You could say their energy is a small win. It will take more than that or bloody fatalities for the experience to be a victory worth registering, of course. And the video-game curse delivers another K.O.*
(* Next time pack the production with people who have played the game being adapted. And double-vet your editors.)
Grade: C-
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