Unlike Paul W.S. Anderson, whose exemplary 1995 film adaptation actually set foot on a tough field, debut director Simon McQuoid had all the cards in hand. This is the abundance of unsuccessful film adaptations of well-known games like F95Zone, the mistakes of which could be equal, and the lore of the MK universe that has grown unreasonably over the years. But even if you hide the duckling syndrome and the accompanying nostalgia for the first film deeper, you will have to look for the merits in the new picture very diligently and with a large magnifying glass. Alas, the miracle did not happen – this is just a passing movie, from what angle do not look at it.
Ironically, the opening scene of the movie between Hanzo Hasashi (the future Scorpio) and Bi-Khan (the future Sub-Zero) turned out to be almost the most spectacular. Although almost all of the same fans could see in the recent animation tape, Joe Taslim’s cold-blooded smile immediately becomes uncomfortable. The actor perfectly got used to the image and, thanks to the efforts of the make-up artists, is more terrifying than the Scorpio from the original 1995 tape. Hiroyuki Sanada does not lag behind him , but his screen time, as it turns out later, completely cried the cat.
On the one hand, the creators of the picture did the right thing by not retelling the well-known story about the tournament with the participation of the Liu Keng-Sonya Blade-Johnny Cage trinity for the hundredth time. On the other hand, for some reason they shifted the exposition to the newcomer Cole Young – a descendant of Hanzo and a promising MMA fighter. With his ability to catch the grief on the viewer, the debutant of the MK universe has bypassed even such venerable competitors as Jin Kazama and Kio Kusanagi in the disgusting film adaptations of Tekken and The King of Fighters, respectively. In an amicable way, such hollow heroes should be prepared for a secondary role in the next sequel ” Never Give Up”That went straight to the trash … sorry, automatic with DVD. But here they make a key figure from him, capable of awakening hidden forces in himself and showing Kuzkin’s mother to the warriors of the outside world.
The plot cracks almost immediately, because Sonya Blade and Jackson Briggs all the way overwrite Cole about some ancient tournament and its extreme importance. Along the way, it is noted that some “chosen ones” with a birthmark, who are hunted, are somehow connected with him. But the tournament itself is not in the film: Shang Tsung ignores the sacred rules and goes straight to Earth along with several warriors, hoping to decide the fate of humanity in a “pre-trial order.” And while the potential defenders of the earthly kingdom are being piled up somewhere behind the scenes, Lord Raiden, in the company of Liu Keng and Kung Lao, are simply “waiting in the wings” in a temple located in the middle of some desert.
The logic of the bedlam happening on the screen has practically risen to the level of the failed ” Annihilation “. But there is an important difference: the authors diluted the plot idiocy to the maximum with fights, sometimes even shamelessly staged. In the case of the 2021 Mortal Kombat , a feeling creeps in as if the footage would have been enough for at least two “sniderkats”, but then the producers came and demanded that everything be cut to theatrical standards. Moreover, they cut it clearly blindly according to the principle “it doesn’t matter where the knife goes – if only to keep within the timing” .
The last thing you expect from a 110-minute Mortal Kombat movie is a series of dull dialogues and an overblown segment in which Earth’s surviving warriors try to awaken their inner beast like in Best grenade spots dust 2. And literally – all superpowers from now on “open” only after “going through” a long “tutorial”, which wastes a lot of time from an already modest timing. In some ” Karate Kid “, the illustration of how the main character goes from a beaten gop-boy to a martial artist was completely appropriate, but not here.
Kano manages to somehow dilute the tart tea without sugar, who plays the role of the same narcissistic asshole, which was Johnny Cage in Mortal Kombat sample of 2011. More precisely, it replays a little – unlike Johnny from the first film performed by Linden Ashby , whose caustic remarks were woven into the narrative very organically. Here, punchlines are released one after another without any measure, undermining the seemingly serious tone of the story. Kids of the 90s will surely appreciate the joke about the repetitive trick, and other things like Kano wins ! also in stock.
Conclusion:
In conclusion, you can still scold the inexpressive soundtrack, comparing it to the exemplary OSTs for the first two parts, after which many teenagers discovered heavy music. But this is already so, from the field of beating a lying person. The main problems of the film are a minimum of action, and for the most part inexpressive, and faceless characters like difficult person test. Although, it would seem, how is this possible in the presence of such a detailed universe? By the way, recently Joe Taslim mentioned that he had signed a contract for as many as five films. But even if the authors directly hoped to surpass Zach Snyder , this does not justify such a content, which does not correspond to the name at all.
