Review of the film “Mortal Kombat”. Come here! – review addiction

Cole Young is a talented but not overly successful MMA fighter. He perfectly holds the punch, but for some reason it does not work out to win in the ring. However, this is not so important as long as Cole is supported by his wife and daughter. The only thing that really worries the fighter is the visions in which he is a certain ancient warrior, engulfed in flames. It soon turns out that visions are only an omen of future troubles. First, a killer comes for Cole and his family, capable of freezing everything around, and then the hero learns that he is literally written to participate in an ancient tournament, where the fate of the entire planet is at stake.

Let’s start with the main thing: we have a very, very dumb film. In a good way and in a bad way. If we consider it from the standpoint of “real” cinema – that is, to disassemble the plot, the elaboration of characters, the placement of accents, etc. “Mortal Kombat” the sample of 2023 has no chance. You can grind the tape into dust with a clear conscience. Even Anderson’s version, for all its simplicity and straightforwardness, withstands this test more confidently simply because it cares more about the ordinary viewer. The new film wanted to spit on him. Rather, it begs for the pantheon of the modern grindhouse, in the narrow category of ultra-bloody relaunches for fans, where there are already “Punisher: War Zone”, “Dredd” and Hellboy Neil Marshall.

Despite the solid age of 60, Hiroyuki Sanada looks quite convincing in the role of Scorpio. It’s a pity he has very little screen time.

With the latter, the tape has in common the confusion of what is happening. In an amicable way, the events in “Mortal Kombat” would be enough for a whole “snidercat” or even for a season of the series. Here are the origins of the enmity between Sub-Zero and Scorpio, and the gathering of the defenders of the earthly kingdom with their subsequent training, and the attempts of the sorcerer Shang Tsung to sabotage the tournament, and the secret of Cole’s origin … And they are trying to force all this into an hour and a half. Timing is so lacking that in the third act, the creators hammer on the last rules of decency and to hell throw out any plot links between the action. And in the first two, the film is so feverish that the viewer hardly has at least a couple of minutes to take a breath.

But that’s … right. More accidentally than intentionally, Mortal Kombat avoids the main mistake Godzilla vs. Kong – he does not make you wait for what you actually came for. The tape begins with a fight, continues with fights and ends with a fight. And everything between fights is done according to the principle of good porn parody: filled with jokes and fan service.

All the humor is dragged on by Kano performed by Josh Lawson. He swears funny, makes funny comments on what is happening and, in principle, looks more like a living person than others. It’s a pity the creators didn’t think of making him a protagonist. Other heroes are simply substitutes for Anderson’s Mortal Kombat characters. Cole Young – instead of Liu Kang, Liu Kang – instead of Kitana, Sonya Blade – instead of … Sonya Blade. There is also Jax and Kun Lao, but they are needed exclusively for extras.

It is understandable why Johnny Cage was not included in the plot: two jokers in a team are a clear overkill

Oh yeah, Scorpio and Sub-Zero. The most famous MK characters. The central figures of the entire advertising campaign of the film. Well, they are in “Mortal Kombat” – and even fight. Two times: at the beginning and at the end. Moreover, the cryomancer at least appears here and there, chasing the heroes, but poor Hanzo Hasashi sits in the underworld until the very end. This is somewhat disappointing. As well as the absence, in fact, Mortal Kombat. Yes, in the film, where the plot revolves around a tournament between worlds, this very tournament is not – as already mentioned, Shang Tsung is trying to disrupt it. Because of this, the scale of what is happening is lost, because that very big game for the fate of the planet has not even begun.

However, all this is not so important: the heroes can fight even in the alley – the main thing is that it looks cool. But with fights, everything is not as clear as we would like. The fact is that in the same film by Paul Anderson, the central cast was more than half staffed by martial arts masters and professional stuntmen. But in the new version, only three can boast of the necessary experience – the performer of the main role Lewis Tan, as well as Joe Taslim, who plays Sub-Zero, and Max Huang, who tries on the image of Kong Lao. Only they can really do something in the frame. All the rest, all of them former photo models, have to be replaced by understudies and shredded fights with chaotic editing. And if you’ve seen “Raid” or “The night is following us”, the result will hardly impress you.

But there are definitely no problems with fatality. Here the creators fulfilled their promise, because “Mortal Kombat” is as brutal as it should be. Guts fall out of slashed stomachs, bones break, flesh burns, and computer blood gushes fountains. Everything was filmed very tasty, with real pride in the work done by the artists. Ultraviolence is the kind of attraction that the movie lures the viewer with, and if you appreciate tin with a touch of black humor, this trip is definitely worth it. It’s hard to remember the last time an R-rated would have been so justified in an action movie.

As already mentioned, “Mortal Kombat” is an uncompromisingly stupid movie that is not at all shy about its stupidity. Critics will surely ruin him to smithereens, and for good reason. On account of director Simon McQuoid and lead screenwriter Greg Russo, not only are there no full-length films, but even an overwhelming serial. For some reason, the studio entrusted the project to beginners, and you can feel it. However, they ended up with nothing muddied and sufficiently carbon monoxide trash, which does not claim anything more – including the laurels of the best game adaptation. If you just want to see how the heroes, familiar from childhood, tear each other apart on the big screen, then Mortal Kombat will fulfill this desire. Nothing else is worth waiting for.