Mortal Kombat (2021) (5/10)
This film...really isn't very good.
It's poorly edited. It's rushed. It simultaniously takes itself too seriously, while also not seriously enough. It tries to juggle far too many characters, and as a result, all of them are underbaked. A lot of flak's been directed towards Cole, but he isn't the problem - removing Cole would remove one more superfluous character, but there'd still be too many.
There's also the fact that little makes sense, or is never explained. That Sub-Zero kills Scorpion and his family is a key plot point, but why he does this is never explained, nor does anyone even ask. Yes, Sub-Zero says "for the Lin Kuei," but who the fuck are the Lin Kuei? I mean, I know what they are, but the average moviegoer doesn't, and even if they did, that doesn't excuse the poor writing. How does Sub-Zero end up in Tsang Tsung's service? Why is he still alive?
Nor does it excuse how the 'rules' make no sense, because in one scene, Tsang Tsung stresses the need to keep Outworld's cheating a secret, but when Raiden finds out, he and his monks are "well, what else is new?", and all subterfuge goes out the window. It takes days, if not weeks for Kano to learn his 'arcana,' but Sonya can pick it up literally seconds after killing him. At the start of the film, it stresses how few Earthrealm champions are left, but at the end, Raiden is "well, let's find more champions." Christ, how is this dragon marking supposed to work anyway? Is it bloodline based, or is there a set number of champions Earthrealm can have? And speaking of realms, why does Outworld look like Iceland with a tinge of sepia? It's astounding that Outworld in MK2 can look more creative than a film made over two decades later.
So, yeah, I didn't like this film much. As an MK film, it's too drab to be enjoyable. As a film by itself, it's too poorly written, paced, and edited to reccomend. Short answer to a question you may have, yes, the 1995 film is better, and no, that isn't nostalgia talking. It was better paced, understood it was far better to focus on a few select characters rather than trying to cover numerous ones and spreading itself thin, and yes, it's better written. I mean, the first film ends with Liu Kang fighting Shang Tsung, for reasons that are clearly defined on the personal level (revenge for Chen) and plot level (final battle of the tournament). The 2021 film ends with Sub-Zero and Scorpion fighting for reasons that aren't explained (the latter character having barely been in the film) while the 'protagonist' barely does anything, over plot stakes that are nebulous. And even with the effects, yeah, okay, Goro looks better, but the 1995 film was simply more creative, the 1995 film ending in an extra-dimensional tower, the 2021 film ending in a frozen over fight dojo.
Sigh...
Yeah, I don't reccommend this. Spend your time elsewhere, if you're an MK fan or not. I'd even reccommend Annihilation over this, as it's more enjoyable at least.
Edit: That said, I'm going to give brownie points to Kano (or at least his actor). He's the one bright spot in this drab fest, even if he suffers from the same underdevelopment as everyone else.