Mortal Kombat Reboot

[hanselthecaretaker]

yeah but, do THEY know of elder gods? Because it's presented to us, via Cole, as if supernatural stuff is not real. As he seems surprised by it. Eh, I dunno, I just, it feels like it stretches credibility given how precise the image is. A perfect circle, with a stylized dragon, just happens to be a birthmark on someone.

I mean I guess if they try and say "yeah but you have cats who have fur patterns of another cat on them" and other weird things that, similar to clouds, you can see an image in it. But, this is very much beyond that. It's not just "hey those shapes, when pointed out, DO look like a bunny rabbit, ON a bunny rabbit!"

It's a nitpick, I admit, I just, I feel like anyone skeptical would be like "yeah....ok so that feels like a brand to me kid, looks like one too. Too perfect, it's maintained that same shape as you got older and larger? Stretching out in perfect proportions ? Seems fishy to me. " But no, she's like "yeah, totally just random, normal human skin variations." *shrugs*

Again, it's not like I'm tossing a table and saying the movie sucks now, I just found that line a bit lame. Like they just couldn't come up with a good justification in the script, and just said "fuck it, birthmark"

Its not worth fixating on, since as already mentioned, they are basically just making observations that even though it’s obviously strange, it’s something he was born with. Just listen to the dialog between :25 and :36 and it says enough.

Sonya: “He had the same markings as you Cole”
Clueless girl: “It’s a birthmark”
Jax: “Whadayou mean”
Clueless girl: “He was born with it”

Later...
Jax: “It’s not a birthmark Cole. It means you’ve been chosen.”

Now, if you’re mostly nitpicking the design choice to pass off such an unmistakable symbol as a mere “birthmark”, then I get that, but they’re being purposefully vague about the “mystery” surrounding it, so I’m willing to run with the choice to be a bit on the nose about its presentation for reasons. And again, this is a series with stuff like a 500 year old, four-armed monstrosity that speaks English and lives on an ancient Chinese island.

 

[happyninja42]

Now, if you’re mostly nitpicking the design choice to pass off such an unmistakable symbol as a mere “birthmark”, then I get that,

That, that is my issue. I have no problem with the idea that people are mystically branded and chosen to fight, due to Destiny and Fate, and the Kombat Kards or whatever weird shit they come up with. It's the "yeah i call bullshit on THAT being just a random pigment thing"

Like I said, it's not a deal breaker, it's just one of those things in a shaky script that make me chuckle and roll my eyes when I see it. No movie is perfect, so I don't really care, it's just funny to me.

 

[BrawlMan]

Fun side, I spent my childhood in Manhattan during that time. My best friend and I went around Manhattan screaming Mortal Kombat to see if anyone would call it back.

They did not. And we had some girls laugh at us. That ended that quickly.

They're just pussies with no dignity. I know when the 1995 film was coming out and released, kids, teens, and young adults were doing it briefly again, and slightly resurged.

Well I don't have a problem with an audience insert, someone to exposition at for people new to the franchise. That's fine, if done well.

That's my main concern. I don't want their OC, Cole, getting in the way. I am always happy to introduce new fans, but you don't need a character like that when you already have several viewpoint characters to pick from. Liu Kang could have worked fine again.

 

[happyninja42]

That's my main concern. I don't want their OC, Cole, getting in the way. I am always happy to introduce new fans, but you don't need a character like that when you already have several viewpoint characters to pick from. Liu Kang could have worked fine again.

I agree, though doing so would mean that Liu Kang can't know anything really about the tournament. Like ANYTHING about it. Honestly in the first film, the audience insert was Cage and Sonya, as they were the main protags who had zero clue about anything really going on. Liu was very familiar with the rules of the tournament, he just refused to take part.

My issue, is that they are clearly putting him IN the tournament, hence the branding as a chosen. Which makes me think "ok are they shoehorning in someone new? Or, is this going to be a thing like Scorpion and Sub Zero, where those aren't their BIRTH names, but a title they chose, and Cole is some actual character from the games?" where by the end he's like "My name is no longer Cole..." *dramatic music and reveal* "Call me......*I dunno, whoever would fit Generic Sort of White Dude But Maybe Mixed Ethnicity Human* " *cut to credits* Either way I don't really mind, unless they make him the winner, when he's the newest scrub of the bunch. I mean Sonya and Jax have been dealing with this stuff, for at least 7 years (since that's when they first encountered SZ). So they have SOME knowledge. Cole is, the Fresh Fish. So I hope, since it seems he will be fighting, that he's either just a support fighter, and one of the staple warriors wins (like Liu Kang, as that's traditional), and he just HELPS with stuff. Or if they do have him win, he's shown to be some hidden character, that is now unlocked for the next game/movie. Noob Saibot, or..whatever. Punchy McKickFace, someone that die hard fans of the franchise will be like "OOOOH!! Him!"

I'd prefer option 1, just for keeping the script clean and neat, but option 2 is tolerable, if they do it right.

 

[BrawlMan]

My issue, is that they are clearly putting him IN the tournament, hence the branding as a chosen. Which makes me think "ok are they shoehorning in someone new? Or, is this going to be a thing like Scorpion and Sub Zero, where those aren't their BIRTH names, but a title they chose, and Cole is some actual character from the games?" where by the end he's like "My name is no longer Cole..." *dramatic music and reveal* "Call me......*I dunno, whoever would fit Generic Sort of White Dude But Maybe Mixed Ethnicity Human* " *cut to credits*

That's what bothers me. It's beyond boring, generic, and cliche. It's one of those unneeded added elements that plagued a lot of game to film adaptions. Some got it away with okay (The Fatal Fury anime films), while many others didn't and were worse off with it. I am sure the film will be decent or good, but would be even better, if they were more straightforward.

Or if they do have him win, he's shown to be some hidden character, that is now unlocked for the next game/movie. Noob Saibot, or..whatever. Punchy McKickFace, someone that die hard fans of the franchise will be like "OOOOH!! Him!"

Cole as Noob Saibot would not work because, he and the original Sub-Zero (The Older Brother) are one in the same. So I know they are smart enough not do that bullshit.

I'd prefer option 1, just for keeping the script clean and neat, but option 2 is tolerable, if they do it right.

If I had a gun to my head, option 1. Option 2 should not even be a thought in the writers heads.

 

[happyninja42]

Cole as Noob Saibot would not work because,

That was just the first name that came to mind, someone not just named their name, though i dunno, is Noob Saibot supposed to be his actual name? I know it's just the devs names backwards. But yeah I wasn't meaning him specifically, just an example of what they might do.

 

[BrawlMan]

Noob Saibot supposed to be his actual name?

Nope, just an alias. It's a case of casting away his original name and the saying "that man is dead". The original Sub-Zero's name is Bi-Han.

 

[happyninja42]

Nope, just an alias. It's a case of casting away his original name and the saying "that man is dead". The original Sub-Zero's name is Bi-Han.

Right, which is what I was theorizing they might do with Cole. The casting off of a name, and him becoming someone from the franchise. I just don't know the full roster well enough to even suspect who it might be.

Though it would be kind of neat, if they have him end up dying to illustrate the stakes of the Kombat for the named characters from the franchise. Like how they used Art Lean as an Almost-Extra to illustrate "oh shit Shang really does eat souls" in the first film. And then the focus is on the rest of the team. They probably won't do that, but it would be an interesting thing to do, shifting POV midway due to killing off someone.

 

[hanselthecaretaker]

That, that is my issue. I have no problem with the idea that people are mystically branded and chosen to fight, due to Destiny and Fate, and the Kombat Kards or whatever weird shit they come up with. It's the "yeah i call bullshit on THAT being just a random pigment thing"

Like I said, it's not a deal breaker, it's just one of those things in a shaky script that make me chuckle and roll my eyes when I see it. No movie is perfect, so I don't really care, it's just funny to me.

I think for context sake they had to make it a bit obvious to the point of being fairly unquestionable, as in, yeah this might be a birthmark but wtf kinda birthmark looks like that? Which appears to be the big hook in the storyline here; finding out its origins, and why a mere mortal has one. Cole basically replaced Johnny Cage to be more of a blank slate/focal point for the audience. Apparently the idea was Cage wasn’t relatable enough in today’s environment for people to care, and they wanted to use a sorta washed up, down and out everyman as a vessel for audiences to rediscover the MK mythos through.

Anyways, you know what most people are dogging in the youtube comments? That Jax said, “What?” as a response to the “It’s a birthmark” line. Speaking of context, yeah, “What?” makes sense when someone calls a dragon logo a birthmark.

 

[Samtemdo8]

What have they done to Mileena and Kano

 

[happyninja42]

I think for context sake they had to make it a bit obvious to the point of being fairly unquestionable, as in, yeah this might be a birthmark but wtf kinda birthmark looks like that? Which appears to be the big hook in the storyline here; finding out its origins.

So you know what most people are dogging in the youtube comments? That Jax said, “What?” as a response to the “It’s a birthmark” line. Speaking of context, yeah, “What?” makes sense when someone calls a dragon logo a birthmark.

I have no issue with Jax being skeptical about it. That is in fact, the natural response. He's reacting to her very silly statement. He basically, in one word, summed up my thoughts and reaction to her saying it's a birthmark. I'm with jax on that, hence why I say it's a dumb line, because it is. Again, like I feel weird that this is what, the 15th post or so between us about this? I really don't actually care about it, it's not like I'm saying throw out the writer, burn the script and can the project. It's just, I feel that the woman who said that, was done a disservice with that line, as it boggles credibility to think that thing is just a birthmark. Especially when they immediately contradict that line. I mean Cole doesn't comment about it. He doesn't speak the entire trailer I think? So it's another person, speaking FOR him, about a thing, that is highly skeptical to everyone else, immediately upon seeing it. It's just a bit of B-Grade Action Movie quality writing, showing it's face.

What have they done to Mileena and Kano

the only thing they can do with Mileena, without trying to map CGI features to half her face. Which never works out well, even with millions of dollars *cough Henry Cavell's mustache cough cough*. Kano, eh, I dunno, I could do without that eye beam scene yeah. And the Kano wins, line at the end, another bit of B-Grade Action writing I feel.

 

[sXeth]

Cole is exactly that. An audience surrogate/insert. Why? Take him out of the movie; he is unnecessary.He never existed in the games and is not needed. Other than that:

It's even weirder, cause its not like they're hurting for characters who can fil that role. They used Johnny for it in the original MK film afterall. Any of the spec-ops characters could work entirely fine to establish the mythical stuff with.

 

[hanselthecaretaker]

I have no issue with Jax being skeptical about it. That is in fact, the natural response. He's reacting to her very silly statement. He basically, in one word, summed up my thoughts and reaction to her saying it's a birthmark. I'm with jax on that, hence why I say it's a dumb line, because it is. Again, like I feel weird that this is what, the 15th post or so between us about this? I really don't actually care about it, it's not like I'm saying throw out the writer, burn the script and can the project. It's just, I feel that the woman who said that, was done a disservice with that line, as it boggles credibility to think that thing is just a birthmark. Especially when they immediately contradict that line. I mean Cole doesn't comment about it. He doesn't speak the entire trailer I think? So it's another person, speaking FOR him, about a thing, that is highly skeptical to everyone else, immediately upon seeing it. It's just a bit of B-Grade Action Movie quality writing, showing it's face.


the only thing they can do with Mileena, without trying to map CGI features to half her face. Which never works out well, even with millions of dollars *cough Henry Cavell's mustache cough cough*. Kano, eh, I dunno, I could do without that eye beam scene yeah. And the Kano wins, line at the end, another bit of B-Grade Action writing I feel.

They’d probably have to throw out the whole concept of it then, because no writing can save it (“It’s a birthmark.”....”Are you fucking kidding me? *laughs*. Wait, you were serious about that?”), but within the realm of a series whose writing was at one point this, then the “birthmark” is *fine*.

 

[happyninja42]

They’d probably have to throw out the whole concept of it then, because no writing can save it (“It’s a birthmark.”....”Are you fucking kidding me? *laughs*. Wait, you were serious about that?”), but within the realm of a series whose writing was at one point this, then the “birthmark” is *fine*.

I JUST said "I'm not saying burn the script" I'm JUST saying it's a dumb line. That's literally it. It's not a deal breaker for my feelings on the film. The first MK film has terrible lines too, and I love it. I'm JUST pointing out it's a dumb line. And I really have nothing more to say about that at this point.

 

[Hawki]

I'm pretty sure nobody on the film gave too much of a shit about having a fake, mystical tournament be "tier accurate" based on earth fighting rules.

I know that, can't help but notice it. And not the only person to.

 

[Gordon_4]

I like it, in fact my only complaint - and this is from someone who last played Mortal Kombat when MK4 was in arcades - is that the guy playing Scorpion should have it overdubbed by Tobias Boon’s recording of “Get Over Here!” because it just doesn’t sound right otherwise xD

 

[Bob_McMillan]

As someone who has never play an MK game, it looks alright. The action looks good enough for a watch. The hell are they doing with this Cole character though, really didn't seem necessary.

 

[Chimpzy]

It's even weirder, cause its not like they're hurting for characters who can fil that role. They used Johnny for it in the original MK film afterall. Any of the spec-ops characters could work entirely fine to establish the mythical stuff with.

I did notice Johnny Cage is conspicuously absent from the trailer and the movie's imdb. Maybe this Cole character is meant to be a replacement, albeit a seemingly very milquetoast one, perhaps cuz Johnny's original characterization might be a harder sell in this day and age?

 

[Hades]

The trailer....actually looks pretty good.

 

[happyninja42]

I did notice Johnny Cage is conspicuously absent from the trailer and the movie's imdb. Maybe this Cole character is meant to be a replacement, albeit a seemingly very milquetoast one, perhaps cuz Johnny's original characterization might be a harder sell in this day and age?

Yeah I don't really know what to say about Cole...and apparently neither does Cole. He literally had zero lines in the trailer, even when the topic was him, it was nothing but people talking ABOUT him, around him. So....that's a bit worrisome. I wonder if the actor is just not very good, and every time he opens his mouth reflects this? So they just edited around it for the trailer? *shrugs*

As to "Why isn't X in the movie?" I mean the roster, even with just the first game or 2 of characters, is too large for a film to really have much coverage for. So I don't really mind them leaving some people out. I mean they left Jax out of MK 1 movie, but he's in it this time. I mean you KNOW they are hoping this will be a franchise, so they can bring in the other characters in later films. Honestly Cage was never a character I enjoyed much in the games (movie Johnny Cage, I loved him to death, he was great), so I don't really mind him not being in it.

As to Johnny specifically not being sellable today? I don't think so, I mean media celebrities are huge now, on every level. I could maybe see them changing him to...I dunno, an MMA fighter who is also a live streamer, or some kind of online personality, who is also a badass fighter? I mean it's not like there aren't fighting movies out there, with actors famous for being in fighting movies (The Rock and Jason Statham come immediately to mind, and they are hugely popular right now). So yeah I don't see it being a "he doesn't translate well in today's always online culture", quite the opposite. What I hope is that they just couldn't think of a way to work him into the narrative they have made, with the whole Street Fighter meets CSI angle they're going with Sonya and Jax. Which frankly, I'm fine with that. I'd rather they saved him for a situation where it makes sense to have him in it, than just shoehorning him in to appease the fans, even if it clashes with the storyline.

*edit*

Holy shit I use the phrase "I mean" a lot when I'm typing.