Mortal Kombat: Rebirth

I wasn't sure what to expect when I first saw this but I have to say that eight minutes later when I was done, I was really impressed. This small piece gathers everything that should be expected from a game adaptation, even if we're speaking about a more somewhat alternative universe. The effects are quite good and the plot is really interesting. It's to bad we don't actually have a bigger movie after this that would follow the plot on this short one.

When I first saw the thumbnail for this on youtube, I was intrigued. Being a fan of this game series since the original, I was very interested in seeing a new live action take on the characters. Not one second of this video disappointed me. I still watch it today. I was already a fan of Michael Jai White and this short only further cemented that, as well as made me a fan of Ian Anthony Dale, though his character's portrayal is so much better in the web series that followed this. Most of the negative reviews for this will be die-hard zealots no doubt, claiming sacrilege for the handling of the source material. I, however, applaud this short film for what it is: a short MK film for fans made by a fan. If you haven't yet, see it.

An amazing trailer with what us MK fans deserve and it was a tease only! What's it gonna take to finally have an MK movie.....this is brutality !!

The only Mortal Kombat adaptation worthy of the first two arcade games. Long gone are those days where you could play with ultraviolence and dark humor, and pull off some clever social commentary in the process. Now everything needs to be watered down, rendered harmless with a good dose of fantasy, suitable for younger audience. Too bad the very same audiences won't be able to develop critical thinking. Ed Boon considers this a legitimate alternative MK universe but he thinks it somehow crossed the line as far as re-imagining goes, truth is the rest of the franchise is illegitimate. Over the years Scorpion, arguably the most prominent character of the series, went from mysterious hellbent ninja-wraith to meek family man. Isn't that crossing the line? I think the creators of the series themselves forgot about the 90's spirit and what made those arcade games so good, so memorable for us back then. Well, Rebirth managed to bring that spirit back in less than 8 minutes. Perfect cast too, i loved both Sonya Blade and Baraka.

I think this is what the MK franchise needs to generate some more interest in its direction for live-actions. MK Conquest was good but due to costs it only ran for one season. Interesting cast that's been assembled here (Michael Jai White, Ian Anthony Dale, Matt Mullins, Lateef Crowder), seems more believable than the first. MK Annihilation should just be forgotten about. MK 1 had cheesy SFX as well which didn't really add much to the fantasy aspect of it. And I'm sure the producers of this trailer aren't completely resigned to one direction as far as creative input is concerned. It could turn out that there is some whole underlying "Supernatural Element". What I would like to see and I don't know if anyone else feels the same, but this meets "Big Trouble in Little China". Shang Tsung could be this innocent enough "mob boss" who is actually like Lo Pan, a centuries old sorcerer on a quest to rejuvenate his immortality. This could work, we just have to get on here like we are now, and give these guys more ideas to work with.