MMA fighter Cole Young seeks out Earth's greatest champions in order to stand against the enemies of Outworld in a high stakes battle for the universe.MMA fighter Cole Young seeks out Earth's greatest champions in order to stand against the enemies of Outworld in a high stakes battle for the universe.MMA fighter Cole Young seeks out Earth's greatest champions in order to stand against the enemies of Outworld in a high stakes battle for the universe.
- Awards
- 4 wins & 9 nominations total
Summary
Reviewers say 'Mortal Kombat' impresses with special effects and gory fight scenes, faithfully capturing the game's atmosphere. Fans enjoy iconic characters and fatalities, though criticize the simplistic plot and inconsistent acting. The new protagonist, Cole Young, is seen as unnecessary, and the film's pacing and lack of a tournament structure are noted weaknesses. Despite these flaws, the action and visuals are praised, making it enjoyable for fans.
Featured reviews
Great visuals, excellent fight scenes, good choices on most of the cast (e.g Kano, Scorpion, Sub-Zero) and just a fun movie overall. If you are familiar with the game, you will like it.
Keep in mind that it's a trilogy, so this first film tries to add some background! Luckily there's not much time spent on meaningless conversations and the scenes get into the action parts faster than you would expect. Runtime of 1h 50min is works well; you will not be bored.
Fight scenes get more rewarding halfway through, closer to the game style.
Also, the idea to rotate this film's story around the rivalry between scorpion and sub-zero worked; it gave some background. Maybe the lead protagonist is not that interesting compared to the other characters but he seems necessary to keep the story moving forward.
So, this first film does the job and although not everyone from the game is in it, I m sure all the other favorite characters will appear in the next 2 films and I m looking forward to that.
6,5/10 good effort bringing the game on film screen.
Keep in mind that it's a trilogy, so this first film tries to add some background! Luckily there's not much time spent on meaningless conversations and the scenes get into the action parts faster than you would expect. Runtime of 1h 50min is works well; you will not be bored.
Fight scenes get more rewarding halfway through, closer to the game style.
Also, the idea to rotate this film's story around the rivalry between scorpion and sub-zero worked; it gave some background. Maybe the lead protagonist is not that interesting compared to the other characters but he seems necessary to keep the story moving forward.
So, this first film does the job and although not everyone from the game is in it, I m sure all the other favorite characters will appear in the next 2 films and I m looking forward to that.
6,5/10 good effort bringing the game on film screen.
Earth is on the verge of annihilation. After nine victories by Outworld, they are one loss away from the Earth being conquered. Cole Young (Lewis Tan), Sonya Blade (Jessica McNamee), and Liu Kang (Ludi Lin) must defeat the warriors of ruthless Outworld Emperor Shang Tsung (Chin Han).
This is a violent, hard-R reboot of the video game adaptation from the 90's. It has scraped off the cheese and speckled on some more action. The special effects are mostly up to date. It's very competent like the competent acting, action, and designs. The story is basic and set up to have more movies in the franchise. Josh Lawson is funny as Kano. The others are less charismatic. The missing ingredient is an A-list actor or an old action star doing a side role cameo. It's an old Hollywood trick but it works. It would give this the illusion of an A-list movie. As it stands, this is a well made B-movie and it's probably enough to continue as a B-movie franchise. Sadly, that road is usually downhill but maybe it could be a long ride.
This is a violent, hard-R reboot of the video game adaptation from the 90's. It has scraped off the cheese and speckled on some more action. The special effects are mostly up to date. It's very competent like the competent acting, action, and designs. The story is basic and set up to have more movies in the franchise. Josh Lawson is funny as Kano. The others are less charismatic. The missing ingredient is an A-list actor or an old action star doing a side role cameo. It's an old Hollywood trick but it works. It would give this the illusion of an A-list movie. As it stands, this is a well made B-movie and it's probably enough to continue as a B-movie franchise. Sadly, that road is usually downhill but maybe it could be a long ride.
A beautiful movie that brings back joyful memories
But Scorpion's role was small
And the scenes of fighting and karate should be stronger and more.🦂
The good: the story mostly works, the characterizations are insanely good (from costumes to personalities), and the movie is as gory and brutal as needed, actually way funnier than expected, and the CGI for the powers really great.
The bad: the story is a bit messy, the characters motivations and reactions not always 100% natural and/or coherent, and the action and fights (with the exception of the ones with Scorpion) are fine, but the choreography and/or filming is kind of weak (easy to improve with a bigger budget and more talent on board).
The bad: the story is a bit messy, the characters motivations and reactions not always 100% natural and/or coherent, and the action and fights (with the exception of the ones with Scorpion) are fine, but the choreography and/or filming is kind of weak (easy to improve with a bigger budget and more talent on board).
Plot was lacking but the violence, gore and fighting choreography made up for it. The editing was a bit choppy and lacked in arrears that needed more detail. With all that being said, it was overall enjoyable if you're an MK fan.
Did you know
- TriviaHiroyuki Sanada tried to prepare for his role as Hanzo Hasashi/Scorpion by playing Mortal Kombat video games. "Of course I was beaten every time, just losing and losing," he laughs. "But I kept at the games to keep learning the stories, the background and the characters. It was so much fun."
- GoofsIn the first fighting scene, Bi Han slammed Hanzo Hasashi's head on a huge rock, there's a blood splatter seen on the rock but Hanzo's head seems to be fine. And when they move from the rock, the blood splatter disappeared.
- Crazy creditsThe Warner Bros logo appears with fire burning beneath it, while the New Line Cinema logo gets covered in ice. Fire and ice are the powers of Mortal Kombat rivals Scorpion and Sub-Zero.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Jeremy Jahns: Mortal Kombat - Official Trailer (My Thoughts) (2021)
- SoundtracksI'm Your Puppet
Written by Dan Penn and Spooner Oldham (as Lindon Oldham)
Performed by James & Bobby Purify
Courtesy of RCA Records
By arrangement with Sony Music Entertainment Australia Pty Ltd
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official sites
- Languages
- Also known as
- Mortal Kombat 3
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $55,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $42,326,031
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $23,302,503
- Apr 25, 2021
- Gross worldwide
- $84,426,031
- Runtime
- 1h 50m(110 min)
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.39 : 1
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