Mortal Kombat (2021)
Platform: HBOMax
Director: Simon McQuoid
Release Year: 2021
Watch Date: April 23 & 24, 2021
My Rating: 3.9
I loved the original Mortal Kombat series, so I was very excited about this one. The previews looked amazing. The first seven-minute sneak peek was phenomenal! And then…..the rest of the movie happened. Honestly, the only characters I actually liked were Sonya Blade and Hanzo Hasashi. Hanzo fought a good fight at the beginning of the movie. You could tell that he really loved his family and watching him try to get close to his wife and son as he was dying was heart-wrenching. I’m glad he got to come back as Scorpion….but I didn’t love that character.
I like that you could tell Sonya believed in her research and she genuinely wanted to learn and fight for the greater good. You could see how it hurt her that she didn’t have a marking. The way the men treated her because she didn’t have a marking was infuriating….but I won’t dive into how the patriarchy needs to be dismantled today…I’ll save that for another day.
Cole Young was neither relatable nor endearing. I cared more about what happened to his wife and daughter than I did what happened to him. And his suit…...it reminded me of a cross between a Roman soldier’s armor and Aquaman’s suit. When he just walked away (I know it’s an important plot point), I couldn’t help but be even more disappointed in him than I already was. Kano was a little over the top, but at least you knew where he stood from first meeting him.
This movie had great potential. I ended up having to watch it over two days because I was so disappointed by the first half I needed to take a break. The script was slow, the fight scenes were…I don’t know what word I want to put here. Uninspired? Boring? When the highlight of the fight scene is someone getting their arms frozen and ripped off…you know it wasn’t that great. They left it open for a sequel with Cole going to Hollywood in search of Jonny Cage. I’m leery of watching that one. Jonny Cage is my least favorite character from Mortal Kombat, which isn’t winning a sequel any brownie points.
I need to watch a good movie next so I can post a positive review. I feel like the last few reviews have been negative. I try to give my honest opinion though…
Photo Credit: imdb.com
