Mortal Kombat (2021): An Extremely Satisfying Opera of Ultraviolence
Its action sequences will keep viewers on their toes.
In the opening sequence of Simon McQuoid’s reboot of Mortal Kombat, Hanzo Hasashi (Hiroyuki Sanada) faces against Bi-Han/Sub-Zero (Joe Taslim)’s army in a bloody matchup mixing traditional samurai action with the extreme ultraviolence of James McTeigue’s criminally underrated 2009 action flick Ninja Assassin. The fight scene lasts for several minutes and gets gorier as it lasts — setting the stage for what’s to come: a ridiculously violent action film containing the most exhilarating and over-the-top fight sequences of the year, which perfectly exalts the spirit of Ed Boon and John Tobias’ 1992 video game.
These action scenes, obviously, do not reach the same level of visual mastery as in Paul W.S. Anderson’s adaptation of the video game in 1995, in which the director offered a purely visual experience, editing every single fight scene like an elongated music video, mixing ultra-wide shots and dizzying cinematography through the badass sounds of The Immortals’ Techno Syndrome theme. Simon McQuoid’s inexperience as an action filmmaker is vastly apparent in its cinematography: it’s bland. Visually, Mortal Kombat’s fights are mostly a drab to look at — but it’s the movement of the actors in the film’s diverse spaces (which act as multiple arenas) that more than makeup for the film’s visual sceneries.
2021’s Mortal Kombat is essentially a reintroduction to the game's world after failing to deliver a satisfying trilogy after 1997’s Mortal Kombat: Annihilation was critically and commercially panned by critics and audiences, which scrapped plans for the 3rd movie. It introduces the character of Hanzo Hasashi first, as we see how he becomes Scorpion [yet again if you’ve seen the animated Scorpion’s Revenge. It’s essentially the same thing — but a tad more badass]. At 60, Hiroyuki Sanada is still able to wow us away, as he freely manipulates a katana while cutting through an endless amount of Bi-Han’s henchman as if it was butter. Even though his screentime is limited to two sequences as Scorpion, he’s still able to make up for every ounce of his appearances, as both of his scenes contain the film’s best action sequences.
Then it introduces us to the main character: Cole Young (Lewis Tan), who’ll become the centerpiece of the movie after learning that his birthmark is actually an invitation to Mortal Kombat — where Outworld has won 9 out 10 combats. If Shang Tsung (Ng Chin Han) wins the 10th tournament, he and Outworld will be able to control the world — but not if Lord Raiden (Tadanobu Asano) assembles a group of champions united by the blood of Hanzo Hasashi. It’s ridiculous, I know, but so was the game and the 1995 film. Cole Young, Sonya Blade (Jessica McNamee), Kano (Josh Lawson), and Liu Kang (Ludi Ling) find Raiden’s temple and starts training for the combat, but little do they know that Shang Tsung wants to cheat and win the tournament before it’s begun by killing Raiden’s champions. It essentially follows the quasi-same plot as Paul W.S. Anderson’s film, minus Johnny Cage. Yet, it’s still able to massively entertain if you look at the incredible talent on display.
While the plot is quite hokey and only acts as a massive exposition dump to set up future sequels (there is no tournament after all), Mortal Kombat is still able to deliver on the action front — by expertly choreographing its fights through the actors’ movements inside the spaces they’re contrived in. As I’ve mentioned above, it’s because of them that the film’s main point of attraction succeeds — bodies fly with kinetic precision, blood splatters in spectacular fashion, always by using movement first before its cinematography, which makes for insanely exciting, over-the-top kills, exactly the way a “Fatality” or a “Flawless Victory” should be represented.
The film’s central action setpiece — where Cole and Scorpion fight Sub-Zero is phenomenal and would play insanely well on a massive IMAX screen. As soon as Scorpion looks at Bi-Han and says, “GET OVER HERE!” this is where the fight elevates itself and becomes Mortal Kombat’s best scene. An almost endless carnage of knives, swords, ice swords, and ice knives, perfectly realizing Scorpion and Sub-Zero like no other film adaptation has ever dreamed of doing. Joe Taslim is phenomenal as Sub-Zero: with the audience members can see the menace he conveys through his eyes. It’s a feat to behold that never lets up as soon as the sequence begins.
If you’re looking for refined, sophisticated cinema with a thought-provoking plot: this ain’t it. Ng Chin Han’s ridiculous performance (and dialogues) as Shang Tsung, which almost perfectly replicates Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa’s portrayal of the same antagonist in the 1995 film, tells you exactly that this film isn’t to be taken seriously. Even Tadanobu Asano’s laughably terrible exposition delivery as Raiden is another sign that this film has no intention of being serious.
There’s nothing wrong with a mindless action movie if it obviously delivers on that front. Adam Wingard’s Godzilla vs. Kong couldn’t deliver visually exciting mindless action, as it focused way too much on the human characters instead of the true stars of the film: the titans. Mortal Kombat works because it focuses exactly on what it sets out to be: a mindless action movie paying tribute to the quintessential fighting video game, using its highly colorful characters to draw insane fight sequences through the movement of its actors.
Yes, it’s cheesy as hell — but so what? In this day and age, where we’re only beginning to see “the light at the end of the tunnel” with the pandemic (which seems terribly far away with more contagious “Variants of Concern” even with vaccination rollouts slowly beginning), Mortal Kombat seems to be the perfect antidote for what we’re collectively living right now: mindless action with mindless characters serving as terribly unimportant exposition to set up its sequel with the real (?) tournament? If Johnny Cage is the star of the sequel (if, of course, the sequel ever happens), would we get an actual tournament only filled with hard-R-rated fight sequences — with better confidence behind the camera (maybe with a more experienced filmmaker) to deliver something visually spectacular? If yes, I’m here first showing, opening night, because that’s what I would call a flawless victory.
Mortal Kombat is now playing in theaters and on HBO Max. For international viewers, the film is also available to rent on video-on-demand.
