What did people expect from ‘Mortal Kombat’ that they didn’t get?
Recent release in theaters and on HBO Max is the new “Mortal Kombat,” bringing the supremely violent and bloody video game series back to the big screen. Build-up for the film was high, even during the pandemic, and I was excited by the trailers. Later I would learn of the concentrated effort to include as many Asian and Asian-American stunt performers and martial artists as possible, both for authenticity and representation. And while it took me almost four months to the day to watch it (the wife had zero interest in watching it), I don’t understand why it received mixed to negative reviews upon its premiere. It’s a movie about a game where people get their souls sucked out and a four-armed monster rips foes in half. What were you expecting?
For the uninitiated, “Mortal Kombat” begins in feudal Japan with Hanzo Hasashi, a ronan, and his family of four. When a warrior attacks and murders his family with some sort of ice powers, they battle to the (his) death with his foe, Bi-Han, leaving battered but victorious. Suddenly a bolt of lightning teleports a man with glowing white eyes to the house where he retrieves Hanzo’s infant daughter from a hiding place and takes her away with him. Hanzo also disappears in a swirl of fire.
Hundreds of years later, we meet Cole Young (Lewis Tan), a washed-up Mixed Martial Arts fighter now scrounging for $200-a-pop cage matches because it’s known he can take a punch. In attendance at his latest fight is Jax (Mehcad Brooks, known for playing James Olson/Guardian on “Supergirl”), a special forces Major interested in a dragon marking they share that Cole claims to be a birthmark.
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