Recently, the new Mortal Kombat movie was released and after the 1995 movie, and its 1997 sequel were not particularly well-received by critics (especially the second movie, Annihilation), the reboot was met with great anticipation from fans of the video-game series, especially after it was revealed that the game’s fatalities would be given the big-screen treatment with an R-rating (something the original 1995 flick didn’t have).
I saw the movie on HBO Max (the film is one of the multiple simultaneous theater-and-streaming releases this year), and it disappointed me. While the movie has its moments (the effects are really good, the blood and gore adds to the experience, and the fatalities, when on screen, are amazing to watch), the film suffers from what I found to be a lack of character development, particularly from Cole Young, played by Lewis Tan.
The main character is portrayed well enough by Tan, who may have a future in the big-budget movie industry, but unfortunately, the amount of action in the movie means his character doesn’t get enough time to be developed and give the audience a real reason to be too invested. While action in a Mortal Kombat movie is certainly welcomed, I think the movie could have used more time in order to fully develop Young so that the journey we see him go on would be more satisfying.
Lack of development may be fine for the more hardcore Mortal Kombat fanbase that knows these characters and may not be missing out, but, for someone like me who has never played a game or watched the original movies, that lack of development is noticeable. Another positive to note from this movie is the performance of Josh Lawson as Kano. Lawson is one of those actors who you can tell is having fun in a performance, as he makes Kano a very badass character, but in a fun way, and I think anyone who takes time to watch this movie will have fun watching Lawson.
Additionally, without spoilers, the way the movie ended shows that there is definitely more in store for the future of this franchise, so let’s see if director Simon McQuaid and producer James Wan can take this video-game franchise to new levels and win over new audiences with their work. For now, though, this is definitely a video-game movie that had its moments, but could’ve definitely used more to keep me invested.
