Ivica_Pusticki’s review published on Letterboxd:
I played the MK videogames...though not the new ones, only the old ones, but still, I had fun with those games. And I like the original movie! OK, Im not the biggest fan of that movie, but I like it a lot because its really entertaining flick. Plus, I really liked the trailer for this reboot...so yeah, you could say that I was kind of hyped for this movie!
Unfortunately, I have to say that this new MORTAL KOMBAT movie didn't quite live up to the hype! I mean, it was OK movie and all, but it was far from great, and I definitely expected more...
But OK...let me start with good stuff first...
Well...I would say that they nailed the look of the characters perfectly! They really look great, just like in the games. Especially Scorpion and Sub-Zero, they were both really badass looking. And character fatalities were awesome...really brutal and gory, and movie really earned that R-rating. I only wish there was more of that lol
Also, casting was mostly good...not entirely, but mostly. Now, what that exactly means!? Well...it mean that some casting choices where great...like for example casting Joe Taslim as Sub- zero, or Hiroyuki Sanada as Scorpion. They were both just perfect for these roles! And Josh Lawson as Kano really killed it too...he was the most entertaining character in the entire movie...possibly a replacement for missing Johnny Cage...I guess.
But casting Chin Han as Shang Tsung...well, that was a bad call IMO, because he was so bland in this role. Especially compared to Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa who was so menacing and badass in the original movie!
Same goes for Lewis Tan as this new character Cole Young. He lacks charisma and cool personality to be a leading man in a movie like this! I mean, just a couple of years ago he played "characters" like Secret Service Lobby Guard #1, Prison Guard (uncredited) and Korean Commando (uncredited)...so how the hell he got to be the lead role in this movie!? Plus, I really don't understand why they created a new character for the movie, especially since you have a such a colorful palete of interesting characters to pick from! I mean, there's 11 games for God's sake! And 97 characters altogether...all probably more interesting than Cole Young lol
As for the rest of the cast; Jessica McNamee as Sonya Blade, Tadanobu Asano as Lord Raiden, Ludi Lin as Liu Kang, Max Huang as Kung Lao, or Mehcad Brooks as Jax...well, they were mostly OK. Although, its really a shame that Michael jai White didn't get another chance to play Jax, because I believe he is perfect for that role.
And the last, but not least good thing about this movie were effect...
And now...now lets talk about all the bad stuff. Or at least all the stuff that disappointed me...
For starters...fights! I mean, the fights were OK, but nothing more than that. With the exception of first and last fight in the movie that were kind of cool, other fight scenes really lack that "WOW effect", and there was nothing really spectacular in those fights...something that would make you say "oh shit man, this was awesome". OK, maybe the choreography was good, but they way these fight were directed and edited...they were missing excitement and fun, something that for example you have in THE RAID movies, or even NINJA: SHADOW OF A TEAR. When I watch fights in those movie, my adrenalin kick in lol. Here, that just wasn't the case...
I already mention Chin Han as Shang Tsung, and how bland he was in that role. But I have to mention him again, because he was just so uninteresting and dull as a bad guy. And you know what they say..."a movie is only as good as its villain".
Also...there was no tournament in this movie!! The whole story takes place before the tournament, and we follow Shang Tsung and his fighters as they try to cheat, and defeat all the earth champions before the tournament starts. Now, I wouldn't mind if that was just a part of the story...a build up to a tournament that happens later on in the movie...but not, that was the whole story! What kind of MORTAL KOMBAT movie is that, without a tournament!!?
And when our heroes finally fight the bad guys...they defeat them so easy, and so fast! Plus all four fights were edited together, so we watch them almost simultaneously...instead that each hero and bad guy got their moment to shine, like in the original movie.
And last thing I will mention as something that disappointed me here...this reboot was missing those cool fantasy locations and sets from the original movie. Thai temples, exotic island(s), dark, gritty and almost scary Outworld locations, cool fighting arenas, etc. I mean, characters in this movie fought in their own back yards lol
Anyway...I could probably add something else to all of this, but I believe I covered almost everything, and its time to wrap this up, So yeah...as I said at the very beginning, MORTAL KOMBAT was OK, but nothing more, and nothing less than that, and definitely didn't live up to the hype!
I still hope this will got some money on box office, because I would love to see a sequel, and Scott Adkins as Johnny Cage! Although Im probably just daydreaming lol
PS. oh yeah...I forgot! There is no MORTAL KOMBAT theme until the very end of the movie, and when we finally hear it...its not so good remix!