The first blood-gushing murder in the “Mortal Kombat” reboot occurs less than three minutes after the opening credits roll. We were given a glimpse into the murderous body count, which by all accounts is actually pretty minimal. This is a movie, after all, based on a video game where the point is bloody violence. ‘Mortal Kombat’ Reboot: Review
A katana slices a man vertically in half, triggering a burst of controlled murders. By the 6-minute mark we’ve seen seven more men cut to pieces, including one who has a sword slammed directly down slitting his skull in half. ‘Mortal Kombat’ Reboot: Review
You get the picture.
It may come as no surprise that “Mortal Kombat” swaggers when it comes to hand-to-hand combat: The effects are impressive, from the flips and slashes to the sound of blood gushing and the clunk of metal through bone. It feels like you’re right there in the middle of the fight.
But the acting is another thing all together, the dialogue may make you wish for your own quick death and the plot — gibbers-ish about strange dragon markings, the chosen ones and other realms — only makes sense if you’re high and a part of this players cult. “I’ve spent years trying to figure out what it all means,” one character complains. Don’t waste your time, it doesn’t make any sense.
Legendary fighters from the game are all here — Sonya Blade, Kano, Sub-Zero, Liu Kang, Kung Lao and Jax — mixed into the story of a new character — Cole Young. He’s a poor mixed martial arts fighter — really a “human punching bag” — who gets beat up $200 a bout but has a supportive family.
Cole (Lewis Tan) has a mysterious dragon mark on his chest — “It’s not a birthmark!” he’s told — and soon learns its true meaning: “An ancient prophecy foretells” that a new group of fighting warriors will get tog,ether to threaten order on their Earth-realm, also known as, well Earth.
Simon McQuoid does a decent job on his feature directorial debut of trying to control all of the violence. Screenwriters Dave Callaham and Greg Russo have a strong tendency to lean into ancient Asian mysticism and seem to rely only on surface research.
Actor Josh Lawson as the psycho Kano steals the movie with lots of twisted humor that will be sure to land him his own franchise. Many of his lines seem gleefully ad-libbed and he stands out in a forest of stilted dialogue.
Cole, Sonya Blade and Kano must train for a big showdown and find their inner fighting mojo. “The fate of Earthrealm is in our hands,” says Liu Kang. If they don’t win over enemies the whole human race will be enslaved.
It all comes in what seems to be a massive multi-level fight. It’s a full-on gore-fest of fight porn.
This reboot is exactly what the doctor ordered if you’re a fan.
“Mortal Kombat,” a New Line Cinema release, was released Friday and is rated R for strong bloody violence and language throughout, and some crude references. Running time: 110 minutes.
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