Mortal Kombat! Can anyone else think of a better theme to work out to? If you’re a fan of the hit fighting video game franchise, you probably checked out the movie. Whether you saw it at the movies or stayed at home to watch it on HBO Max, you probably enjoyed the bloodbath. Personally, I thought it was a lot of fun. Sure, it had some notable flaws, which we’ll get to shortly, but overall, the movie is pretty much what the doctor ordered. Maybe now we can expect a new era where video game movies aren’t complete garbage. Okay, maybe that’s too much wishful thinking, but this new Mortal Kombat movie has given me some newfound hope.
If you did check out the movie, you might have caught all the little easter eggs and nods to the lore. It was some pretty cool stuff, but needless to say, we all know they’re setting up for a franchise. I say go for it. The universe of Mortal Kombat has a lot of characters and crazy things to explore, so a movie franchise can be done. And picking up from where this movie left off, I really, really hope the second movie gets made, because it certainly did set up a lot. In other words, some serious stuff is about to go down.
Let’s begin with what is probably my biggest criticism of the movie. So this movie adapts the story of the first game and it’s a story that has been adapted several times. That’s okay with me, because the story of the first game is the definitive story of Mortal Kombat. Think of it as a fusion of Enter the Dragon and Big Trouble in Little China. Yeah, it’s that wacky, but it’s also very awesome. All kinds of exceptional fighters from all over the world come to a secluded island to participate in a martial arts tournament. But it goes way beyond the typical martial arts, because there’s also magic and grotesque monsters involved.
There’s a lot of creativity behind the story of Mortal Kombat, but it all began with a martial arts tournament. Heck, the tournament itself is called Mortal Kombat. The Elder Gods created it so Earthrealm can defend itself against the forces of Outworld and if they lost the tenth tournament, Shao Kahn would be free to invade. We Mortal Kombat fanatics know how it all went down, and we expected the tournament to be a pivotal element of the story in the new movie.
Well, guess what? There was no tournament. The tenth Mortal Kombat tournament was supposed to happen, but Shang Tsung, being his usual self, sent his assassins to kill the best Earthrealm warriors before the tournament even began. Yes, that was violating the rules of engaging outside the tournament and even Raiden said it. He did intervene the first time, but not so much afterwards. If they were breaking the rules, couldn’t Raiden actually fight then? Not exactly the lore we fans are familiar with, but at least he was cool without Christopher Lambert’s iconic voice.
Now I get that the rules of Mortal Kombat can be bent in the weirdest ways, but no tournament? Heck, they even threw Goro in there and he’s supposed to be Outworld’s champion! Well, Shang Tsung is still alive and implied that the tournament will still take place. My guess is that the next movie will take place on his island where the first tournament began. It sounds like the logical choice, but then again, they can go even bigger.
Instead of having the actual tournament on Shang Tsung’s island, the second movie can take place in Outworld itself. Remember that giant statue of Shao Kahn? I’m guessing he’s not too happy with Shang Tsung’s failure and the treacherous sorcerer will have to talk his way out of not being killed. How did he do it after the first game? He convinced Shao Kahn to hold another tournament in their own realm and harass Earthrealm until they agree to it. The final catch was that Shao Kahn himself was the final challenge. Man, talk about the cheapest boss in video games. It was so satisfying beating him.
If the second movie does come, and I hope it does, I say the best route for them to take is the one that has the biggest prize at the end. Shang Tsung can still reignite his rivalry with Liu Kang and fight him in his current younger form. That is a fight I’m looking forward to, but we still need a sub-boss. If it’s not Goro, then we’ll need another four-armed monster. Kintaro, anyone?
Oh, and if we’re talking about new characters for the sequel, I can think of a few worthy additions. The movie made several references to some popular characters, including Nightwolf, Kotal Kahn, and Kitana. Speaking of Kitana, how could they have Mileena in the movie, but not the actual princess of Outworld? I did catch that brief shot of her fan, though. That tells me she will be a significant character in the sequel. If there is a tournament in Outworld, she’ll be a vital “double agent” type of character for the Earthrealm warriors. Oh, and please don’t leave out her relationship with Liu Kang.
And how can we not talk about that last shot of the movie? Cole Young was going to Hollywood to find one of our favorite characters. That’s right, Johnny Cage will be in the house soon. I’m dying to know who will play him, but that’s a whole other topic. Now if they are going to add more beloved characters from the games, does that mean Cole Young will get more development? Now I had mixed feelings about his character.
As I said before, when it comes to adding new characters to the Mortal Kombat roster, they’re usually hit-or-miss. With the case of Cole Young, there was nothing about him that really stood out to me. I got a lot of “Alice” vibes from him and if you saw those Resident Evil movies, you know what I’m talking about. Add in a character that wasn’t from the games and give them the spotlight. Not always a bad idea, but on the downside, it takes away screen time from the characters we want to see. I felt that with Cole Young in this movie, especially since Liu Kang, who is usually the main protagonist, was given a more supporting role.
Personally, I think Cole felt a little flat, but there is room for improvement. With a longer running time, I think the second movie can balance out some good development for the characters we know about and flushing out Cole. But for real, don’t try to have him take the spotlight away from Johnny Cage. Now that would tick off many fans. Now that Cole and his backstory has been established, there is a chance for him to have some better character development.
Well, those are my thoughts on the movie and the sequel. If you haven’t checked out the movie yet and you’re a big Mortal Kombat fan, I urge you to watch it. It’s just something every Mortal Kombat fan needs to see.
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