![]() ![]() Fighters are chosen from birth to represent their respective world, signified by a pretty cool-looking birthmark.Ĭole Young is a failing UFC fighter and loving father, but his life gets turned upside down when a masked figure with the ability to turn water into razor-sharp ice shards appears out of thin air to kill him. The balance of these two worlds is determined by the winner of Mortal Kombat and have lost the previous 9 tournaments, our world is now in threat of being overtaken by the cruel gods that rule the Outworld. TLDR It’s an interdimensional fighting tournament between our world and the “Outworld”. It never takes for granted that you might not know anything about the world, it’s rules, or even what a “Mortal Kombat” really is. Mortal Kombat (2021) is the perfect entry point for anyone unfamiliar with the games or the previous films. While the fist-fighting flick may not be a flawless victory, Simon McQuoid’s Mortal Kombat (2021) is, without a doubt, the R-rated film adaptation fans have been waiting for since the game first dominated arcade floors.įrom a screenplay written by Dave Callaham ( Godzilla, 2014), Oren Uziel ( The Cloverfield Paradox), and Greg Russo ( Resident Evil: Welcome To Raccoon City), Mortal Kombat features a roster of rad performances including martial arts master Joe Taslim ( The Raid) as the ice-cold villain Sub-Zero, Lewis Tan ( Deadpool 2) as franchise newcomer Cole Young, Jessica McNamee ( The Loved Ones), as military team leader Sonya Blade, Mehcad Brooks ( A Fall From Grace) as the bionic badass Jax, Josh Lawson ( Bombshell) as the ruthless mercenary Kano, Ludi Lin ( Aquaman) as the fireball-throwing Liu Kang, Max Huang ( Chinese Zodiac) as the razor-sharp Kung Lao, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg! We haven’t even gotten to (arguably) the film’s biggest attraction or any of the soul-sucking baddies. In addition to working on its own apart from its source material, the film is a clear love letter to fans of the series, and if the teased sequel is confirmed, there’s no telling what references and easter eggs it might contain.I don’t know a dang thing about the Mortal Kombat universe at large but I do know that I like seeing people with superhuman powers beat each other into bloody pulps. And while fan service can often feel obvious and shoehorned, there's a level of camp self-awareness in Mortal Kombat that has always seemed to lend itself to subtle applications of well-known references.īeyond just the correct usage of "Flawless Victory," 2021's Mortal Kombat features myriad deep cuts for the appreciation of hardcore fans, from Liu Kang’s spamming of leg sweeps while training Kano to the unmistakable power of Cole Young's uppercut bookending his arc. ![]() From the whitewashing of Christopher Lambert's Raiden to the all-too-brief appearance of Major Jax Briggs early on in the film, Anderson's version of the fighter hacks away at long-standing conventions that might have pleased fans of the game. It's the original film's disconnection with the lore of Mortal Kombat, both meta and otherwise, that's one of its most notable drawbacks. McQuoid's adaptation of the classic game works for various reasons, not the least of which being its clear admiration for the source material. From references to "Flawless Victory" to self-deprecating shots at Mortal Kombat's spelling, this version feels much more like it was created by fellow fans of the franchise, pairing a level of sincerity with the grotesqueries on display. Twenty-six years later, in 2021's Mortal Kombat, Kung Lao handily recreates his classic “buzzsaw” Fatality, splitting Nitara down the middle and accurately declaring a “Flawless Victory.” Unlike Liu Kang's more balanced fight with Shang Tsung, Kung Lao did not suffer a single strike from his opponent en route to her death, making his the true "Flawless Victory" in the game's parlance. Related: Mortal Kombat: Why Scorpion's "Get Over Here!" Voice Is Different A simple utterance of "Fatality" would've even sufficed for the moment, more accurate and more final as a declarative statement. It felt notably off for him to declare such a perfect win when it was anything but a level of braggadocio that felt especially incongruous, taking into account Liu Kang's humble nature as a monk. Liu eventually defeats the sorcerer but then erroneously proclaims his own “Flawless Victory,” despite the many blows landed by Shang Tsung during the fight. The whole point of a "Flawless Victory" is to display complete dominance to an almost embarrassing degree, which is why it's become such an iconic part of the franchise's lexicon. ![]() Anderson’s 1995 film, Liu Kang suffers a distraction caused by Shang Tsung's shape-shifting and subsequently receives a serious beatdown. ![]()
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