I’d been waiting to see this after being teased with the trailer and stills a while back, the new film from New Line Cinema is a new reboot of “Mortal Kombat,” inspired by the blockbuster video game franchise, which most recently enjoyed the most successful video game launch in its history, Mortal Kombat 11. The film is helmed by award-winning Australian commercial filmmaker Simon McQuoid, marking his feature directorial debut, and produced by James Wan (“The Conjuring” universe films, “Aquaman,”), Todd Garner (“Into the Storm,” “Tag”), McQuoid and E. Bennett Walsh (“Men in Black: International,” “The Amazing Spider-Man 2”).
In “Mortal Kombat,” MMA fighter Cole Young, accustomed to taking a beating for money, is unaware of his heritage—or why Outworld’s Emperor Shang Tsung has sent his best warrior, Sub-Zero, an otherworldly Cryomancer, to hunt Cole down. Fearing for his family’s safety, Cole goes in search of Sonya Blade at the direction of Jax, a Special Forces Major who bears the same strange dragon marking Cole was born with. Soon, he finds himself at the temple of Lord Raiden, an Elder God and the protector of Earthrealm, who grants sanctuary to those who bear the mark. Here, Cole trains with experienced warriors Liu Kang, Kung Lao and rogue mercenary Kano, as he prepares to stand with Earth’s greatest champions against the enemies of Outworld in a high stakes battle for the universe. But will Cole be pushed hard enough to unlock his arcana—the immense power from within his soul—in time to save not only his family, but to stop Outworld once and for all?
Right from the start of Mortal Kombat it has that feel that this is going to be a film that is going to action all the way and it doesn’t let us down with some great fight choreography that scream our Mortal Kombat, not only that it has an amazing soundtrack packed with music that we came to expect after the very first film and as soon as that main theme kicks in, it give you chills.
The opening of the film takes us back with an origin story that will pull together nicely later on in the film, the opening certainly is quite blood-thirsty as well with the blood splattering towards the cinema audience and you can really tell that the film was shot for a 3D viewing, but sadly we haven’t had the RealD 3D or IMAX 3D releases of the film here in the UK.
I have to say that Mortal Kombat is certainly one of the better game to screen adaptations that I’ve seen over the years, it’s a film that just keeps kicking and punching with the action all the way through and the nice touches of game catchphrases and characters is very nicely done in this 2021 reboot.
One of the many things that I loved about this version of the Mortal Kombat story is the comedy that comes from Kano (Josh Lawson), his lines were contently making me chuckle to myself during my viewing and the interaction with the other “hero” fighters was great to see on the big screen.
The story for the film is a simple one, defeat the bad guys and save the world, but it’s the journey taken by the characters as they learn their skills and special abilities that make the film flow, be warned though along with the action and blood there is plenty of F-Bombs thrown in, mostly by Kano and his sarcasm.
The diverse international cast reflects the global nature of the brand, with talent spanning the worlds of film, television and martial arts. The ensemble includes Lewis Tan (“Deadpool 2,” Netflix’s “Wu Assassins”) as Cole Young; Jessica McNamee (“The Meg”) as Sonya Blade; Josh Lawson (“Bombshell”) as Kano; Tadanobu Asano (“Midway”) as Lord Raiden; Mehcad Brooks (TV’s “Supergirl”) as Jackson “Jax” Bridges; Ludi Lin (“Aquaman”) as Liu Kang; with Chin Han (“Skyscraper”) as Shang Tsung; Joe Taslim (“Star Trek Beyond”) as Bi-Han and Sub-Zero; and Hiroyuki Sanada (“Skyscraper”) as Hanzo Hasashi and Scorpion. Also featured are Max Huang as Kung Lao; Sisi Stringer as Mileena; Matilda Kimber as Emily Young; and Laura Brent as Allison Young.
McQuoid directed from a screenplay by Greg Russo and Dave Callaham (“Wonder Woman 1984”), from a story by Oren Uziel (“Mortal Kombat: Rebirth”) and Russo, based on the videogame created by Ed Boon and John Tobias. Richard Brener, Dave Neustadter, Victoria Palmeri, Michael Clear, Jeremy Stein and Larry Kasanoff served as executive producers.
New Line Cinema Presents an Atomic Monster/Broken Road Production, “Mortal Kombat”.
Mortal Kombat is released nationwide now by Warner Bros. Pictures.
Mortal Kombat Digital, 4K, Blu-ray and DVD Release News
Experience every bone-crunching, sword-clashing, blood-spattering moment when “Mortal Kombat” arrives on 4K, Blu-ray, DVD and Digital.
The movie will be available to own on Digital Download in high definition and standard definition on 28th June 2021, followed by its release on 4K, Blu-ray and DVD on 5th July 2021.
4K, BLU-RAY & DVD ELEMENTS“Mortal Kombat” 4K UHD combo pack and Blu-ray contain the following special features:
- Deleted Scenes From Game to Screen: The Making of Mortal Kombat
- Mortal Kombat: Fan Favorite Characters
- Fight Koreography
- Into the Krypt: Easter Eggs of Mortal Kombat
- Anatomy of a Scene
“Mortal Kombat” DVD contains the following special feature:
- Deleted Scenes
GET OVER HERE!
Movie title: Mortal Kombat (2021)
Movie description: MMA fighter Cole Young seeks out Earth's greatest champions in order to stand against the enemies of Outworld in a high stakes battle for the universe.
Date published: May 6, 2021
Country: UK
Duration: 1h 50min
Director(s): Simon McQuoid
Actor(s): Lewis Tan, Jessica McNamee, Josh Lawson
Karen Woodham is the founder and owner of the Blazing Minds. She is also a Cinema reviewer and works with RealD 3D reviewing the latest 3D releases and IMAX, she has also had several articles published in various publications including the first edition of SFW Magazine. In 2015 she became an Award Winning Blogger and also has her website listed as one of the UK’s Top 10 Film Blogs.
