Movie Review: Mortal Kombat 2021

 

Hey everyone, my name is Anthony and welcome back to my movie review.

From last year, i've covered Sonic the hedgehog on the big screen where it went from ugly to good one, which i enjoyed it for the most part, from Sonic's journey on Earth to Jim Carrey's fun performance of Dr. Robotnik. Aside from other movie based on video game that wouldn't able to touch at like Monster Hunter movie (because i never heard of it), there is one that i love it in a fighting genre next to Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat. You know the drill, a fighting tournament between Earth, NetherRealm and others with finishing move to kill your opponents, and it also brought us our familiar characters like Scorpion, Sub-Zero, Lui Kang, Sonya Blade, Raiden and Johnny Cage. But of course, like any games, its no secret it will be adapted from theaters and streaming service.

"Mortal Kombat" is 2021 martial arts, fantasy and video game adaptation produced and directed by Simon McQuoid, co-produced by James Wan, Todd Garner and E. Bennett Walsh, then written by Greg Russo Dave Callaham (for screenplay) and Oren Uziel (for story).

Before we have one, we used to have the 1995 version with the same name. Though the film itself is pretty average, it has some nice actions, some good characters, but some other characters aren't as good, the writing is messy, the presentation is ok, but the violence is pretty much missing which i considered a film with missing identity. Despite how average the film it was, it was succeeded the box-office to having a sequel "Mortal Kombat Annihilation" and its one the worst film ever made with the budget went lower and worse, the writing is even worse and the presentation with the CG are disgusting to look at, leaving the series being halted with the third film attempt being cancelled due to negative impact and commercial failure.

Thankfully for decades later, Warner Bros bought the rights of Mortal Kombat (even though they have their video game publishers, "Warner Bros Entertainment") in order to not only make the third MK film, but also a full-on reboot of the series with one missing content what Mortal Kombat needs, the violence to be Rated R, which is exactly what we wanted for MK series.

So, with all that said, will this bring us back to the fighting tournament with more brutal and violence than the 1995 version, or is this film that we'd rather die in NetherRealm?

Well, lets find out.

The Story

Since Mortal Kombat has plenty of characters, you think its gonna be of one character or group of good guys or anti hero story with Liu Kang, Scorpion, Sonya Blade, Jax, Raiden, Sub-Zero, Johnny Cage and many others, right? Well, its kinda like a group of good guys story, but rather thrown out of window for the writing.

It started on the 17th Century where we meet Hanzo Hasashi, who's being targeted by an assassin of Lin Kuei named Bi-Han (aka Sub-Zero), they both fighting each other, but Bi-Han murdered Hanzo to put an end of Shirai Ryu ninja clan. However, after Hanzo's family are both killed (minus the baby), the baby was rescued by the thunder god named Raiden. Fast forward to present time, a deadly tournament called "Mortal Kombat" is brought for a battle between Earthrealm and Outworld, but Outworld was out-beaten Earthrealm nine times out of ten in Mortal Kombat. We introduce our main hero named "Cole Young", an MMA fighter from Chicago, after losing one match, he was introduced by a Special Forces member named Jax Briggs, who tells Cole that he's the chosen one, but they got attacked by Bi-Han as Sub-Zero, as Jax lost the battle against the ice ninja by disarming him, Cole goes on his own to finding Sonya Blade from Jax's order, which Cole, Sonya and a captured Australian A-Hole named Kano are traveled out of nowhere until they found a temple from Raiden with his champions, Liu Kang and Kung Lao, but Raiden told our hero that the evil threat of Outworld with an evil warlock named Shang Tsung, its up to Cole to not only trained to be stronger in order to deal with Outworld.

For the story, its rather good as we can tell, its another underdog story who's been chosen to be part of Mortal Kombat, but i felt the writing is just comes off as either mixed-bag to questionable. Because while the story is good, but it just comes off as pretty cliché with some elements that has been done before, like being the chosen one for tournament without mercy. But one thing im disappointed is that the movie is more focused on Cole than some familiar characters in Mortal Kombat, which it disappoints me so much that i just wish it could've focus on either Liu Kang, Scorpion, Sonya or even Kitana, but all we have a bland protagonist, but il will explaining the characters later on. Not to mention, the movie also has a plot element from the dragon mark tattoo called "Arcana", which is meant from being chosen from Mortal Kombat with special power, but how does it came from in this movie? Well, they never explain about it what-so-ever...!

While the story is good for say the least, but the writing really ruined it for poor execution.

The Presentation

As far as i can tell, the budget is more on film's presentation than the writing. But i have to admitted, it looks pretty damn good.

For the filming location, it looks pretty cool looking from MMA arena, to street then to temple, since they're filmed in Australia (since the production is done in Adelaide Studios) and in the desert, i though its from USA, but its actually the Outback in Australia. Not to mention, they uses two cameras (ARRI ALEXA LF and Mini LF) with the use of Panavision Anamorphic lenses, which i gotta say, they did a pretty good work for their filming.

For the costumes, they're not bad, especially with the outfits of Sub-Zero and Scorpion, they look pretty good as in the game, for the new suits of other characters like Raiden, Shang Tsung, Mileena, Kabal and others, they're mixed bag, some are fitting nicely (especially with Kabal, he looks pretty damn cool, even though at first, i though its Smoke, but close), while some others, not so much (Yes, im looking at you, Mileena, like where your hot-pink color on your outfit?).

And of course, since this is Mortal Kombat, there's always gotta be a fighting scenes and i have to say, they're pretty cool and thankfully, pretty violent with blood and gore much like in the game (Take that, 1995 version!), and its no wonder why this film's rating is R for... Obvious reason. And their fighting and some elements are referenced in the game (if some of you are familiar with MK) like Liu Kang's bicycle kicks, Jax's Head Clap, Sub-Zero's ice blast, Scorpion's chain spear (aka "Get over here!!"), Kung Lao's buzzsaw hat (aka Razor's Edge) and Shang Tsung's stealing soul (along with "Your soul is MINE!"). So nice touch, guys.

The presentation of this movie is pretty good, especially with fighting scenes, the violence and the faithfulness of MK series, for the most part.

The Characters

As i said before, i just wish some characters in MK should've been the main focus than the main protagonist.

Lets easily start off with Cole Young (played by Lewis Tan), who's an MMA fighter from Chicago. I can honestly said that he's just forgettable in the movie, mainly for being an underdeveloped protagonist for being chosen fighter. Sure he can fight, but not good fighter enough for his personality, he's just boring as Tavern in Mortal Kombat Armageddon. Cause again, it should've been either Liu Kang, Scorpion or anybody than Cole Young...!

So what about the familiar faces in MK? Well they're not bad. 

There's Sonya Blade (played by Jessica McNamee) who's a badass member of Special Forces that we all know and love, Jax Briggs (played by Mehcad Brooks), who's the muscle member of Special Forces as MotherF***er, even though i can't help but he looks like if he's played by Terry Crews (even though its always my dream), Kano (played by Josh Lawson) who's an Australian Douchebag that he's probably likable for being a Dick to anybody around (like he easily made me chuckle that way he delivered), Raiden (played Tadanobu Asano), the thunder god who's more like giving us a plot device for our heroes (though i will say this, he's probably better than Christopher Lambert's role), Lui Kang (played by Ludi Lin), a Shaolin Monk champion who's almost act like a sensei for our heroes, Kung Lao (played by Max Huang) who's more like Liu Kang's sidekick, but also likable, Bi-Han/Sub-Zero (played by Joe Taslim) who's a ninja assassin of Lin Kuei and probably served as the main antagonist from his boss of Outworld, Shang Tsung (played by Chin Han) who's a warlock for souls and shapeshifting, but served as a big boss who cannot fight (well this sucks) and Hanzo Hasashi, aka Scorpion (played by Hiroyuki Sanada) a ninja clan of Shirai Ryu who got killed off early, but coming back, but only in final act (talk about a waste of time that i;ve been begging to see him coming back from the dead).

Although there's some other MK characters, but they're more like a after though ones, like Mileena (played by Sisi Stringer) who looks like she has rashes on her cheeks as loosely looking like in the game, Kabal (played by Daniel Nelson and voiced by Damon Herriman) who like i said, i thought its Smoke, but its Kabal all along, but no longer as good guy, but he's also likable, Reptile who's more like a first henchman, but he looks pretty cool, but not acting like a human ninja in disguise (Aw well), Goro (voiced by Angus Sampson) the prince of Shokan who's more like a sub-boss (much like in the game) at our main hero, Nitara (played by Mel Jarnson) who's a flying vampire for obstacle fight for Kung Lao and Reiko (played by former pro-wrestler Nathan Jones, though his wrestling performance was pretty embarrassment) who's a next gen of Shao Kahn (Too bad Shao Kahn isn't in the movie).

While the characters from MK are nice to see in the movie (some are faithful, while others didn't doing well), but its safe to say that Cole's appearance is unlikable.

And now for my final opinion of this movie.

Overall, the 2021 Mortal Kombat isn't as flawless victory as we expected. The story is ok, the actions are pretty good, the blood and gore is there for good reason and the characters are also ok. Its mainly the writing is pretty dreadful for its execution and Cole Young purpose has zero reason to being forgetable main role. Even though its not the worst movie based on video game, but they're still out there.

For my recommendation, i'd say its only for die-hard fans of Mortal Kombat who really want to see the bloody and gory version what we wanted. 

And does this film is better than 1995 version? Well, i'd say yeah, since the first one is the most PG-iest film ever for the lack of blood and gore, but more of typical martial arts film with some fun and silly moments.

For my rating, its a tough one, since as a fan of Mortal Kombat, i wanted to go higher, but due to some execution that ruined the film in somewhat disappointing result, i gotta give this film a 6/10.

So this ends of my movie review, if you guys have your opinion or any suggestions, let me know at comment bellow and support me on KO-FI.com/blackevil.

Thanks for reading, and im Anthony, signing out.

Movie Review: Godzilla vs Kong

 

Hey everyone, my name is Anthony and welcome back to my Movie Review, now with 2021 movies.

From many years ago, i've talked about Godzilla, i've talked about Kong and both of them are in Monsterverse series that we all know. Ever since we love Godzilla and Kong, its definitely no secrete that they're gonna make a movie of these guys in combat on the big screen.

"Godzilla vs Kong" is a 2021 Kaiju film is directed Adam Wingard, produced by Thomas Tull, Jon Jashni, Brian Rogers, Mary Parent, Alex Garcia and Eric McLeod,written in screenplay by Eric Pearson and Max Borenstein, then story written by Terry Rossio, Michael Dougherty (Yup, the same guy who did Godzilla: King of the Monsters) and Zach Shields.

Ever since we heard the announcement of Godzilla facing against Kong, we're highly anticipated with the battle of two icons, its another crossover of East vs West. However, the movie got delayed a lot, ranging from changes and even the outbreak from the virus, so they chooses for not only release the film in theaters, but also available in renting digital download and streaming service like HBO Max.

Of course, its not the first time we have the battle of two icons, there's the 1962 "King Kong vs Godzilla" by Toho that its nice to having those two fighting each other for the first time, even though before we have a CG, we have a fun and silly battle between to guys in monster suits. Though the ending is debatable for who win the battle, its more like "You decide" conclusion element.

So, with all that said, will this movie bring us a epic battle of these two big monsters, or is it a waste of potential to having other monsters?

Well, lets find out.

The Story

For the plot in this movie, its surprisingly interesting, while the human plot that despite its improved, but its still flawed like before.

It picks up after "King of the Monsters" five years later, where Kong was monitered by the Monarch with a giant dome on Skull Island, which they were told that the citizens in Skull Island are wiped out from the storm, except for one deaf girl named Jia who only speaks with sign language. Meanwhile a cybernetic company called Apex are creating secret experiment, not before Godzilla came out nowhere and going rampage at Pensacola. Meanwhile, a geologist and cartographer Dr. Nathan Lind was told by Apex CEO named Walter Simmons about the plan of going a secret world called "Hollow Earth", Nathan was hesitant at first due to his brother's death, but he accepted the plan, but only he needs one monster to going in there, which is Kong. So its up for the Nathan Lind with other members like Dr. Ilene Andrews and her adopted girl Jia to bring out Kong to Hollow Earth without the risk and the secret truth of Godzilla's rampage.

Story is surprisingly good and curiously creative for expending world in Monsterverse, mainly with the Hollow Earth element for the origin or possibly why Godzilla is posing a threat like you know, like any Godzilla films out there, even though i still consider Godzilla as an anti-hero, appearing what he wanted, rampage or facing against evil monsters. Not mention, i also like the chemistry between Kong and Jia, since with Skull Island's citizens are all gone from the dangerous storm, they treated like a father and daughter figures with their sign language, which is nice and kinda cute at the same time.

However, like King of the Monsters, the story with the humans are pretty underwhelming for its execution. Despite that i appreciated the chemistry between a little girl and a giant ape, but the human plots with finding the secret in Apex with conspiracy theorist Bernie and the same girl from the previous movie Madison. Sure, i do appreciated of the expansion world where we're going to Hollow Earth, but again, the human elements are pretty underwhelming. I think its no secret this movie's main focus is either Kong or Godzilla. However, the movie is kinda miss the mark of the identity that Godzilla is the main focus in the title "Godzilla vs Kong", when in reality, the main focus is Kong, i mean it would've been ok to put the opposite of the title of the movie as "Kong vs Godzilla", either that or to avoiding confusion from the 1962 version's title.

Despite some problems of who's the main focus and poor executed human plot points, but the story is fascinating for say the least.

The Presentation

Aside from the writing flaws, i think it safe to say that the production of this movie is pretty good.

For the filming location and the setting, they're quite nice looking and rather a nice fit, since they picked a locations for the setting like Hawaii for Skull Island and Australia for factory and other locations like city in Brisbane. Though we though its their two locations, but they also filmed in Hong Kong as their final shooting.

Of course, aside from the real locations, there's always a CG background and i find them to be fascinating, especially the setting design of Hollow Earth, which i though its gonna be looking like hell with demons and stuff like DOOM, but it looks pretty different that i've never imagine. But im not gonna explain what it looks like for avoiding spoilers.

As for the action scenes, well its surprisingly all over, raging from Godzilla's threatening rampage, the presentation of Hollow Earth and the famous round 1 of Godzilla and Kong beat themselves up both in and out of water with battle ships and aircraft carriers. Of course, the final battle is pretty cool, but also brutal as hell, but again, no spoilers.

For the monsters appearance, its no secret that Kong and Godzilla look remain the same, sure they have some update appearance like Kong with scars and Godzilla's upgrade skins. As for the other monsters around, sadly, they never brought them back like Rodan, Behemoth, Scylla, MUTO number three, Methuselah nor even what happen to the new egg from Mothra, which is pretty disappointed that i just wish they could've give us more Titans from the previous films than just Godzilla and Kong. What we have instead is a flying cobra-like dragon and possibly a small version of The Giant Claw (but at least their looks aren't as ugly like the original flying battleship). Btw, before the film was released, there's a rumor that this movie have MechaGodzilla, which im easily hesitated in the first place based on its purpose, but again, no spoilers for conformation. Oh, they also brought back Skullcrawlers, so... Yay??

While the presentation gave me my nitpick with plot holes like the lack of Titans from "King of the Monsters", the presentation of this movie is pretty good, for the most parts.

The Characters

I think it safe to say that the Titans have better development than the underdeveloped humans, for the most parts.

When it comes to Godzilla, from before like "King of the Monsters" or even his Monsterverse debut, he's more like an anti-hero where he fought numerous evil Titans like MUTOs and even Ghidorah, which many people might considered him as like a god. Here in this movie, his anti-hero goes chaotic that he went into a threat at the humanities, for what reason he does that is just beyond me or even the fans.

As for Kong, he's also sorta being good towards humans, even if they pushed the line at the big ape. But this time, thanks to Jia like a daughter figure, it seems that he's somewhat giving a respect at the humanity, especially to giving a sympathetic element that he wants home after his Skull Island being taken by the Monarch with dome.

As for the humans, with the exception of Jia (played by young Kaylee Hottle) being the last person on Skull Island and a daughter figure from Kong which i appreciated, they're pretty forgettable foe their lack of purpose or anything. Despite their acting are fine.

There's Dr. Nathan Lind (played by Alexander Skarsgård) who's a reluctant cartographer and geologist for his study of Hollow Earth with Kong, Dr. Ilene Andrews (played by Rebecca Hall) who's a Monarc member of Linguist, Bernie Hayes (played by Brian Tyree Henry) who's an employee in Apex with his conspiracy theory that nobody cared, Walter Simmons (played by Demián Bichir) who's a typical evil big boss of Apex organization against anybody on his lay (let along Monarch), Maia Simmons (played by Eiza González) who's a top tier executive and daughter of Walter, Josh Valentine (played by Julian Dennison, aka Russell Collins from Deadpool 2) who's a cowardly nerd about Godzilla and Ren Serizawa (played by Shun Oguri) whos the son of Dr. Serizawa who sadly served by purpose what so ever in this movie.

But for whatever reason, Madison Russell (reprised by Millie Bobby Brown) and her dad Dr. Mark (reprised by Kyle Chandler) returned in this movie, but again, they're pretty much forgettable since "King of the Monsters" based on lack of context on their appearances.

While the monsters and Jia herself are fascinating, but its just that the humans are involved felt like a cardboard cutout crowd for pandemic sporting events.

And now for my final opinion of this film.

Overall, Godzilla vs Kong is a pretty good film to having two icons in ultimate fight. The story is pretty good, the presentation looks fantastic, despite the dark cinematography have some problem that i almost forgot to tell and the writing is not bad. Although i like the development of Jia, Kong and Godzilla, while the rest of humans, despite they may have some developments, but its their writing purpose is pretty much poorly executed in the final result and some other monsters from previous film like King of the Monsters don't make any returns.

If you're a fan of Kaiju film involving two iconic monsters, this is definitely for you, like it won't disappoints you. Or maybe watching the 1962 version by Toho if you love guy in monsters suits.

Sadly, this movie has a controversy, its not just the movie itself, but rather a war between this movie and the Zack Snyder's cut of Justice League, mainly because when Godzilla vs Kong came out, the film was well-received by critics and audience like myself included, but then army of Snyder's cut went after GvK with review bombs in order to destroy this movie. Look, i like DC superheroes, but there's no excuse to make war against either critics or a movie competitor (which GvK is distributed by the same company with Snyder's cut, Warner Bros). So for the love of god, DC community or maybe Kaiju community, please stop making war to picking side for who's better or else...!!

Sorry for my ranting, its just that whenever there's a controversy that pinched my nerve, il point it out.

Anyway, for my rating, im gonna give this one an 8/10. I would've gave it 7, but as a fan of Kaiju film, il give it a bit high.

So this ends of my movie review after my long hiatus, if you guys have your opinion or any suggestions, let me know at comment bellow and support me on KO-FI.com/blackevil.

Thanks for reading, and im Anthony, signing out.