Mortal Kombat 2021

[techbeck]

1 hour ago, Circaflex said:

wrong, cole is not from any game he was a made up character added by the studio...

 

The biggest letdown is there wasnt even a tournament, it was a bunch of 2 vs 1s and some 1 vs 1 fights. MK1 was the tournament, MK2 was the illegal tournament and MK3 was the invasion.

So I got Cole wrong. Still others characters that were new from the other movies and still opens up for more we have not seen for the squeals. 

 

Anyway, I enjoyed the movie and did not over analyze it and was what I expected. Lots of action and violence. And rarely do movies live up to the books or games. 

Edited April 25, 2021 by techbeck

[ThaCrip]

in short, the movie was average overall (i.e. Thumbs Down).

 

but it might be worth a one time viewing for someone who's a fan of the video games. but for the average movie fan, they could easily skip it as the cast is too generic as they simply don't have the screen presence that the 1995 movies cast has which I think is ultimately where the 2021 movie falls short where as the 1995 movie works. I think the casting was ultimately the difference between a Thumbs Down and Thumbs Up even though some stuff was a bit rushed as it lacks a decent built up to the main fight scenes late into the movie as, while I think the general fight scenes and look of the movie was probably the best part of the movie on some level, the end fight scenes were a bit rushed as it does not have the build up like the 1995 movie does which further damages the 2021 movie. but even if they fixed that, the cast just can't carry the movie at the end of the day.

 

but out of the cast... I would probably say Sonya/Kano was the best of the bunch, but that's not saying much. NOTE: the only person I was a bit familiar with is the guy in the beginning, and who played Scorpion, as he appears in The Last Samurai (2003) with Tom Cruise.

 

bottom line = 5/10 (or a 2.5/5 for those who like to use a 5 star scale) ; which is average and ultimately a Thumbs Down. NOTE: for me Thumbs Up starts at a 6/10 and my favorite movies start at a 7/10. basically I ultimately break movies into two groups... those I will re-watch here and there as the years pass (i.e. Thumbs Up) and those I won't (i.e. Thumbs Down) as anything I won't re-watch cannot score higher than a 5/10 and anything I will re-watch here and there cannot score lower than a 6/10.

 

p.s. hell, even though I can easily see how some would consider the 1997 movie to be 'bad', I think it's sort of bad but in a good way as the only MK movies I give a Thumbs Up are the 1995/1997 movies. but those aside, this 2021 version is probably the next best even though that's not saying much. NOTE: I viewed the original Mortal Kombat (1995) movie opening day (Aug 18th 1995) with my cousin.

 

8 hours ago, Dick Montage said:

Weird flex but ok

 

It's not a flex, just to get the general point across that I am not someone who scores many movies all that highly etc as some people seem to routinely hand out fairly high scores all of the time (or they might go the other end of the spectrum and act like unless something is great, then it's crap etc) and you can't really tell what they really like a lot vs above average to average and below average and so on etc. like some people might score a movie fairly high, and then forget about it not all that long after, which to me speaks volumes about what they truly think of the movie. hence, their true score of a movie like that would be much lower if they were honest and scored more honestly etc.

 

the majority of movies I have seen are pretty much average (or so) and my ratings of movies reflect this fact with 5/10 being pretty much middle-of-the-road/average and then things scale up and down fairly evenly from there. but like I was saying only about 6-8% of everything I have seen managed to score a 7/10 or higher.

 

plus, while it won't effect anyone else opinion of a movie (since we all like what we all like etc)... I figure in general someone who's seen plenty of movies will be more credible than someone who's not since they got a better perspective on what stands out and what does not etc. although like I was saying, there is no guarantee that a person will like or dislike a movie based on this. but I figured I was worth mentioning.

 

basically here is my rating scale which basically comes back to how much all-around I enjoy a movie...

 

10 = As much as I can enjoy a movie.
9 = Nearly as much as I can enjoy a movie.
8 = Well Above Average.
7 = Above Average. (My Favorite Movies begin here)
6 = Slightly Above Average. (My minimum score to re-watch a movie)
5 = Average (Thumbs Down) (while ultimately a negative score, they typically don't waste my time)
4 = Below Average.
3 = Failure. (I generally finished watching these but they are just bad)
2 = Boring. (I could not finish watching due to boredom and boring is pretty much the worst crime a movie can commit)
1 = Greatly Dislike. (very little I have seen is THIS bad)

 

for measure... most movies I see get a 5/10 with a 6/10 being the next most common.

 

and to state the obvious... I ultimately rate movies based on how much I enjoy them. the further they get away from that, the lower the rating.

 

I think my rating system is pretty well thought out personally as like I have said before movies are ultimately broke into two groups... those that a person will re-watch from time to time as the years pass (i.e. Thumbs Up) and those that are not worth re-watching (i.e. Thumbs Down). because that's basically the whole point in watching movies in the first place is to find movies worth re-watching as if I rarely or never re-watched movies I would lose most of my interest in them. because a good movie is like a good song, you want to experience it here and there as the years pass.

Edited April 26, 2021 by ThaCrip

[+E.Worm Jimmy Subscriber¹]

7 hours ago, Circaflex said:

wrong, cole is not from any game he was a made up character added by the studio...

 

The biggest letdown is there wasnt even a tournament, it was a bunch of 2 vs 1s and some 1 vs 1 fights. MK1 was the tournament, MK2 was the illegal tournament and MK3 was the invasion.

Lol - Cole was my favorite from MK1 - hahahaha

[Circaflex]

3 hours ago, E.Worm Jimmy said:

Lol - Cole was my favorite from MK1 - hahahaha

Except Cole isnt from any MK game...

[FloatingFatMan]

On 23/04/2021 at 18:40, Circaflex said:

God this was terrible like most video game movies.

 

The story was somewhat odd and after reading an interview with Russo it made sense 

  Reveal hidden contents

The main character shouldve just been johnny cage or a reincarnated scorpion. adding him in to the movie because the studio wanted to was a huge fail

 

 

I will say, the fights (minus 2 on 1 because when did that ever happen in MK?) and the fatalities were pretty sweet. Cano actually was well played. I wish the story was a little better and 

  Reveal hidden contents

why was there no actual tournament? not to mention goro was in about 10 minutes of the movie and was taken out by a rookie character who just found his powers. Pretty lame for the "boss."

 

 

I am assuming the end piece was left in for a possible 2nd movie, if this one does well.

I think that maybe you're expecting a little bit too much from a popcorn movie.  You shouldn't be expecting much of a cohesive story from a movie based on an ARCADE game of all things.  Just make some popcorn, grab a beer, shut off your brain, sit down and watch.

 

[George P Global Moderator]

Does it really matter if they added in a new character just for the movie?  It's not like a fighting game of all things doesn't randomly add new characters into the mix out of nowhere.  Besides, if anyones been keeping up with MK11, they've been adding any off the wall characters that come to mind.  I mean you've got dlc for Rambo and the terminator of all things.  

 

The movie does what it's suppose to, the plot wasn't going to be something deep anyways.  While the games have lots of lore, they're story/plot isn't anything great.  You have your bad guys and your good guys and it's the typical, lets take over the world evil motive trope.  

 

I think the movie was made for relatively cheap and will probably make enough for the sequel.  The smart move is to introduce more characters, kill some off here and there, and keep it going for at least another 2 to make it a trilogy. 

[Dick Montage]

8 hours ago, ThaCrip said:

It's not a flex, just to get the general point across that I am not someone who scores many movies all that highly etc as some people seem to routinely hand out fairly high scores all of the time (or they might go the other end of the spectrum and act like unless something is great, then it's crap etc) and you can't really tell what they really like a lot vs above average to average and below average and so on etc. like some people might score a movie fairly high, and then forget about it not all that long after, which to me speaks volumes about what they truly think of the movie. hence, their true score of a movie like that would be much lower if they were honest and scored more honestly etc.

 

the majority of movies I have seen are pretty much average (or so) and my ratings of movies reflect this fact with 5/10 being pretty much middle-of-the-road/average and then things scale up and down fairly evenly from there. but like I was saying only about 6-8% of everything I have seen managed to score a 7/10 or higher.

 

plus, while it won't effect anyone else opinion of a movie (since we all like what we all like etc)... I figure in general someone who's seen plenty of movies will be more credible than someone who's not since they got a better perspective on what stands out and what does not etc. although like I was saying, there is no guarantee that a person will like or dislike a movie based on this. but I figured I was worth mentioning.

 

basically here is my rating scale which basically comes back to how much all-around I enjoy a movie...

 

10 = As much as I can enjoy a movie.
9 = Nearly as much as I can enjoy a movie.
8 = Well Above Average.
7 = Above Average. (My Favorite Movies begin here)
6 = Slightly Above Average. (My minimum score to re-watch a movie)
5 = Average (Thumbs Down) (while ultimately a negative score, they typically don't waste my time)
4 = Below Average.
3 = Failure. (I generally finished watching these but they are just bad)
2 = Boring. (I could not finish watching due to boredom and boring is pretty much the worst crime a movie can commit)
1 = Greatly Dislike. (very little I have seen is THIS bad)

 

for measure... most movies I see get a 5/10 with a 6/10 being the next most common.

 

and to state the obvious... I ultimately rate movies based on how much I enjoy them. the further they get away from that, the lower the rating.

 

I think my rating system is pretty well thought out personally as like I have said before movies are ultimately broke into two groups... those that a person will re-watch from time to time as the years pass (i.e. Thumbs Up) and those that are not worth re-watching (i.e. Thumbs Down). because that's basically the whole point in watching movies in the first place is to find movies worth re-watching as if I rarely or never re-watched movies I would lose most of my interest in them. because a good movie is like a good song, you want to experience it here and there as the years pass.

My god, all that to explain how 1-10 works

Just now, George P said:

Does it really matter if they added in a new character just for the movie?

Hit the nail on the head.  Mortal Kombat is a franchise of games, books, movies, toys, etc.  One piece of the franchise adds a character.  Other pieces have been doing this since day 1.

[Wiggz]

I watched this over the weekend. I thought it was an "okay" piece of nostalgia.

 

I disliked Cole as a character for the most part, but...

 

Spoiler

I did like that he was part of Scorpion's bloodline. I just didn't understand why Hanzo picked THAT time to come back from Hell to kick ass...very poor.

 

I thought Kano was great as light relief to be honest, but I saw this as an intro into this world. That wasn't the tournament - this was Shang Tsung trying to wipe them out before the Tournament to ensure their 10th victory. Who knows what's next. Depends how well it does.

 

I gave it a 6.5/10

[ThaCrip]

5 hours ago, Dick Montage said:

My god, all that to explain how 1-10 works

Well my general point is... my rating system is well thought out unlike many out there and people who have seen a lot of movies are better at selecting which movies stand out from the pack vs what does not etc.

 

p.s. or are you going continue with the BS comments for a 3rd time in a row towards me? ; at least I am attempting to contribute to the topic a bit unlike you who's just talking crap. if your going to reply with comments like that, your better off not replying to someone.

Edited April 26, 2021 by ThaCrip

[+E.Worm Jimmy Subscriber¹]

9 hours ago, Circaflex said:

Except Cole isnt from any MK game...

it was supposed to be a joke 😛     

 

ps. it should have just been Cage straight away. I really did not like Cole at all.  

[Dick Montage]

6 hours ago, ThaCrip said:

Well my general point is... my rating system is well thought out unlike many out there and people who have seen a lot of movies are better at selecting which movies stand out from the pack vs what does not etc.

 

p.s. or are you going continue with the BS comments for a 3rd time in a row towards me? ; at least I am attempting to contribute to the topic a bit unlike you who's just talking crap. if your going to reply with comments like that, your better off not replying to someone.

Dude, take a freaking joke - don't be a nerd

[+E.Worm Jimmy Subscriber¹]

2 hours ago, Dick Montage said:

Dude, take a freaking joke - don't be a nerd

Do you not know how he posts? You should be used to it by now.

 

I am - and I think there is nothing wrong in writing an essay if he feels like it - I mean I actually read it and it makes sense - why bother calling him a nerd 🤓

[Dick Montage]

52 minutes ago, E.Worm Jimmy said:

Do you not know how he posts? You should be used to it by now.

 

I am - and I think there is nothing wrong in writing an essay if he feels like it - I mean I actually read it and it makes sense - why bother calling him a nerd 🤓

I called him a nerd for his rage post after I clearly made a joke. His essay was something I agree with.

[Circaflex]

18 hours ago, FloatingFatMan said:

I think that maybe you're expecting a little bit too much from a popcorn movie.  You shouldn't be expecting much of a cohesive story from a movie based on an ARCADE game of all things.  Just make some popcorn, grab a beer, shut off your brain, sit down and watch.

 

You should look into the MK lore; there is quite a story.

[FloatingFatMan]

30 minutes ago, Circaflex said:

You should look into the MK lore; there is quite a story.

Much of which was developed whilst they were making the first MK movie with Christopher Lambert as Raiden and Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa as Shang Tsung (Much better casting choices IMO).

[George P Global Moderator]

MKs lore was developed over 11 main games and a bunch of spinoffs.  The original movie back in the 90s was pretty much a copy and paste of the first games story.   There's no way one movie can fit all the lore in, let alone cover the large roster the game series has.  

 

Anyways, I honestly expect a sequel, this didn't have some huge Marvel or DC type budget to begin with.  The studio set it's goals accordingly and I think they'll reach them.  If not some huge theater level blockbuster, as far as WB goes, they can keep pumping them mostly as HBO Max focused releases much like what Netflix does with it's original movies to a good bit of success.

[+E.Worm Jimmy Subscriber¹]

9 hours ago, FloatingFatMan said:

Much of which was developed whilst they were making the first MK movie with Christopher Lambert as Raiden and Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa as Shang Tsung (Much better casting choices IMO).

I agree with casting choices - but the lore and stories were there completely unrelated to the original movie.

 

And some of them are not bad at all - there is a more recent 2 season show that had some real tight episodes

[techbeck]

The story was changed to capture a new audience. Those of us who grew up playing the games in the early 90s will find fault.  Lots don't know the full story /lore and some do not care.  I enjoyed the movie and look forward to the next. Even tho I grew up playing the games.

 

I still like the older movies and have them all on BR. 

[McCordRm]

I finally got around to watching it. Outside the fight scenes, I wasn't really feeling it. The story elements

were just horrible, overall. And even though it's not supposed to for a movie like this, it actually pulled

me out of my fun zone.

For example... the "hero" of the movie-- or at the very least, the "main character" -- was such a pansy.

I know Hollywood is trying really hard to push an agenda (The female Ghostbusters, etc.), but did the

so-called hero from Scorpion's family tree HAVE to be saved by a woman every single time he needed

to fight?

 

Anyhow, I'll watch a sequel if one comes out just for the characters fighting each other, but they'll probably be

a one-time watch like this one.

[Emn1ty]

On 26/04/2021 at 02:13, George P said:

Does it really matter if they added in a new character just for the movie? 

There is a reason to do this. It gives grounding to an audience who has not experienced the world or universe before. Cole's character is meant to be that grounding point, like the audience he is learning about all this as the movie progresses. Unfortunately, he's rather flat through the entire film. He barely has any lines, and rarely does anything to actually move the plot forward or even connect with the audience. It also hurts that there are already characters existing in the universe that fulfill this role well (Johnny Cage or even Liu Kang). And even worse, there's characters in the film who do a better job of it (Kano).

Overall the action was spot on, but it fell decidedly flat in many other parts. The main character was a large part of the problems with the film and that mostly has to do with the writing, not the concept itself.

[George P Global Moderator]

6 minutes ago, Emn1ty said:

There is a reason to do this. It gives grounding to an audience who has not experienced the world or universe before. Cole's character is meant to be that grounding point, like the audience he is learning about all this as the movie progresses. Unfortunately, he's rather flat through the entire film. He barely has any lines, and rarely does anything to actually move the plot forward or even connect with the audience. It also hurts that there are already characters existing in the universe that fulfill this role well (Johnny Cage or even Liu Kang). And even worse, there's characters in the film who do a better job of it (Kano).

Overall the action was spot on, but it fell decidedly flat in many other parts. The main character was a large part of the problems with the film and that mostly has to do with the writing, not the concept itself.

Pretty spot on, but as a fan who knows what's going on that's the feeling I get.  If I knew nothing about MK I might feel different about Cole.  Anyways, I think going in the plan was for more.  It's clear this movie wasn't written to be self contained and really feels like a prequel to something bigger.     

 

Spoiler

You could also say Cole is used as a plot device to bring Scorpion back to the real world without having to introduce yet another character into the mix (Quan Chi).   MK can get really character heavy if you don't limit things.

 

[Emn1ty]

18 hours ago, George P said:

Pretty spot on, but as a fan who knows what's going on that's the feeling I get.  If I knew nothing about MK I might feel different about Cole.  Anyways, I think going in the plan was for more.  It's clear this movie wasn't written to be self contained and really feels like a prequel to something bigger.     

 

  Hide contents

You could also say Cole is used as a plot device to bring Scorpion back to the real world without having to introduce yet another character into the mix (Quan Chi).   MK can get really character heavy if you don't limit things.

 

Spoiler

One of the things I also didn't like about the main character is his powers are inconsistent. It was interesting at first that his body would absorb energy and he'd throw it back. But then out of nowhere he got tonfas and those didn't play into that aspect at all (and they don't really fit his character, either). We'll see if the larger plot is a thing and if it helps with this.