Maybe.
Based on the monumentally successful video game franchise and essentially wiping clean the events of the 1995 “Mortal Kombat” movie and the 1997 sequel, this blood-spattered, hard-R fantasy adventure is a fresh start in what is clearly intended to be a new series of films. (The ending even spells out certain details about the next adventure.)
Lewis Tan as Cole Young in “Mortal Kombat.” (Mark Rogers/Warner Bros. Pictures)
It’s a good-looking film with impressive special effects and some darkly funny kill scenes, but story lines and dialogue that might work in a participatory video game experience often come across as ridiculous and convoluted when we’re just sitting back and soaking it in. Nor does it help matters that the aforementioned new character, a former MMA champion named Cole Young (Lewis Tan), who has yet to realize he’s the latest in a very long line of noble warriors, is earnest and drab and not nearly as interesting as just about every supporting c
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NEW YORK (CNS) The problems with Mortal Kombat (Warner Bros.) go well beyond off-kilter spelling.
In fact, director Simon McQuoid s feature debut a reboot adaptation of a series of video games previously brought to the big screen via a couple of movies dating from the mid-1990s is, by turns, brutal, ponderous and silly.
Working from a script by Greg Russo and Dave Callaham, McQuoid charts the exploits of Cole Young (Lewis Tan), a mixed martial arts fighter whose languishing career becomes the least of his problems after he gets mixed up in a prolonged cosmic smackdown. The struggle pits the underdog forces of planet Earth against those of a realm called Outworld.
Spelling problems aside, ‘Mortal Kombat’ is brutal, ponderous, silly
This is the movie poster for Mortal Combat. The Catholic News Service classification is O morally offensive. The Motion Picture Association rating is R restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian. (CNS photo/Warner Bros.)
By John Mulderig • Catholic News Service • Posted April 30, 2021
NEW YORK (CNS) The problems with “Mortal Kombat” (Warner Bros.) go well beyond off-kilter spelling.
In fact, director Simon McQuoid’s feature debut a reboot adaptation of a series of video games previously brought to the big screen via a couple of movies dating from the mid-1990s is, by turns, brutal, ponderous and silly.
Review: Mortal Kombat is bloody, stupid and fun for fans of the property
(Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
AP
This image released by Warner Bros. Pictures shows Hiroyuki Sanada in a scene from Mortal Kombat. (Warner Bros. Pictures via AP)
By: Tom Santilli
and last updated 2021-04-23 08:43:35-04
(WXYZ) â Tom Santilli is a respected journalist and member of the Critics Choice Association, Detroit Film Critics Society and Online Film Critics Society since 2010. Tom is the Executive Producer and co-host of the syndicated TV show, Movie Show Plus, which has been on the air for 20+ years in the Metro-Detroit market and Mid-West. He is also the film critic for WXYZ-TV.