A somewhat nifty prologue begins in Japan, 1612 where domesticity and family is shown with a serene glow. Alas, that glow fades quickly when the greatest ninja of all time, Hanzo Hasashi (Hiroyuki Sanada), is killed by rival Bi-Han (Joe Taslim). Hanzo's entire family is killed except for a baby hidden under a floorboard. Thanks to the survival of the baby who is whisked away by some mysterious stranger with glowing eyes, the Hanzo lineage extends to the present day with MMA fighter Cole Young (Lewis Tan), who loses more fights than he wins. He has a family whom he must protect from Bi-Han who has now called himself Sub-Zero (I like that moniker). Sub-Zero has a cool habit of creating ice that envelops an entire area within seconds, though don't get too close or you will be in suspended animation and die if he freezes you. Before long, Cole is trying to evade Sub-Zero and gets help from an ally in the Special Forces who gets his arms amputated by Sub-Zero! Next we have Cole getting help from a woman in Special Forces, Sonya Blade (Jessica McNamee), who is holding a prisoner named Kano (Josh Lawson), a captured Australian mercenary who can't stop talking! It turns out that Cole and Kano bear the red Dragon mark on their bodies which enables them specific super powers and proves the existence of Mortal Kombat (and some future tournament that we never see). There are also two parallel universes yet keeping track of all this exposition which is delivered expeditiously leaves little room for anything else in the movie.
"Mortal Kombat" is all bloody combat with knives and chains thrust either into bellies or someone's eye or used to decapitate monsters or any of the specter beings. Too much of this goes on far too repetitively. There is no respite from all the noise and incessant music score that features more electronic beats per minute than a song by the Bee Gees. The last forty minutes of the film has fight scenes galore with extreme gore (a hard R-rating has been placed here for gore and profanity-laced dialogue, both of which apparently befits the video games). But as the ending approached, I couldn't tell you much about any character. No one stands out except for Josh Lawson as Kano who is allowed to let loose and form a personality (he seems to be in on some measure of tongue-in-cheek that the movie otherwise lacks). The rest of the cast is on automaton pilot in what is essentially a soulless video game movie. Count me out from any further Mortal Kombat movies.
1 comment:
nice
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