There's nothing wrong with creating an OC like Cole Young (or Alice in the Resident Evil movie continuity) IF they could actually just make it work. However, just thinking about how the Mortal Kombat movie raised some eyebrows (even some say that the PG-13 movie from 1995 was WAY BETTER) had me thinking about violence for the sake of it. Right now, it reminds me how I may have made the worst decision back in 2019 by getting Mortal Kombat 11 which just became a gorefest without a plot. Some fatalities are already too overkill or take too long to finish. Great gameplay but too grindy, not respecting people's work hours, and students' study hours by penalizing non-playing. Not to mention, Mortal Kombat 11 Aftermath's story mode SUCKS and just relied on Cary Hiroyuki-Tagawa to bail it out. I also didn't like the new Sindel who was evil all along and preferred her as the victim queen who ended her life to create a barrier between Earthrealm and Outworld.
The 2021 movie does get a few things better. For example, the movie should be brutal because the game is brutal. However, the plot seems all too rushed, or that Cole's characterization seems to be as random as Taven from Mortal Kombat Armageddon or that the movie seems to rely on Hiroyuki Sanada as Hanzo Hasashi/Scorpion to bail it out. The movie introduces Cole as a descendant of Scorpion by making Scorpion much older than he is in the games. Lewis Tan just doesn't have what it gets IMHO to be an OG protagonist.
Maybe, I could talk about how I felt Ludi Lin playing my favorite character Liu Kang isn't really doing it that well. Maybe, I'm too stuck with the hype of Robin Shou was the best Liu Kang ever or how Jason Scott Lee could've been Liu Kang if he didn't decline it. Ludi Lin was the Asian Zack from the FAILED Power Rangers (2017) movie. Yup, I still can't emphasize FAILED in that 2017 Power Rangers movie because of how everything from trailer to movie just flunked. Though, Power Rangers (2017) isn't alone in the list of modern movies that I like to bash. There was also Mulan (2021) which for me relied too much on Crystal Liu's appearance instead of writing a good PG-13 movie.
There are also some random deaths that I felt were too random. For instance, Nitara getting cut in half by Kung Lao is one. Another is Kung Lao getting slain by Shang Tsung. Mileena is finished off too early and just where in the world is Kitana? Seeing Sonya finishing Mileena is just as plain dumb as the scene from Mortal Kombat Annihilated. It felt like the movie was relying on the blood and gore to bail it out over good story writing and production. What's the use of seeing the mutilations IF all it does is really just be blood for the sake of blood? That's why I don't watch torture films. It's not just that I'm squeamish but most of the scenes are just there for blood for blood's sake. I felt this was another why I felt I was glad I didn't watch Deadpool 2 - the X-Force members were just there for fanservice and all died rather stupid deaths.
What made the PG-13 movie better? More progression and development for the characters. Sure, the PG-13 movie lacked the gore. What it lacked in gore - it made it up with the progression. For example, Sonya has her motivation to go against Kano. Kano does die in the first film (and sadly, the actor died sometime later too) but it was better written. Although Johnny Cage did beat Goro instead of Liu Kang - I can't deny that the non-canon stuff was so good it made it as an inside joke in the reboot trilogy. Liu Kang was also given a non-canon story that established his rivalry with Shang Tsung. True, Shang Tsung didn't spit blood during his impalement but it did wrap things perfectly. It really knew how to prep up for its FAILED sequel that annihilated the chance for a third movie.
Personally, it's really a disappointment. I can't really express how much most movies based on the video games SUCK. I mean, it's just like how I hated the Tekken film which looked like it relied on Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa (he did make a good Heihachi) and Ian Anthony Dale to bail it out. Good thing that I wasn't excited for this film and I was already prepared to be disappointed.
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