Mortal Kombat (2021) Film Review - "Finish Him"!

By Sam Coles: 

Films based on video games tend to go together about as well as me drinking too much the night before where there is no coffee in the morning, it tends to get messy. However, that doesn’t mean there are not any gems, such as the original Resident Evil film, however I think the latest interpretation of the brutal blood sport known as Mortal Kombat is good. It’s not perfect, but it is fun and over the top if you are looking for an energetic action film.  

The film begins in the year 1617 where we see Hanzo Hasashi tending to his family, but when Hanzo is out fetching some water for his garden Bi-Han attacks his clan and family. Devastated by the death of his clan and family, he completely loses it and slaughters every single Lin-Kuei warrior that dared to set foot on his property. He then confronts Bi-Han, but as much as he tries is then killed and sent to the Nether Realm and where he sits in waiting to take his revenge. It’s a good opening for this film, the action is gory and extremely graphic which is what I want in a Mortal Kombat film. Not only that it made sense to start off with the origin of Scorpion and Sub-Zero, as they are two of the most iconic characters in the series.  

The film fast forwards several centuries where we see the central protagonist Cole, who is getting seven shades of blue being kicked out of him. He has a mark on his body which he assumes to be nothing more than a birthmark, but it turns out he is a chosen warrior to participate in Mortal Kombat. Now I know a lot of critics and other movie goers have been rather hard on Cole, I don’t completely hate him. Don’t get me wrong he is about as interesting as a block of tofu, but he serves his purpose in the story and he has some fun lines and scenes.  

My favourite character has to be Kano in this film, Josh Lawson stole the show as Kano and embodied the character. He was very funny and sold the fact he was the scum of the Earth criminal; I am convinced some if not most of his lines were improvised. 

Not only that Sub-Zero and Scorpion are cast perfectly, Sub-Zero is actually quite terrifying and intimidating in this film as he acts more like a serial killer stalking each of his victims. The design of Scorpion is fantastic too, they take inspiration from Mortal Kombat 11 but make him look more of a shogun with his bulky armour.  

What is great in this film too are all the references and easter eggs, some are subtly placed in the background and others are uttered by certain characters. It comes across as a bit of a fourth wall break, but to be honest this film is rather tongue in cheek as it is and it works surprisingly well.  

Now onto the meat and potatoes of the film the graphic violence, do they strike gold with this film? Yes, they do characters throughout this film get killed in the most horrendous ways, people get cut in half, their heads explode and blood in general flies everywhere!  This is a good segway into the special effects which are fantastic, the blood effects are visceral as you see chunks fly out of people’s bodies as they are eviscerated. Not only that the effects for Sub-Zero's ice powers are amazing, it looks very convincing and looks as if he is throwing chunks of ice about, it is clear that they put time and effort into the special effects.  

Overall, this latest interpretation of Mortal Kombat is a really fun and entertaining ride, if you are looking for a fun, corny and over top action film with great fights and graphic violence then this film has you covered. I highly recommend it, it is a fun popcorn flick, where you can turn your mind off and just have fun with it.