Warner Bros has been making waves recently with its announcement that they will be releasing all of their theatrical features on their streaming platform HBOMax same day for no extra price. This seemed to work well for them with the release of Wonder Woman 1984 this past Christmas, and shows no signs of reversing yet. It looks like one of the first films of 2021 to get this treatment will be the company’s reboot of Mortal Kombat. With its release only a few months away, we’re starting to get some juicy details about how this film will stand out from previous attempts at adapting the games as well as what we can look forward to the most.
The film is helmed by first-timer Simon McQuoid, who had a lot to say to EW about his coming film. “Blood represents family. Blood represents connection. Blood represents who we are. Without getting too overcomplicated, what we did is use blood executionally.” And from the sound of things it gets flowing pretty quickly. The film kicks off with the backstories of fan favorites Scorpion/Hanzo Hasashi (Hiroyuki Sanada) and Sub-Zero/Bi-Han (Joe Taslim) and their ancient blood feud going all the way back to feudal Japan.
“[Hanzo’s] the leader of a ninja clan and he’s strong, but also… at the beginning, he’s a peaceful family man,” Sanada says. “It is like a family drama with excitingly brutal fighting. That’s the image of this movie for me,” he adds.
After a brutal 10-minute opening we jump forward to the present and meet the film’s main character: Cole Young (Lewis Tan). Cole is a completely new character to the MK universe which primes him to be a perfect fish out of water main character for anyone who isn’t already familiar with the famous fighters and their tournament.
Cole knows nothing of his heritage but the mysterious birthmark on his chest, which happens to be in the shape of the famous Mortal Kombat symbol, when the evil sorcerer Shang Tsung (Chin Han) sends the empowered Sub-Zero to find him.
“When we first meet Cole, he’s in a really bad spot,” Tan says. “He’s down on his luck. He’s kind of a washed-up MMA fighter who used to be a champion, who used to believe in himself, who used to have a lot of hope in his career. And it’s all gone down the drain. It’s a very interesting place for a hero to start, and I think that, along the journey of Mortal Kombat and Cole discovering where he comes from, you’re introduced to all these other iconic characters and elements that everybody loves so dearly.”
Following what is sure to be another spectacular fight, we’re introduced to Major Jackson “Jax” Briggs (Mehcad Brooks). He’s a major in special forces who also happens to share the same strange birth mark as Cole. Jax recommends finding Sonya Blade (Jessica McNamee) who introduces Cole to the Elder God, Raiden (Tadanobu Asano). Raiden appears to be providing sanctuary to anyone who has this birth mark. Such people include Liu Kang (Ludi Lin), Kung Lao (Max Huang), and Kano (Josh Lawson) just to name a few. They are all gathering to train for an incredibly high-stakes tournament against the invading forces of Outerworld.
With all of these characters coming to the big screen (some for the first time) it was important to McQuoid that this be done right. “I wanted to make sure that everyone respected the material, the lore of Mortal Kombat, the fans and the love they have for this. Everyone was clear on it,” McQuoid says of developing the reboot. While filming, McQuoid jokingly tasked with stunt coordinator Kyle Gardiner to create “the best fight sequences ever done in a movie ever.” These fight scenes have received incredibly high praise from early test screenings so far.
While the film is still in editing, McQuoid has said of the film, “…it’s definitely not gonna get a PG-13 rating.” There is also a definitive confirmation of… FATALITIES!!! Yes indeed, the famously destructive, gorey, violent finishing moves that define Mortal Kombat are finally coming to the big screen.
“There are some crazy fatalities,” Tan confirms. “We’ve picked a couple of iconic ones. There’s a lot of really cool signature moves that you’ll see, a lot of Easter eggs that we snuck into the film, but there are some really badass fatalities that I can’t wait to see on the big screen. They’re brutal, man. They, they don’t hold back.”
The film hits big screens and HBOMax on April 16, so get ready for round 1 everybody!
Source: EW
I’ve worked my whole life to become a comic book illustrator, writer, and stand-up comedian. Batman and Captain Benjamin Sisko helped put a good head on my shoulders. I spent most of my childhood saving Hyrule and the Mushroom Kingdom and seeing the Justice League save all of creation time and time again. I live in Johnson City, TN with my wife Kary and daughter Laila enjoying the beautiful mountain scenery and occasional show. Three puppies round out the family and take up the rest of the time that isn’t spent debating which Wes Anderson or Studio Ghibli movie to watch. I spend an inordinate amount of time binge watching SVU, Futurama, and Letterkenny, and when I’m not watching I’m listening to “My Brother, My Brother, and Me” or playing the occasional game of D&D. If there’s a nerdy endeavor out there, I’ve probably at least tried it.
