So a few of the staff got invited to the sequel to the relatively well regarded Mortal Kombat reboot, and boy was it a good time. First things have to be stated first, the rest of the press screen was SO enthusiastic that it made the experience extremely good. That being said, the next point has to be that THIS second crack at the rebooted franchise is undoubtedly better than the first, so mission accomplished. (Watching the 2021 reboot IS a prerequisite.)
This video game reboot, is unabashedly corny as hell, but it in no way takes itself too seriously, and makes some corrections to not just the first film, but its predecessors in the 90’s. For example, video game fanatics were bent out of shape because the ONE black female character in the game (Jade) was unabashedly Asian in ‘Mortal Kombat: Annihilation’, but this has now been eloquently corrected. One major complaint though, was the WILD physics of the film, (or lack there of). Things were all over the shop in combat. Someone could get rag-dolled around a stone structure, bouncing off pylons, and jump right back up, OR, get tapped on the shoulder and knocked unconscious. This being said, it’s easy to forgive due to the stories origins.
There were also a great magnitude of game to screen translations, one scene even (for a split second) features what looks like two health bars on the top of screen, which is a blink and you’ll miss it moment, but a nice nod. The deaths where partially unexpected, but some of the characters HAD to die (given the title), and even several team ups were a bit unexpected in all the side switching that comes into play. One viewer that was interviewed said “As a FILM, 6 out of 10, but as a Mortal Kombat fan film, 12 out of 10.” So between jokes about “Dumbledor’s nutsack” jokes, the obscure character shout outs, and the mandatory “Get over here!” quote that is CLEARLY not in the actors voice, fans will be quite satisfied, from first frame to final fatality.
