MORTAL KOMBAT
****
Director: Simon McQuoid
Screenplay: Greg Russo and Dave Callaham, from a story by Russo and Oren Uziel, based on the videogame created by Ed Boon and John Tobias.
Principal cast:
Lewis Tan
Jessica McNamee
Josh Lawson
Joe Taslim
Mehcad Brooks
Hiroyuki Sadana
Country: Australia/USA
Classification: R18+
Runtime: 110 mins.
Australian release date: 22 April 2021.
The great film critic Pauline Kael once wrote that, “the movies are so seldom great art that if we can't appreciate great trash, we might as well not go at all.” She could have been talking about new Australian/American co-pro Mortal Kombat. It is based on the notorious videogame of the same name about which, I must confess, I know next to nothing. Neither have I seen any of the previous cinematic incarnations based on it, like the two live-action movies, the two animated films or the television series, so I will only judge the success or otherwise of this one on what is up on screen… and, it must be said, this is pretty entertaining trash. It is the directorial debut of Perth-based commercial maker Simon McQuoid and he’s really jumped in at the deep end of the pool. This is a wide-screen, multi-character, kick-ass, action movie that must have had a big budget to match its big ambitions. It was primarily shot in Adelaide and locations across South Australia in 2019, so it features a number of Aussies in key roles, most notably Josh Lawson, who brings a lot of laughs to his bad-guy part.
The story starts in Japan in 1617 with an attack on Hanzo Hasashi aka Scorpion (Hiroyuki Sanada) by Bi-Han aka Sub-Zero (Joe Taslim). It seems these two fighters are from opposing worlds that meet intermittently in battle, the former representing Earthrealm and the latter a dark empire called Outworld. It’s a striking (oh dear!) opening that sets us up for a giant leap forward to the present day, where we encounter MMA combatant Cole Young (Lewis Tan) and observe that he has a strange ‘birthmark’ on his chest. This turns out to be an ‘arcana’, a symbol marking him as a fighter destined for Mortal Kombat, and Sub-Zero is on his trail. Afraid for his and his family's safety, he goes in search of Sonya Blade (Jessica McNamee) at the direction of Jax (Mehcad Brooks), a Special Forces Major who bears the same strange dragon marking Cole was born with. When he finds her, she has a prisoner - a lethal, wise-cracking, foul-mouthed mercenary called Kano (a very funny Josh Lawson) - but when they come under attack, he helps them. Thus, the three join forces and set off to find a mysterious temple where those who have the arcana train for the ultimate high-stakes fight to save Earthrealm. Every bearer of an arcana has a special power but it doesn’t reveal itself easily; it has to be discovered by its possessor. Will Cole find his before the battle begins?
This is quite a lot of - ultraviolent - fun, thanks largely to Lawson’s irreverently jocular, f-word using, bad-ass. Apparently, he’s quite the ad-libber so you wonder where the script ended and Kano took over. In any event, his persona stands out amongst the fairly large cast of action-figures. The others are more notable for their martial art skills (and special powers) rather than their dialogue. And the action is intense, the fight scenes full-on. Yes, it’s violent but not, it seems, as violent as the game itself. In fact, some of the gore in the film is too cartoonish to be taken seriously. And that’s the fun of Mortal Kombat; none of it is to be taken seriously. If you did that, you’d be falling into the trap Ms. Kael warned us about.
Screenplay: Greg Russo and Dave Callaham, from a story by Russo and Oren Uziel, based on the videogame created by Ed Boon and John Tobias.
Principal cast:
Lewis Tan
Jessica McNamee
Josh Lawson
Joe Taslim
Mehcad Brooks
Hiroyuki Sadana
Country: Australia/USA
Classification: R18+
Runtime: 110 mins.
Australian release date: 22 April 2021.
The great film critic Pauline Kael once wrote that, “the movies are so seldom great art that if we can't appreciate great trash, we might as well not go at all.” She could have been talking about new Australian/American co-pro Mortal Kombat. It is based on the notorious videogame of the same name about which, I must confess, I know next to nothing. Neither have I seen any of the previous cinematic incarnations based on it, like the two live-action movies, the two animated films or the television series, so I will only judge the success or otherwise of this one on what is up on screen… and, it must be said, this is pretty entertaining trash. It is the directorial debut of Perth-based commercial maker Simon McQuoid and he’s really jumped in at the deep end of the pool. This is a wide-screen, multi-character, kick-ass, action movie that must have had a big budget to match its big ambitions. It was primarily shot in Adelaide and locations across South Australia in 2019, so it features a number of Aussies in key roles, most notably Josh Lawson, who brings a lot of laughs to his bad-guy part.
The story starts in Japan in 1617 with an attack on Hanzo Hasashi aka Scorpion (Hiroyuki Sanada) by Bi-Han aka Sub-Zero (Joe Taslim). It seems these two fighters are from opposing worlds that meet intermittently in battle, the former representing Earthrealm and the latter a dark empire called Outworld. It’s a striking (oh dear!) opening that sets us up for a giant leap forward to the present day, where we encounter MMA combatant Cole Young (Lewis Tan) and observe that he has a strange ‘birthmark’ on his chest. This turns out to be an ‘arcana’, a symbol marking him as a fighter destined for Mortal Kombat, and Sub-Zero is on his trail. Afraid for his and his family's safety, he goes in search of Sonya Blade (Jessica McNamee) at the direction of Jax (Mehcad Brooks), a Special Forces Major who bears the same strange dragon marking Cole was born with. When he finds her, she has a prisoner - a lethal, wise-cracking, foul-mouthed mercenary called Kano (a very funny Josh Lawson) - but when they come under attack, he helps them. Thus, the three join forces and set off to find a mysterious temple where those who have the arcana train for the ultimate high-stakes fight to save Earthrealm. Every bearer of an arcana has a special power but it doesn’t reveal itself easily; it has to be discovered by its possessor. Will Cole find his before the battle begins?
This is quite a lot of - ultraviolent - fun, thanks largely to Lawson’s irreverently jocular, f-word using, bad-ass. Apparently, he’s quite the ad-libber so you wonder where the script ended and Kano took over. In any event, his persona stands out amongst the fairly large cast of action-figures. The others are more notable for their martial art skills (and special powers) rather than their dialogue. And the action is intense, the fight scenes full-on. Yes, it’s violent but not, it seems, as violent as the game itself. In fact, some of the gore in the film is too cartoonish to be taken seriously. And that’s the fun of Mortal Kombat; none of it is to be taken seriously. If you did that, you’d be falling into the trap Ms. Kael warned us about.