Mortal Kombat
Warner BrosIf Kyle Watt, did not yell those two, immortal, titular words within the latest rendition of Mortal Kombat, there would be hell to pay. One synonymous, unifying piece of the series is its theme song. If director Simon McQuoid wants to break through with his feature debut, he must balance the fan appeal with notes of originality. That is a tough line to walk. At least now the effects and budget necessary to create a big and bloody bust-up are available. Technology has caught up to the demands of Mortal Kombat fans. They appear to be a violent bunch, although we should have expected such a desire for perfection.
Audiences will expect an effective realisation of the violence and gore of the series. Fans would be the first to hold their hands up and admit the story of Mortal Kombat is weirdly convoluted nonsense for a series depicting champions of the universe kicking the teeth of their adversaries down their throat. But McQuoid provides plenty of action, and a gloss over the story is not just expected but appreciated. There is little he can do; no writer or director could even dream of making heads or tails of that mess. Mortal Kombat doesn’t need a story, it needs hyperviolence and masculine faces gritting their teeth as they’re stabbed, thrown and murdered. It has that in abundance, and it has fun with it too. Should we, as a general audience, care if there are omissions or odd shortcomings to these characters? Not particularly. “Earthrealm is on the verge of catastrophe,” says the text. What more could you want?
What indeed. While Mortal Kombat circumvents the narrative problems by simply not expecting an audience to care, it still leaves much to be desired. McQuoid has an uphill struggle on his hands. He cannot expect anyone to care deeply for characters who, on their initial outings, were 16-bit renderings inside an arcade machine. Their leap to the big screen is synonymous with the idea that they will provide vivid violence that action fans can sink their teeth into. McQuoid does not try and reinvent the wheel. To do so on his debut outing would be the sign of a man cracking under pressure, but he does offer enough unique shots to fashion out a voice of his own. His characters punch at the camera, his set-pieces involve the audience in the dumb fun. But dumb fun is still dumb, and Mortal Kombat is a dumb film masquerading as a simple one.
But that fun is few and far between. Action sequences come and go with relative frequency, but not all of them are worth the screenplay they are salvaged from. They are fast and slippery; some are not that memorable. Still, the effort is there. At least they have tried. Establishing the ensemble and leaving room to grow, Mortal Kombat is a hopeful film. Characters come and go because there is plenty to work with. When you have adapted the basic notes of the source material, from quips to fatalities, with strength and interest, half the battle is won. McQuoid would do well to listen to the advice Kano (Josh Lawson) gives Cole Young (Lewis Tan). “All the best artists are a little twisted, mate.” Maybe a few twists would help Mortal Kombat over the hill it so valiantly climbs. No, referencing David Copperfield doesn’t count as a twist, but not having Johnny Cage appear certainly does.