“Mortal Kombat” Review: A Well Made, Violent, and Enjoyable Video Game Action Flick

Mortal Kombat is directed by Simon McQuoid and is based on the popular video game series of the same name. The film follows MMA Fighter Cole Young (played by Lewis Tan) as he seeks out earth's greatest champions in order to stand against the enemies of Outworld in a high stakes battle for the universe.

Knowing nothing about the video games, I had zero expectations going into this movie. However, I must say that this film really surprised me in a number of ways. Something I really liked about the film is the cast. Along with the wonderful asian representation, every single cast member did an excellent job with the material they were given. In my opinion, the main standouts in this film are Joe Taslim as Sub-Zero, and Josh Lawson as ruthless mercenary Kano. Lawson's character adds a substantial amount of humor to the film, and caused me and my theater to erupt in laughter several times. Taslim's performance as Sub-Zero is also quite good, his line delivery didn’t feel stiff, and Sub-Zero as a character is a total badass and honestly, was my favorite character in the film.

The VFX work in this film is without a doubt spectacular. Everything from the shots of the fire powers of Liu Kang to the incredible icy sequences with Sub-Zero are incredibly well done, and I highly commend everyone who worked behind the scenes on this film. The cinematography here is also very well done. Everything in this film is very bold, vivid, and full of life, and the incredible yet extremely violent action sequences are a perfect showcase for Germain McMicking's cinematography. The score from Benjamin Wallfisch is also sublime. Similar to his flawless work on last year's “The Invisible Man”, Wallfisch's score sent chills down my spine on several ocassions, and I can definitely see myself listening to the score again and again.

I could go on and on about how much I enjoyed this film, however I did have a few small problems with the film. My main issue here relies on the screenplay. Even with the great humor written for Lawson's Kano, I felt that the script as a whole was incredibly weak, and can feel a little bit sloppy at times. My other big problem with this film is Lewis Tan's Cole Young. Despite doing a great job in the film, I felt that his character simply did not need to be in the film, and you can really tell that his character was a pure example of studio interference to appeal to a wider audience.

In the end, I had a really great time with this film. The cast did an excellent job with the material they were given, the VFX work, cinematography, and score are spectacular, and the film is filled with energetic, bloody, and violent action sequences which were incredibly well done. My only issues were the script and Lewis Tan's character. I would definitely recommend checking out this film, just not with children.

Final Grade: B+

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Mortal Kombat is now playing in theaters and streaming on HBO Max through May 23rd.