Mortal Kombat has finally wrapped! I know I was being very positive about the film until the last weeks of production, so my future rants may seem a bit hypocritical but here I go...
I do warn ahead, I will acknowledge some of the newer "leaks" that came to our attention during production and when I do understand for now I can only compare it to what is known about the currently leaked version of the script, the 11/18 draft. All newer drafts are unknown to us, however, based on the embargo lifting and some of these media guys are starting to release photos, a current one holding a very large draft of the script, I expect many leaks to come forward over the year.
So let's get started...
My first official response:
Not... My... Mortal... Kombat #NotMyMortalKombat #NotMyMK
If you agree please share these hashtags across all of social media.
Now on with the rant!
SPOILERS AHEAD! I'M NOT USING THE SPOILER TAG BECAUSE IT FUCKS WITH MY FORMATTING SO BE READY FOR SOME IMPLIED SPOILERS!
On Nitara
For a "reboot" they sure have decided to twist the source material around. I get this film was written to be some kind of horror film, and as much as I love Nitara and female vampires... this isn't the film for her. Yes, she's pretty much not gathered as much love from fans as other characters and we've only seen her in, what, two games, with only brief cameos or obscure references in others. But her backstory is pretty much ignored from ALL OF THE GAMES: https://mortalkombat.fandom.com/wiki/Nitara/Original_Timeline
In this film, she's more or less just a fluff character. She fights FOR Shang Tsung/Outworld against the Earth warriors Her purpose is pretty much to make her fight scenes dramatic and add a twist to the film that could have been saved for another character. I'll stop because if I go on I'll spill too much but it goes without saying anyone can guess what happens to her in the film.
On Recent Leaks
Like the games, the movie has been no exception from leaks. Only this time, the most accurate spoiled leaks have actually come towards the END OF PRODUCTION and not a day or two before release. Yes, that one article that was shared on here and I simply failed to acknowledge, it, well, that is very accurate to the 11/18 draft. That's what Mortal Kombat, the film and tournament is about, and that's how a lot of the movie comes about. In fact the leak pretty much ruins a lot of the film and leaves us with an actual Mortal Kombat tournament in the future that isn't readily recognized... unless they pull some necromancy or time travel or alternative universe bullshit to justify their once-again major fuck-up. There was a leak of about 4 leaked characters, some from other MK games outside the original trilogy, and I confirm they all four appeared in the 11/18 draft.
On Main Character & Synopsis & Budget Not Known
Ok, so we're jumping ahead too soon wanting a synopsis. It's even too soon to expect a teaser trailer, although I mean a logo can't be too much to ask for. Ghostbusters 3 just gave us the synopsis with the trailer 7 months before the film premieres. That means, hopefully, for an actual theatrical trailer (not the teasers that come even earlier) we will start seeing it in May or June if not sooner. Now, what irks me, is during this whole production, cast/crew have been very secretive on too many details. They won't confirm or deny specific leaks which leaves fans guessing which causes more damn rumors and misinformation and more damn kiss-ass fans demanding this or that character be in it (Skarlet? Really?) but, never in my life have I EVER SEEN THE LEAD ROLE NEVER ACTUALLY FULLY REVEALED. I mean, the 1995 crew waited until closer to the film's release to even show us Goro but jesus we knew earlier who the major cast members were. We also weren't fed too many lies (although the whole Scorpion/Sub-Zero deviation was handled in a way that it didn't matter they were slaves under Tsung's power, since even that made sense). It's become obvious that Lewis Tan is indeed playing this new sissy character, Cole, and he has a daughter named Emily, who is a scrapper (and truthfully should probably take his place but I digress). For the love of God though, and as Namee has hinted, there is definitely going to be a fat huge buildup for this movie. That's the only saving grace. But I have my funny suspicions when it is time for a trailer to be released we will see less of Lewis Tan and more of the characters fans love, hooking us into what we will later find out to be a shitpile. We don't even know a budget, which I guess could be too early to know.
On the Release Date Move
Yes. January IS historically the dumping ground for shitty movies. Yes, I did share an article about MLK weekend being a good weekend for movies. But that's like choosing the lesser of two evils... Mortal Kombat will be a great MLK weekend film but if it were released in the summer, the success it makes as a MLK film would be considered a BOMB!
On Shao Kahn
Ok, I lied. Spoil here: Shao Kahn IS NOT in this damn movie so stop asking. There is another character with a hammer who IS in this movie. Obviously you don't need me to state it.
On Kitana
And... I lied again. Another spoiler in a spoiler tag: Kitana is NOT in this movie. There is a reference to her from the display of her fans, that's it. Otherwise she is not mentioned anywhere else or even acknowledged as Mileena's sister in dialogue. Doesn't mean she couldn't exist. Could also mean she is dead.
On Johnny Cage
And hereeeeeeee's Johnny: NOT! He is NOT in the movie. There is a verbal reference which leads us into knowing he is in the sequel. However, since he seems to be a heavily demanded character (although he's really a 90s trope who's outlived his welcome to be frank) THERE IS ROOM TO PUT HIM IN THE MOVIE. Hopefully they do so fans can shut up and at least "meet in the middle".
On The Tournament vs Battle Royal Rumor
Honestly, Battle Royal is the textbook definition where many fighters fight.Problem is that, whether in the traditional sense or even the modern adaptation, thanks to Hunger Games and The Purge, you can't consider these "ambushes" or "many vs many" fight scenes to be Battle Royales, There is more than one victor and they are all attached to either Earth or Outworld, so it's not a free-for-all battle like the textbook definition suggests. The 1995 film also had these kind of fights, especially the Outworld warriors ambushing the Earth warriors before the tournament begins. So in this film, there is a Mortal Kombat tournament, it breaks into chaos where some of the fights are 2 against 1 or so, and then the movie ends with a major twist that will lead us into continuing this same Mortal Kombat tournament in the second film.
On Who Survives
Which now leaves me to this important point. During production, I kept hinting this film was a prequel to the MK tournament we know and love. Well that was a lie. The sequel is just a continuation of this Mortal Kombat tournament. Because this tournament comes to an abrupt end. But the tournament in the sequel will be missing quite a few of the original MK1 fighters. Sure, we'll get Sonya, Cage, and Liu, but there will be new enemies and new friends. And some of those enemies from later games just won't be in the later sequels, not going to spill this one other than... all the good guys from Earth live. There's no "Art Lean" or dramatic buildup of the heroes losing a friend to pump them up, although in some ways you can say Lewis Tan's Cole character is basically like making the movie around Art Lean's POV in the sense that we follow an outsider of MK's point of view for this whole movie.
Epic?
Epic fail! There's nothing "Next Level" about this shit. I have watched sooo many martial arts movies that anymore the stunts just keep getting faster and sometimes you get fighters who make use of their environment or are just great in knowing how to kick then flip and do it all in one cut. I can hope they come close to Asian martial arts films because those trump any American martial arts film anyday. Hell, even Europe has done it better.
In konclusion...
Not... My... Mortal... Kombat #NotMyMortalKombat #NotMyMK
If you agree please share these hashtags across all of social media.
