Really? Okay, to each their own.


On behalf of those who call Tancharoen's works "garbage," he overuses the slow-motion technique, his work is overly-stylized, and he makes way too many unnecessary changes. But, again, that's all opinion, and you're entitled to your own.


A different take can be good. A different take can also be bad. For example, Twilight is a "different" take on vampires; and that was terrible.


Okay, now this is why i'm commenting.
If you care about how characters look, then I'm very surprised that you liked Mortal Kombat: Legacy and Mortal Kombat: Rebirth; because Tancharoen changed the appearance of many characters very drastically.
Second of all, and I think I speak for most Mortal Kombat fans when I say this, the appearance is one of the least important parts of a character. What bothered me about the series were the unnecessary changes to characters' backstories for the purpose of making the series "dark and gritty."
But, in any case; Tancharoen has proved that he has no intention of going super classic.


That I can agree with. Although, I don't know if I want it as dark as Mortal Kombat: Rebirth; I felt like that was stylistically too horrific. I always felt like Mortal Kombat fell into the Kung Fu genre, not the horror genre.

In defense of Kevin Tancharoen, both if his directions were completely different.

Rebirth took the direction he wanted and it turned out phenominal. It didn't require too much special effects, just some favors from the actors and some mekeup for Baraka and Reptile. Sure, it may have gone a little overboard with the realism. For example, I don't think Reptile and Baraka need to be changed to human characters and pursued by Sonya and Jax, and Scorpion shouldn't be involved with them either. I just think he used that tactic to tie in a lot of characters in one short, I mean how boring would it have been if the pitch only featured Sonya, Jax, and Kano? It would have been just like the first episode of legacy!

Now on to legacy. I think the main problem wasn't with the story for the most part, it was about the special effects and wardrobe, although the story did get a little quirky at times. My guess is that the budget was limited and he really wanted to do the cyber fights, so he saved a lot of the money for good CGI at the end. The problem then was that it ended up with horrible Scorpion and Sub-Zero costumes (Seriously, look at those things!), the Kitana and Mileena episode told mostly through vignette, and many other disappointing factors. The eight minutes per episode thing was really annoying too. Everything was rushed! One example, which happens to be my personal least favorite, was when Hanzo Hasashi died and Quan Chi resurrected him. It happened in like five seconds! Not good, man, he needed more time to develop that part of the story.

What he really needs is a happy medium between Rebirth and Legacy. I love Rebirth's dark, gritty style, but at the same time, I want this movie to stay fairly true to the game. It's not like the characters need to be shooting fireballs out of their hands or doing gravity-defying kicks and teleports (unless it's part of the character's story like Sub-Zero) but it should still stay relatively true to the story and feature key elements like the tournament, Outworld, the Elder Gods, and all those sort of things. I think with a movie budget and a good two hours to tell the story, Kevin Tancharoen will be able to direct something truly great.

I loved Rebirth and I think that would be a fantastic and unique direction to take Mortal Kombat in. Mortal Kombat as a dark urban crime drama ala "Se7en" or "Batman: Arkham Asylum/City" could be amazing. I really think Rebirth demonstrated the potential of this concept.

As for Legacy, while there were some enjoyable episodes, it was largely: MEH. I felt like he tried to appease too many people with that series. Rebirth is his true MK vision IMHO and I think he should give it a go.

what i want...

1. Not based off of Rebirth. I don't want to see that dark grity realistic crap in mortal kombat. there can be some realistic elements but i want to go watch Mortal Kombat NOT Saw! i'm getting sick of this make every movie the Christopher Nolan way BS

2. Please, PLEASE let this have a Story! if its a 2 hour Fatality compilation, just killing killing killing and no story or character building then thats a fail in my book. and i know there are people out there who just want to go watch 2 hours of people dieing and have no story what so ever.

3. Be a Good video game movie

This is great news. Now please, DON'T fuck this up!

I completely agree!

@Kinetic
When I said it's a different take on the series, I meant different from the legacy series. Which is good. I would prefer if the characters mimic the game versions.

Man this is great.

If I wanted a direct translation of the games, I'd play the games.

I'm hoping Kevin doesn't play it safe just to please the "we love living in 1995" group of hardcore crybabies. This man has a chance to do something fresh and interesting here.

Rebirth was a little too extreme. But Legacy? That was freaking PERFECT. Dark, gritty, but still retained the mystical elements that makes MK, MK.

Hopefully this is the start of something big. I want to see MK expand outside of the games.

If its anything like the legacy series then im not looking forward to it.

I loved the first film for its popcorn yet semi-serious approach to the franchise.

Me too, but that doesn't even we can't love a different movie for different reasons.

Thank you very much WB!!!!!!

I really hope the cross-marketing for this movie is just as good, if not better, than the 1995 version. That had cards, books, tons of music, and even movie-edition action figures, plus sticker albums and stuff like that.

I also hope they utilize the $100 million Hollywood budget. Legacy looked too much like a TV show, though Mileena/Kitana reminded me too much of the ending sequences of MK9. The Cyrax/Sektor episode I think stole the show for FX but the Jax/Sonya two-part stole the show for best establishing storyline. Between that it was crap and as one guy said completely rushed.

I'd hope with a $100 million budget it would be nothing like either Rebirth ($7500 budget) or Legacy (whatever budget) and more like a Hollywood blockbuster. Taking some liberties would be acceptable so long as they work, like Kano and Rayden did in the first movie, though I feel neither Scorpion or Sub-Zero got a fair treatment in that movie because they were rivals, not friends working for Tsung in the game. That should have always been Reptile as Tsung's personal protector only.

Seriously and it's time for MK to get serious, MK needs a saga. I'm talking something that would blow Twilight and Harry Potter out of the water. Those have very high production values yet were released every year or so. MK needs that. As fans we need to get the story of MK fully understood and not just completed to make a game have meaning. The story must be completely written out and I don't think it'd be too much to ask for the MK guys to release a huge book about the MK universe. It definitely needs a couple of prequels - how did MK start, why do they have to fight to take control of another planet, why can't they just take it? And then have a prequel about Kung Lao and some of the immortals like Rayden and Scorpion. Devote time to developing how the Elder Gods formed and why there're in play. Go all out - every other medium is doing this, it's MK's time. And jam-pack us with special features, even Blu-ray gift boxes, tons of docs and featurettes, all alternate scenes, several commentaries, etc. And I wouldn't mind this being done for the 1995 version either.

Honestly, I wouldn't be upset if the new MK movie went with the original concepts Tobias and Boon wrote for the first MK game.

^This!I waited all my life for a new movie and i always heard it was happening and it never did.Smoke and ERMAC better be in it too and Scorpion better not die early either.

O.o that just blew my mind and I %100 agree

Cool I am really looking forward to this.....

BUT!

Please don't do the "realistic" take like Mortal Kombat Legacy. I thought it was well made but it just was not what I wanted from Mortal Kombat. I hope they go for the feel of the games. Very dark with large elements of fantasy, because no one plays Mortal Kombat for it's realism. And hopefully the director can pull off a successful film...

Wait it's the guy directed the Fame remake? NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!

News Article updated. Guys, check out these interesting links:

LONG Special Interview with Kevin about the movie!

What Gamespot has to say
What IGN has to say
What Joystick has to say
What EW has to say
What Daily Hollywood has to say
What MovieLine has to say
What EuroGamer has to say
What 1up has to say
What CVG has to say
What otaku has to say

More soon.

Make sure you check out the interview!

Completely agree!

Do's:

Include as many characters as you can, without overdoing it and squeezing in people that don't belong, Kai or Nitara or Mavado for example.

Make Raiden the main character, not like in MK9 where he's trying to fix a problem but fucks things up by not thinking hard enough on it. Start it off with him giving an opening monologue introducing the main characters. Have it be about him then gradually let Liu or Johnny or Kung Lao take over.

show as many characters fighting as possible.

Remove Quan chi from the MK1-3 Story or AT LEAST make Shang Tsung the number 2 Badass under Shao Kahn.

Keep the reboot mileena thing, but replace test tube science with magic and make her at least 18, as if Shang trained her in private.

All deaths should be dramatic and fatalities if the main characters are te ones that die

Be a little funny, add easter eggs like let's say while two main characters talking, in the background Kratos and Freddy are fighting in the tourney.

Don'ts:

Don't include characters as "death cameos" by that I mean don't just add them so they can show how powerful another character is. Like let's say Sonya see's Kano in the tournament fighting, he ends the fight by taking Strykers heart out and feeding it to him. If you're going to do that use some generic warrior.

DO NOT MERGE CHARACTERS, I don want to see Liu Kang carrying a razor hat on his back, I don't want to see Kitana with a pole, I don't want to see Quan Chi stealing souls.

Don't kill important characters off screen

Make characters that arent evil, evil or vice versa

Make it mortal kombat, not "a movie called mortal kombat but is actualy a lame retelling that will piss fans off".

You're going to be EXTREMELY disappointed if you're looking for something exactly like the games. I can see you not digging Rebirth, but not at all liking Legacy? Legacy was what a film adaptation of Mortal Kombat SHOULD be.

I'm not saying everything Legacy did was gold(Raiden in a mental hospital? Da fuck?) but the overall atmosphere was absolutely perfect. It was dark, evil, nasty but still retained all the mystical and magical aspects of the games. How can you be against that?

I'm sorry but I just don't get why people want a direct transcript of the game instead of a unique and innovative take on the property that could appeal to a broader audience. Oh yeah, that's right, it requires change and we know MK fans hate change, even if it is for the greater good...

Okay, I want to share a few more feelings and impressions I have, including the reason I'm very excited, the reasons I might be worried, and personal preferences of what I'd like to see.

But to do that, let me share my opinions on a few things that split the fanbase between liking what's been done and hating it.

Realism vs. Fantasy-
MK has always been a very fantasy-themed fighting series, full of gods and demons and monsters, and one thing that seemed very "off" about the Rebirth trailer, as much as I loved it, was the loss of those elements (to a degree).

That said, I do not want another CGI bonanza with special effects that are hilariously dated a decade later. A shift to PRACTICAL effects, however, would be appreciated.

As would a more realistic, but not entirely realistic, take on the franchise. By that, I mean pretty much just what LEGACY did. It was very down-to-earth in many ways (apart from the Kitana/Mileena episodes), yet it had some great supernatural moments.

What made the fantasy in the original movie work was because it WAS very odd, alien, and bizarre to the human warriors, as well as the viewer.

I think Kevin Tancharoen does get that, and he's not going to strip it all out and eliminate anything supernatural or fantastic like the Nolan Batman movies. Even "Rebirth" had elements of supernatural intrigue with the reveal of Scorpion's undead eyes.

Secondly, the movie should avoid using every character it can and diluting the film. If we threw in all 60 characters, they'd all have about one or two minutes of screentime. It just can't happen; someone has to carry the film and the fights alone will probably be 2-5 minutes each. That means they need to really think hard and strip out anything and anyone that doesn't work for the film, even if that means a fan favorite like Kitana or Ermac doesn't get in. The original movie balanced this very well, but even then people were upset that Scorpion and Sub-Zero were basically characterless grunts to be beaten and killed - that's the only way the movie could focus on keeping the story moving and focusing on the heroes it chose. That was, while disappointing, a smart move to make for a movie.

But, most importantly, a new movie can be as gritty as it wants to be, and the fights as brutal and awesome as possible, and the story even as cheesy or dark as needed, but a good movie needs something very important, something the original movie had a LOT of.

Likeable main characters with good chemistry.

In the original movie, we had Liu Kang, Sonya, and Johnny Cage thrown into this mess of a tournament together to fight for their lives. They started off as three people with completely different, even antagonistic, personalities that couldn't stand one another, yet by the end of the film you genuinely believed they were all great friends. They gave the film a surprising emotional center that glued it together, and even Raiden was quite affable and supportive of them all.

MK: Annihilation replaced two of the main heroes and killed one of them off in the intro, and there was hardly any real chemistry between any of the characters in that movie.

A movie like the Legend of Chun-Li was terrible in execution, yes, but it also had nobody to really root for or like. Chun-Li herself was a miscast lead who shared zero emotional bonds with any other actor, and yet that movie was also "dark", "gritty", and "realistic" (to a point). A new MK MUST avoid that trap.

Lastly, though, we have to deal with MK's finicky fanbase. At the end of the day, this movie, like every movie adapted from a book, comic, game, or TV show, will have to do things different. DIFFERENT does NOT mean it SUCKS. I always point to one of the most popular superhero movies, Iron Man, and ask people why they like it; I think like telling them that the things they like (Tony Stark, the characters, story, and suit) are pretty much nothing like the comics. The hardcore fans hated every change ("Iron Monger wasn't Tony's mentor! Tony Stark's weapons never wound up in terrorist hands as part of his origin! Rhodey didn't start off as his best friend!"), but the movie is BETTER because of these changes.

A new Kevin Tancharoen MUST be different, otherwise it has no reason to exist. The creation of a new movie does not erase the original movie, or the games, from history, and if people want a traditional MK story, they have a variety of ways to experience it, from the old movies, the comics, and even the newest game. Why retread old ground?

I absolutely expect there to be some vocal fans hating the new movie all the way to the theaters, just as I, myself, am no fan of the Nolan Batman movies (I prefer fantasy gothic Gotham and Batman akin to Tim Burton's vision), BUT that doesn't mean I can't respect a bold, new direction for a rather stale franchise premise (another tournament with ninjas. Yay.)

I really hope the new MK IS different. I hope it's clever. I hope it's well-written. I want it to take the best pieces of the current lore and modernize them. If that means changing a few things or adding in new elements to improve the film, so be it.

I just know this: I keep going back to Rebirth's Johnny Cage vs. Baraka fight, and Legacy's Sektor & Cyrax vs. Hydro fight, and those satisfy more than anything "MK: Annihilation", "Tekken", "King of Fighters", "The Legend of Chun-Li", "Dead or Alive", or "Street Fighter: The Movie" ever did.

I'm open to something bold and new. I hope more fans are. I'm not worried about the general public, however, because, as much as hardcore fans like myself might not like certain changes, the general public adored the vast majority of Rebirth and Legacy, and I have a feeling they'd just as eagerly be open to and embrace a movie that follows suit.

They better not make a game for this movie like they do with all the other movies these days. It would be repetitive to make a game based off a movie based off a game series...

Street Fighter.


Anyways, super stoked about the new movie, but I think I'll wait until I see a trailer to get my hopes up too high.

That's the thing, why would anyone expect (or even want) a movie about kung fu monster sorcery to be anything other than a popcorn flick?

MK just isn't as deep, intricate or serious as a lot of fanboys want to believe it is.