SPOILERS!!!!!!!
The sequel is inevitable and I hope they nail down the pacing and story a little better. The movie was fantastic in terms of aesthetic of the settings, costumes, and fight sequences but they need to make Shang Tsung more interesting. They spent way too much time explaining a concept setting up the "Arcana" which is just a way of explaining the marks each of the warriors have and how they get their powers. As a long time fan I get why they did that but it wasn't really necessary. Hopefully in the tournament, they just get straight into business and show how high the stakes really are.
Most of the characters in the movie were fantastic, the ones that stuck out to me in particular were Sub-Zero, Liu Kang, Kano, and Kung Lao. Jax and Sonya did a great job as well. I wasn't a fan of Raiden in this film because I didn't get the feeling that Raiden was a god and protector of Earthrealm. Raiden has the sense to look into the chosen warriors souls just like Shang Tsung, in this one he acted elistish and snobbish, "You don't even have the marking" really?. Cole was ehhh I was able to tolerate him but they hyped up his abilities and he basically got Taven's armor in the movie... The way they ended the first film with him seeking out Johnny Cage at the end kind of goes against Johnny Cage's arc, Cage willingly enters the tournament to prove to the world he's not a fake and finds himself in a contest deciding the fate of the world and has to adapt to life or death situations. If Cole recruits him at the beginning it will take away that moment and part of the charm of Cage's story arc I feel.
As for Goro, I feel like he acted completely out of his character because 1. He is the defending champion of Mortal Kombat, he wouldn't run around before the tournament trying to kill Earthrealm mortals who he finds weak and pathetic in the first place, he'd deliberately fight them in the tournament because he has too much pride, I would have loved for Goro to turn down Shang Tsung and mention that he's the champion and trying to kill Earth's champions like a coward is beneath him.
Also, they need to focus more on Shang Tsung, in this movie he just shows up and is like "Okay Sub-Zero, go and kill all these guys because we want to win this thing. He's walking around Earthrealm like it's nothing, in the games if he did that the Elder God's would have punished him for forsaking the tournament rules. I feel like they should have shown the consequences that Shang Tsung would have to face if he didn't guarantee a victory in the tenth tournament and make him desperate, I feel like we would have found Shang Tsung a more compelling character in that regard. Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa played him so perfectly, he was deceiving, classy, cunning, and you could sense a bit of desperation in him during the tournament because he felt the pressure from Shao Kahn. In this Shang Tsung was very one dimensional. Hopefully in the tournament we get to see a different side of him, the actor that plays him is very talented so they need to use him more IMO.
I also have one last thing to say, I do have an issue if they decide to constantly kill off characters and revive them in the movies, there has to be some sort of gravitas behind the deaths of characters in the storyline. Sub-Zero dying at the hands of Scorpion is fine and well with me, but If they bring him back to fight in the tournament only to die by Scorpion a second time, then return as Noob Saibot in the third film that's just going to be silly. Also, killing of Goro and bringing him back to be the defending Champion of Mortal Kombat takes away the menace of that character, because as fans we already seen him lose to Cole, so at this point Goro is not a serious threat as he was portrayed in the first game and in the 1995 movie. Having Kabal, Nitara, and Reiko as villains made perfect sense to me because their death's won't interfere with major arcs from the games that us fans love so much. Mileena's death didn't make sense to me because it robs us of getting the classic Mileena and Kitana rivalry that we saw in the games. For her to be revived only to die again by Kitana again takes away the dramatic impact to the story.
So hopefully in the sequel they raise the stakes, they delve deeper into the characters and plot, and give us a fantastic retelling of the tournament.
