Movie Review # 428: Mortal Kombat (2021)

Good evening everyone! Today, we are going to be talking about Mortal Kombat once again. This time, however, we will be talking about the reboot that was released in theaters last month. The one, and only, Mortal Kombat (2021)

Plot: When it turns out that a realm, known as Outworld, has defeated Earthrealm (basically Earth) in nine out of ten matches of a competition called Mortal Kombat, sorceror Shang Tsung (Chin Han) sets out to score his tenth, and final victory. But can a descendant of the legendary Hanzo Hasashi (Hiroyuki Sanada) by the name of Cole Young (Lewis Tan), Ali by with a group of other fighters rise up, and defeat Shang, and his evil army once and for all?

Okay, this may not be quite perfect. However, this 2021 remake of the 1995 Mortal Kombat film is most definitely an improvement in about every way from the 1995 film. First of all, of course there’s the obvious, the CGI effects, as well as designs of the non-human characters being much more better looking this time around. Oh, and there’s the music by Benjamin Wallfisch. Now, don’t get me wrong! The score from the 1995 Mortal Kombat movie was also fairly good. However, whether it was due to having a more musical advancement, better technology in the world of music, or something along those lines, the score in this movie also seems to be a vast improvement as well. There is also the characters. Oh, wow! I mentioned in my review for the other Mortal Kombat movie that those characters seemed to be a little too bland, and one-dimensional, yes? Well, I’m proud to say that that is not the case for the characters in this version. Sure, there may have been one, or two characters that were just okay. However, other than those, these characters are much more well-written. You really care for most of them, and you seem to understand what a good majority of them are going through. The movie also takes some really interesting creative liberties at different points of the film. In fact, you may be surprised by what kinds of liberties they take as you watch this film. What’s more is that this film ends up avoiding certain cliches that have seemed to be fairly common in movies in the past. Well, definitely another reason to enjoy this film, eh? Oh, and another thing! For the most, the the story seems to be more better paced, and helps take time to flesh out the characters a little more.

But even in spite of all these good things, the film falls short in a few areas. For one, even though most of the story is well paced, there are some time, where it may feel a little rushed. This especially seems to be the case with the beginning of the film, and some of the middle, and maybe even towards the end of the film. Second, with one, or two of the characters, some of their motivations could feel a little confusing, and possibly even shocking to the audience. Lastly, there were a couple elements in this Mortal Kombat movie that could have most likely been elaborated on, and explained a little more than they were in the end.

And that’s my review for 2021’s Mortal Kombat. Even if it’s not quite perfect, it’s definitely much more watchable than say the first Mortal Kombat in 1995, and possibly even it’s sequel that was released a couple years later. It’s story is much more well done, has better characters that are more likable, and memorable, and has a much more engaging story. Even if you didn’t like the original Mortal Kombat movie, I would recommend that you still give this version a chance anyway. You would be surprised by how much more enjoyable it is this time around.

Final Grade: B+