My Enjoyment for the 'Mortal Kombat' Reboot Is Immediately Cut by Half Because Johnny Cage Is Not in It

The latest Mortal Kombat movie kicks off the second attempt for a live-action film series adaptation of the iconic fighting game.  Serving as a reboot, it features Mortal Kombat characters Sonya Blade (Jessica McNamee), Scorpion (Hiroyuki Sanada), Liu Kang (Ludi Lin), Jax (Mehcad Brooks), Kung Lao (Max Huang), Raiden (Tadanobu Asano), Kano (Josh Lawson), Sub-Zero (Joe Taslim), Shang Tsung (Chin Han), Mileena (Sisi Stringer), Kabal (Daniel Nelson and Damon Herriman), Goro (Angus Sampson), Reiko (Nathan Jones), and Nitara (Mel Jarnson).  It also has an original character named Cole Young (Lewis Tan), who actually serves as main protagonist.  The plot doesn’t depict the titular tournament yet (it’s obviously reserved for future sequels), but instead involves Shang Tsung sending out his warriors to assassinate the champions of Earthrealm before the next tournament starts.

Though I experienced playing the earlier incarnations of the video game a few times, I never really got into Mortal Kombat as a game.  The 1995 Mortal Kombat film, however, is probably one of my most favorite movies of all time, if the amount of re-watch is the indication for that.  I saw it on cable when it premiered at HBO.  I was in Grade 3 at that time, and back then, I thought it was the greatest thing to have ever happened on TV.  Afterward, I made sure I knew its complete schedule, so that I could re-watch it every time it was airing (same thing I did with Space Jam, which was also running in HBO at that time).  Now, as an adult, I’m under no illusion that it’s an excellent movie.  It’s definitely pretty dated, and is arguably bad.  Nonetheless, like many who’ve seen it back then, I still enjoy it whenever I watch it.  It’s camp, but it’s entertaining camp (on the other hand, the sequel, Annihilation, is another story.  It was simply an awful movie, though hilarious in its awfulness).

And you know what?  After watching the 2021 reboot, I would still say that I like the original 1995 movie more.  Heck, I think I even like last year’s direct-to-video animated movie Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion's Revenge more than this reboot.

To be clear, I don’t hate the reboot.  But I’ve found it a bit of a letdown.  One of the reasons is already revealed by my title for this review.  Johnny Cage is my most favorite MK character, so I am understandably greatly disappointed that he isn’t here.

While the movie was undergoing production, the reports constantly gave me cause for worry, because nothing was ever announced about Johnny Cage’s casting.  The only hope I held was the idea that Johnny Cage’s appearance in the movie was being kept a secret, since it was being intended to be a big surprise for the movie, and that a big name Hollywood A-lister, such as Chris Pratt, was secretly cast to play the character.  Unfortunately, that turned out being just wishful thinking in my part.

I know that he’s being reserved for the sequel, but even so, it would have been better if he at least got a cameo.  Imagine this: a surprise appearance of Chris Pratt or Ryan Reynolds (or any other fitting big-name casting) as Johnny Cage during a post-credits scene, similar to how Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury showed up unexpectedly at the end of Iron Man, teasing a future Avengers movie.  Pretty epic, right?  That would have blown the minds of everyone.

Another important reason why I feel this reboot is kind of a bummer is because it’s simply just lackluster.  By that, I don’t mean that it’s awful – it’s not – but it’s just not as spectacular and ambitious as it was expected to be, considering that it was obviously going for that special “big event, big cinematic franchise” identity, like the MCU and the DCEU.  In the end, it was only able to deliver a decent “B movie” experience – meaning, it entertains, but it doesn’t fill you up with a big “what I just watched was special” feeling.  Heck, it’s even unable to at least replicate the amount of hype that the original movie’s theme song can immediately incite (to be fair, that theme song is an all-time great).  In addition, its tone feels uneven – as if it’s conflicted of whether it’s going for gritty or camp, or it wants to have the best of both worlds, but it doesn’t have the cleverness to mesh them well.

Overall, the reboot’s filmmaking and production value are actually objectively superior to the original’s.  But for something that benefits from better budget, technology, and insight (i.e. lessons from what the original movie and its sequel did right and wrong, historical data, and superior video games for inspiration), you expect more coming from it as an updated version.  In contrast, the original 1995 movie may be thoroughly cheesy and evidently lacking in the technical aspects, but it’s unpretentious and it makes the best out of what it has on hand, that it ends up being notably satisfying for what it is.

The reboot’s action is especially underwhelming.  Now, the fights per se are actually well-executed.  As a martial arts action film, it’s pretty solid.  But as a modern Mortal Kombat film?  Again, you expect something more.   The video games are known for their highly imaginative, over-the-top violence, but the movie only has some of that, and that would have been okay, if those few instances were at least more notably exhilarating.

Moreover, by casting guys like Joe Taslim and Hiroyuki Sanada, high expectations were set for its action.  For this gave off the impression that the movie would deliver the same kind of relentless, crisp, visceral, high-octane, balls-to-the-wall fight scenes that movies like The Raid and The Night Comes for Us had.  Unsurprisingly, the best fight scenes in the movie involved Taslim and Sanada.  However, even with those, the action is far from The Raid-like at all.  Yes, the fight scenes look okay, but they come off as very Hollywood-ized, and thus, basic.  None of them are truly unforgettable, innovative, and extraordinary.

At the very least, if the movie only opted for more long-take shots, and minimized the quick-cut edits, the fight scenes would have easily been ten times more aesthetic and stimulating to watch.

As for the characters, well, with the exception of Kano (more on him later), I still enjoyed the original movie’s versions of the characters more, especially Raiden and Shang Tsung.  The reboot’s Raiden and Shang Tsung may be more faithful to the video game characterizations, but the original movie’s hammy versions absolutely have more appealing personalities.  Christopher Lambert and Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, respectively, absolutely made those characters their own.  On the other hand, I really have no strong opinion about either version of Liu Kang.  They are equally okay.  But if I need to choose, I would still give the edge to the original (played by Robin Shou), since he was the main protagonist of that movie, while reboot Liu Kang is just a side character.  Also, I would pick the original Sonya Blade (played by Bridgette Wilson) over the reboot as well.  I grew up crushing on the original Sonya Blade, so I was already set on preferring her regardless.  To be fair, though, reboot Sonya Blade is also attractive, and has a more substantial character arc.

Meanwhile, I don’t understand why there’s a need for a Cole Young.  Not only is he a completely new character, the filmmakers also had to make him the main protagonist.  And the plot just didn’t give enough to justify this decision.  It was like making a Justice League movie, but instead of telling a story where Superman or Batman is at the forefront, it makes you follow a new superhero called the Captain Amazing, and the rest of the Justice League simply serve as his supporting characters.  Now, Cole Young could have been redeemed as a character if he was given a compelling character arc or at least an amazing superpower.   But, as it happens, his arc is pretty generic.  Being a descendant of Hanzo Hasashi a.k.a. Scorpion is a cool (but predictable) reveal about the character, but it does nothing exciting for him.  This detail simply serves as another excuse as to why the story revolves around him and a choice of plot device for bringing Scorpion into the picture (which is something that could have easily been alternatively done in multiple other ways).  On top of that, Cole’s superpower is utterly anti-climactic – an ugly, stupid-looking body armor that copies the function of MCU Black Panther’s suit, but looks like a knockoff of DCEU Aquaman’s costume, and a pair of bladed tonfas for good measure.

Nevertheless, the reboot also has a couple of good things going for it.  The most noteworthy one is, of course, Kano.  He easily has the most charismatic characterization in the movie.  One of the reasons mentioned why Johnny Cage isn’t in the movie is that Kano already served the role of the wise-cracking dickhead.  I don’t agree that this is a valid reason for Johnny’s absence, but I do appreciate the choice of giving Kano some hilarious and non-PC material to gab about.

Another one is introducing the concepts of “arcana” and the dragon mark of an Earthrealm champion.  Actually, if you take time to think about it, there can be some dumb implications coming out from this.  But Mortal Kombat is just the kind of movie that you would expect would have some intrinsic dumbness, so I don’t really hold this against it.  On the positive side, this gives this cinematic franchise a more coherent power system moving forward.  In addition, the idea that the mark (and thus, the power of arcana) can be transferred to another person if he or she kills a champion adds a layer of interesting dynamic (as seen with Sonya Blade and Kano).

And lastly, whatever flaws the storytelling has, foreshadowing is not one of them.  This movie does a slick job with setting certain details up and calling them back later on.  I really like how Cole came up with what tactic they should employ for that final throwdown, and how a garden gnome plays a part in Sonya’s duel with Kano (I guess I like everything related to Sonya and Kano in this movie).

All things considered, Mortal Kombat does enough to be a fun watch.  Still, I was left disappointed by it.  If you are already satisfied by how it is, then good for you.  But for me, I believe it can still be – should have been – better.  While it has made commendable steps toward the right direction, it still hasn’t completely achieve the best Mortal Kombat live-action adaptation that can reasonably be for the 21^st century.  At the very least, its action sequences should have been as well-executed, gripping, and eye-popping as those in The Raid movies.  Thus, in the end, this 2021 reboot won’t be as beloved as the original 1995 movie.