I have no business being as entertained by Mortal Kombat as I am. What I mean is, there is no evidence that I am aware of suggesting that Simon McQuoid’s 2021 entry into the nearly thirty-year-old video game/movie franchise should be anything but poorly executed trash – yet, I enjoyed it. Despite every expectation, Mortal Kombat delivered where it needed to by striking a workable balance between action, gore, and comedy. While you’re not likely to find any deep philosophical truths or thoughtful expressions of emotion hidden away in Mortal Kombat’s subtext, you will find enough above-average martial arts choreography and nostalgia-laden in-jokes to counter its forgivable lack of profundity.
I used to play the original home console version of Mortal Kombat back when it first came out in 1992. My friends and I would use it as an excuse to get out of the heat and into the air-conditioning during long summer skateboard sessions. I was never any good at it (or at any video games for that matter) but it was a relaxing way to spend an afternoon, and those “fatalities” were an impressive video game innovation to a kid of fifteen.
I fell out of touch with Mortal Kombat pretty quickly (easy to do when all your friends can do all the cool moves for every character and you’re still stuck trying to figure out how to make Raiden shoot his lightning bolts), but remained vaguely aware that several more games were added to the franchise over the years, as well as a few poorly-received movies. When news hit that a new Mortal Kombat feature was in the works, I found myself completely disinterested.
Determined to give it a try nonetheless, I hyped myself up with a big bowl of popcorn and a cold fizzy drink before settling in to watch what I was certain to be a trainwreck. From the opening moments, though, I found myself amazed by how much I didn’t hate what I was seeing. As I sat and watched, an unexpected thought began to form in my head. “Is this good?” I wondered to myself. It was then that a smile crept over my face, which forced the realization, “Holy shit. I think it is.”
While the opening sequence is what initially grabbed me (heavily reminiscent of Takashi Miike’s wonderful 2010 epic 13 Assassins – which was in turn influenced by the works of Akira Kurosawa and Masaki Kobayashi), it was McQuoid’s relaxed attitude toward the source material that kept me interested. Mortal Kombat does not take itself seriously, and it’s this nonchalance that separates it from not only its franchise predecessors but from so many other dumb action movies that try to cram importance into a project that doesn’t need it. What we want is internal organs being pulled from bodies accompanied by borderline idiotic catchphrases, and not much more (something inexplicably lacking from the previous films). And guess what? Simon McQuoid finally gives it to us!
Let’s be clear: Mortal Kombat is a silly, silly movie. To say otherwise would be disingenuous. But, within this silliness lies a well-made and deceptively entertaining actioner with just enough heart and fun to pull off such a bonkers premise. Is the story ludicrous? Yes. Does that matter? Not in the slightest – especially when compared with the thousands of other martial arts films that have been coming out of hazardous Asian film industries for decades. In fact, perhaps the best way to view Mortal Kombat is to think of it as an ode to Hong Kong and other Asian-produced fight cinema in that the story really only exists to move us from one battle to the next. The question is, as a viewer, are you prepared for this lack of cinematic substance? If you are, then Mortal Kombat’s action sequences should outweigh any plot or expository shortcomings. And if you aren’t, I don’t think anyone will fault you for skipping it in favor of something with a bit more prestige.
James is a writer, skateboarder, record collector, wrestling nerd, and tabletop gamer living with his family in Asheville, North Carolina. He is a member of the Southeastern Film Critics Association, the North Carolina Film Critics Association, and contributes to The Daily Orca, Razorcake Magazine, Mountain Xpress, and Asheville Movies.