On Thursday, April 8, the fantastic film "Mortal Kombat" was released on the big screens - an adaptation of the series of video games of the same name in the fighting game genre.
The film was directed by the Australian director, debutant in full-length film Simon McQuoid.
Writers include game creators Ed Boone and John Tobias.
This film is an independent project that has nothing to do with the screen adaptations of the 1990s.
Its plot revolves around the new character Cole Young (Lewis Tan).
The hero participates in MMA fights to feed his family, but recently he has been losing more and more often.
Young knows nothing about his origin, as well as about the legendary tournament "Mortal Kombat", although the logo of the franchise flaunts on his chest, he is also an invitation to participate in the competition created by the ancient Gods to protect the Earthly Kingdom.
According to the rules of the Mortal Kombat universe, if a representative of another world manages to win ten tournaments in a row, he will gain power over the Earth.
Meanwhile, the Outworld warriors, who had previously won nine times, have come up with a new plan to cement their triumph.
Emperor Shang Tsung (Chin Han) sends the warrior Sub-Zero (Joe Taslim) to kill the "chosen ones" - the most powerful fighters on Earth who can take part in the tournament.
One of these fighters turns out to be Cole Young.
He will, in cooperation with Sonya Blade (Jessica McNamie), Jax (Mehkad Brooks) and other heroes, spoil the plans of opponents, go into battle and try to save the Earth.
© Shot from the film "Mortal Kombat" (2021)
The plot of the film is extremely simple and not overloaded with events and details: the audience is shown exactly as much as is necessary for a general understanding of what is happening on the screen.
At the same time, everything is presented so neatly and concisely that in history, most likely, even those who have not heard anything about the franchise will be lost.
At the same time, this kind of plot elaboration makes the narrative predictable.
All hints of further developments are shown in close-up, and the absence of ambiguous and controversial moments in history simply leaves no room for any guesses, except for the most obvious ones - they also turn out to be correct.
So, for example, before the battle with the warriors of the Outside World, new fighters from Earth should open their super abilities - "arcana".
How - no one knows, but it is predictable that this will happen at an emotional moment for the heroes.
Shortly before the action itself, the pain points of the central characters are demonstrated several times - it's easy to guess what all the magic will be connected with.
The characters of the characters are not revealed throughout the story.
Only the temperamental Kano (Josh Lawson) came out interesting and lively.
He is responsible for humor in the film and, in general, successfully dilutes the monotonous script.
The rest are mainly fighting, preparing for battles or talking with stone faces about the upcoming battles.
However, the stories of the fighters from the Earthly Realm are somehow indicated in the general plot.
Relatively well, the filmmaker managed to weave the appearance of Cole Young in the universe: his line is associated with the long-standing confrontation between Scorpio (Hiroyuki Sanada) and Sub-Zero.
Negative heroes, among whom there are many interesting people, practically did not find a place in the plot.
They only show themselves in battle scenes.
© Shot from the film "Mortal Kombat" (2021)
The merit of the picture was its visual side: thanks to the efforts of artists, make-up artists, pyrotechnics, stuntmen and other specialists, the viewer from the first scenes plunges into the gloomy and mesmerizing atmosphere of the Mortal Kombat universe.
Particularly impressive is Cole Young's first encounter with Sub-Zero on the snow and ice covered streets.
The appearance of the heroes also turned out to be bright and memorable.
True, some have lost their key features that distinguished them even in games.
However, most likely fans will not be disappointed with the new images: familiar characters in them look more realistic and frightening.
Fight scenes account for a significant part of the total timing, but it cannot be said that numerous fights are very technical: unfortunately, the heroes, despite the good physical training of the actors, do not show their mastery of any martial arts too much.
It is not entirely clear what is the reason for the decision of filmmakers to approach such episodes in this way in the film, which is based precisely on fights.
Definitely, this was not done to reduce the degree of cruelty: "Mortal Kombat" comes out with a rating of "18+" and includes a lot of bloody episodes that are not intended for children - here limbs are torn off, and internal organs are taken out, and people are sawed up.
The spectacular battle scenes turned out mainly due to the various "lassos" of the heroes, which allow them to throw fire or shoot with a laser.
The main disappointment in the film for fans of the franchise will be the legendary tournament "Mortal Kombat" - it is simply not in the film.
The whole plot is built around the competition, but at the end, when the enemy is defeated, the battle is not thwarted and it seems that the climax is about to occur ... a hint of the second part appears and the tape ends.
The viewers will most likely have to wait for the tournament for more than one year: the filming of the sequel has not yet been reported.
In addition, it is possible that with such dynamics and a huge number of opportunities for new maneuvers, given the superficial elaboration of the plot of the first part, the tournament will be pushed even further.
Nevertheless, "Mortal Kombat" will be interesting not only for fans of the franchise, but also for viewers who were ever addicted to a video game in the 1990s.
Familiar characters, bright, brutal battles and exclamations of "Finish him!"
and "Fatality" will remind you of long-standing entertainment and give the audience plenty of nostalgia.