Director: Simon McQuoid
Notable Cast: Lewis Tan, Jessica McNamee, Josh Lawson,
Mehcad Brooks, Joe Taslim, Hiroyuki Sanada, Tadanobu Asano, Matilda Kimber, Laura
Brent, Chin Han, Ludi Lin, Max Huang, Sisi Stringer, Mel Jarnson, Nathan Jones
Mortal Kombat has a rich history, whether people like
to admit it or not. Not only from the ever-expanding series of games that
ballooned to include all kinds of crazy shit from fighting tournaments to
action-adventure platformers, but to the overall pop cultural impact that was
left in the wake of its controversial birth. There have already been two live-action films, a handful of TV shows, and a few animated stories. This is IP
with a lot of fans, a lot of skeptics, and a lot of expectations when it comes
to a new live-action film being crafted with “the fans'' in mind.
For 2021’s Mortal Kombat, produced by genre auteur
turned populist icon James Wan and directed by Simon McQuoid of - let me check
my notes - nothing, the key was finding a balance between everyone’s
expectations. A relatively daft task, if we are all being honest with
ourselves. Partner that with the insane combination of being one of the first
major films to drop into theaters as they start to reopen in the wake of a
still ongoing pandemic, and this film was already riding a very tight line even
before its release.