The trailer for the new Mortal Kombat movie is out and it has people equally excited and worried. Excited because people froth the video game, but worried because the film might not live up to their expectations.
I’ll be honest with you I’ve never played Mortal Kombat, nor do I intend on playing it. However, I was a film major for a year before realising that degree was useless and changing to communications instead. So I think that one year makes me somewhat of a film expert right? Yeah, don’t answer that.
The trailer features a number of iconic characters from the game franchise. Characters include: Major Jakson “Jax” Briggs, Liu Kang, Scorpion, Sonya Blade and it looks like the key villain will be Sub-Zero.
However, fans have pointed out the notable absence of Chun-Li, who is undeniably a key figure in the franchise.
This is so goddam funny. Jezebel (still exists??) wrote a whole article questioning why Chun-Li isn’t in the new Mortal Kombat movie 😂😂
The “Update” is fantastic pic.twitter.com/SaJHxVzyee
— KFC (@KFCBarstool) February 19, 2021
Directed by Simon McQuiod, the Mortal Kombat movie will stay true to the canon of the franchise, while also introducing new characters. One of those new characters is Cole Young played by Lewis Tan, who features heavily throughout the trailer.
“We’ve really tried to be very truthful and true to the canon where we can be, but every now and again, we might deviate slightly where we felt that it was okay to do so, McQuoid told IGN.
As many have said, as soon as Sub Zero stabbed Scorpion, then froze his blood into a knife, AND THEN STABBED HIM WITH HIS OWN BLOOD, my viewing of the new Mortal Kombat was guaranteed.
— Trevor Henderson (@slimyswampghost) February 18, 2021
One example of that is the story of why Jax has massive cybernetic arms. According to Wikifandom (because as I said I’ve never played the game) the story of how Jax lost his real arms differs depending on the game. In the Mortal Kombat trailer, Sub-Zero freezes Jax’s arms causing them to explode.
“In this film we needed to drive a few certain characters and narratives, and so given that [Jax losing his arms] had been done a couple of different ways in the past, we felt we had a bit of license to do that again here,” McQuoid said.
If there’s one thing I know about the game it’s that it’s extremely violent. So violent that in 2011 Mortal Kombat was refused classification in Australia.
At the end of the trailer, Kano, played by Aussie babe Josh Lawson is shown executing his signature fatality where he rips out the beating heart of his enemy, saying his catchphrase “Kano wins!”
I would normally find that sort of violence super gross, but something about hearing Lawson say “You fucken beauty” in an Aussie accent had me in stitches.
