#It’s Really Just a Pre-Game to Mortal Kombat – /Film

Look, maybe it’s time we just stop expecting video game movies to be good. After nearly 30 years of turning them into movies, we don’t have a lot to show for it, and this year’s latest entry is no exception.

Mortal Kombat take a more serious approach to the fighting game, courtesy of director Simon McQuoid, with an adaptation the mythology that has grown with the video game franchise over the past couple decades. But despite an impressive attention to detail and some outstanding martial arts choreography, the Mortal Kombat Honest Trailer reminds us that the movie is nothing more than a pre-game to the real tournament, which is only referenced as a promise for the sequel that may not even happen.

Mortal Kombat Honest Trailer

All right, now that we’ve praised what works the most in Mortal Kombat, let’s talk about what ruins the goodwill established by the genuine martial arts stars and their impressive fight sequences. Why do there need to be so many goddamn cuts during these fight scenes? In the span of five seconds in the movie’s first face-off between Sub-Zero and Scorpion, there are nine cuts. That’s almost two cuts per second. Not only is that excessive, but it serves no purpose stylistically.

While we’re talking about Sub-Zero and Scorpion, let’s also take the time to point out how Mortal Kombat pulled the ole switcheroo on fans by making us think this movie would be focused on the rivalry of their clans. But in reality, we get yet another chosen one storyline that’s like a fighting tournament version of Harry Potter, complete with a new character who isn’t from the games, so nobody really cares about him, not even when he gets abilities that vaguely echo that of Scorpion.

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