I think that rating this movie is really painful and I should take a few more watches before actually going for it because it has so much things to talk about. I want to be objective and simple. So I'll just give some random ratings here, and you'll see the struggle I've had to make my own judgement. As a movie: 6,5 As an adaptation: 8,5 Cons: plot holes that only MK fans will get, 1h50 (1h40 without intro and credits) was short, there was some weird editing here and there because the movie needed to explain itself to the viewer too quickly, as a result, some dialogues and plot coherence were damaged! Adaptation downsides: Should've focused only on ACT 1 and the Warner team would be happier if they could have done a story about Hanzo and Bi-Han first, instead of worrying too much on the whole Mortal Kombat aspects for its own sake. After all, the whole film is mostly about the two ninjas. Why? When the first act ends, all of a sudden we have Lewis Tan, for the most part, but some of his acting were pretty much careless with his character, and most of the editing with weird cuts were towards his scenes, and then I felt he had some really rushed and unnatural moments, and the movie is already fast paced, so it went on a Kabal's raging flash pacing!!! Still talking about the cons, when you think of it... Forget the first part... Act 1 Is pure perfection. Simply put! Then, the Act 2 starts and it brings Cole Young: "The plot in a hurry", since the movie is rushed from start to finish, he was trying to tell to the great audience and the newcomers alike to MK how all of this works, but he couldn't, he was too busy taking care of his dialogues and his family while doing some raging flash with the story! And, what happened? Cole couldn't help the viewers to understand his role and to entertain us, MK fans. The only thing this character does right is to tell us all how great the others are when compared to him! As an actor, he went pretty decent! As a character, a complete disaster! Sorry Lewis, you've should have been Repitle IMO! Act 3 - The disclosure is pretty much like a series season's finale. When will the second season be released? As a fan, I definatelly keep wondering when we'll see more, but curiosity here has got me hyped as much as it got me wondering what exactly to expect... I want more, but better! MKU is almost confirmed, so please Warner... Take your time! Because, well, they rushed it. Right? Now it's time for James Wan and Todd Garner to take a break and think very very well how they should create new stories on this franchise's universe because, I really do see a bright future for it. Just remove what doesn't work here and everything will be epic in the future! Remember Mortal kombat: Annihalation? They were confident on the box offices when making that movie, and it just flopped... Well, it's not a threat or anything, but gamers when raged can go to Wall Street and literally Gamestop everyone, if you know the recent context! Or make the most downvoted reddit comment ever! EA should know best! Kuddos to EA! Let's get back to the movie and talk about the actors now. Acting score: Joe Taslim (11/10) > pretty much our Heath Ledger for Sub-Zero! Yes, he will be unbeatable as the most famous Bi-Han for decades to come, the production doubled his importance for MK lore and gave him a greater and stronger purpose, and he nailed whatever they gave him to act for! Thanks to the brilliant director that casted him right away! You might be wondering why is Sub-Zero so sick? Joe Taslim does the greater job here, but that's not all... He is a much more complex character! And part of it, is because of the writter Greg Russo's great care when making it! With this Bi-Han, you will ask yourself as a MK fan... Do we really need Quan-chi? Because, the icy guy here is just too much for Quan-Chi to handle! I am just wondering what Greg Russo can make with his favourite character on a possible sequence, since it's not Sub-Zero, by the slightest... I am not talking who is here, because it's some sort of spoiler. Taslim gave life, Greg Russo gave the soul. Josh Lawson : 9.0 > Well! That was unnespected, Kano! Great acting from this australian actor who I didn't know before. Thanks again to Simon McQuoid for bringing this guy. Replacing Johnny Cage for Kano as a comic relief was the dumbest and yet the smartest move. You trusted this actor to bring it on in a way I've never thought it could actually work! I forgive you for not giving us Cage, now I see you just couldn't do it with so much things going on and then have Jhonny Cage at the same time, this Kano is awesome! I really was surprised by how well Josh and Joe did this! Kano and Sub-Zero are above Sanada's territory here! But that is a compliment for the movie! Sanada is sick, don't get me wrong!!! And... Hiroyuki Sanada = Max Huang: 8.5 > They both deliver exactly what we see in the trailers, both as Scorpion and Kung Lao. They are pretty much badasses. Of course, Joe and Josh stole the show. But Scorpion and Kung Lao are just here to make it epic too! Daniel Nelson: 7.5 > While we have the best version of Kano for the movies and the definitive version of Sub-Zero (yeah, you've read that right) Joe Taslim is a better Subzero than we've ever had in the games, also! You see, he is a freaking beast! I'm in Kabal section still talking about Sub-Zero! But Kabal is by far the one who got the closest approach to his original look, super powers, and style over substance, but don't be fooled, Nelson's Kabal is pretty nice too, when acting! Is he raging flash in the movie? Hehehe Not so good as Cole Young with the film's plot! Ok. Enough jokes! Jessica Mcnamee: 7.5 > Great Sonya! The actress does a nice job at portraying Sonya, she has some strange line choices not fitting well in two or three scenes mostly due to the flawed editing in some points, but overall, she is way better than her predecessors, and she had some outstanding moments! Ludi Lin, Mehcad Brooks, Chin Han, Tadanabu Asano where actually average and delivered what was told them to do! Mehcad Brooks goes a little beyond as Jax then the rest of the crew, while Chin Han is a pale Shang Tsung, not bad but not impressive as well. It is a shame that Ludi as Liu, Tadanabu as Raiden where just riding somewhere between the not so bad, not so good acting. Sisi Stringer and Nathan Jones where forgettable, I'm sorry Sisi, maybe next time I guess? Thanks the team that made her a proper half tarkatan character, giving her all of her biting glory, because the "Edenian princess" in her was just eaten by her other half! I really missed her face veil hiding her mouth, she is not THAT monster! She is cute too... Right? Mileena is a cute monster! Right? No..., in MK2021 she is just waiting to bite someone! She pushed too hard! Hold back Sisi! Holddd back! Be nice! Nathan Jones is by far the worst actor here, even Mel Jarnson who had less time on screen as Nitara did something cooler... Nathan Jones as Reiko is as good as a brainless orc coming straight from any Tolkien's work. This Reiko is so bad, that even Cole's daughter and wife were more interesting on screen! They were basic, but they did a well done basic work when these two were on screen. Yeah, I'm talkin' about Lauran Brent and Matilda Kimber. "It's a birthmark" - Daughter, Cole's - 2021. "I don't watch your fights!" - Wife, Cole's - 2021. Moments we won't forget, but for Reiko? Well. The best Reiko scene is a Jax one! Worst actor, worst character, worst characterization. Reptile and Goro were CGI, so there is no acting point here to rank. They were tollerable and well done in visuals and Reptile shines a bit more than Goro when in action, but here is where we talk about comparison with the old MK 1995. Christopher Lambert is a better Raiden. Keith Cooke is a better Reptile, the Big Goro with only voice effects being portrayed by Tom Woodruff, in the first movie is the best Goro and Tagawa is a better Shang Tsung! The music score is also here, but the 1995 version is also more memorable. Why? Nostalgia? No, it is mostly because the random guy screaming Mortallll Kombaaaat shouts more often in the song. These good parts of the first 1995 original movie were nice, and all, but make no mistake... Now let's talk about how good the movie is: Mortal Kombat 2021 is a cool B action movie and a terrific adaptation with tons of fan service and well portrayed characters, ones that you will never forget and you will just love them from the very beggining to the very ending. Plus, we have gore, blood and some of the most iconic fatalities we gamers are used to see in the series. Joe Taslim is hands down, the best Mortal Kombat character ever portrayed, he IS Subzero, he owned the blue ninja suit. Generations will be talking about his role for years to come and Ed Boon and John Tobias will have a hard time trying to top him even when thinking of him for the games because Taslim gave a whole new level for Sub-Zero standards! This might not be a perfect movie, but is by far the best videogame adaptation we've ever had in cinema's history concerning the live action format, and I can safely say: if you were ever in doubt if the videogame movie curse was broken or not before, then you shouldn't be, 'cuz if it wasn't, now you can't be wrong about it! It's definatelly broken now! My favourite chracters in the games always have been: Liu Kang, Kung Lao, Raiden and Reptile! Yes, I might have a little bias when pushing too hard over Ludi, CGI Reptile and Tadanabu Asano when rating... But man! For Kung Lao, it's not the same as for the others... and again... That Kung Lao was insane! As a fan of the character I really enjoyed Max Huang's over the top performances as much as I loved Hiroyuki Sanada, Jessica and Nelson. Sub-Zero and Kano were something special though. Definatelly I'll be watching again!

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