If I don't here this played during the movie or credits I will be grumpy.
Never cared much for Mileena. Where is Kitana and Jade? Mostly Kitana..
I would probably check it out. It's a guilty pleasure to watch some of these "campy" video game spin off movie/shows. Like Street Fighter, Fatal Fury and MK. I think the last MK one I watched was, "Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion's Revenge" it was trying pretty hard to spin as Scorpion as a good guy and I rolled my eyes at this. It was animated (very gorey tho) and it was alright... I think Street Fighter has the record of worst adaptions tho, (especially live movies..) but still fun to watch.
This looks great! Kano is so aussie!
Damn... I was never into this franchise, it always came across as cheap thrills of a videogame that I was never interested in.
But not only does it appear that production values have gone up, but it seems that a bit of a coherent storyline being told. Going to catch this in the cinema.
Ha the trailer is even better then I expected it to be looks this is gonna be great.
What's that meme, you had my curiosity, now you have my attention. That actually looks pretty decent. I like how Sub Zero is really utilizing his powers.
That does look pretty badass and im happy Sonya and Liu Kang is in atleast.
Do you hear the voices too?
movie looks like complete dog shit
"You know you that bitch when you cause all this conversation."
Older movies don't take themselves too seriously in that 90's style that's fun. The vibe I'm getting form the trailer is "Justice League meets Mortal Kombat" in terms of tone and aesthetics, which could be a big negative if they don't handle it properly, especially if they don't focus on getting a good script. From the credits thus far, one writer doesn't have a history, and the other writer was a screenplay writer for films like Wonder Woman 1984 and the Doom (2005) movie. Here's hoping the new guy can get a decent script out!
On the producer side of things, both have extensive background in horror/gore/action from well-known franchises, so there's some hope there. I did notice that everyone working on the project has in some way been involved with the DC movies. Not surprising, since Mortal Kombat is a WB property.
Anyways, the trailer itself did leave me wanting in some areas. For example, the obvious nod at actual game references combined with the tone the trailer appears to be setting just invokes cringe with its execution. It's something that drives me nuts with many game movies, where the creators feel the need to inject references without putting much thought into how they're inject. Usual result is cringe versus an organic scene, however the difference between the two is good writing. Worst case, sometimes the films would be better off not making references as their addition in an ad hoc manner just detract from the films themselves.
Another aspect is the actual action, and the trailer may or may not be representative of the final product... but we only have the trailer right now, so be it. I'm liking some of the angles/perspectives of the shots in the action scenes, however there seems to be hints that there could be excessive jump cuts and a reliance on close-up action shots that hide some of the action. How prevalent these aspects will be, one can only guess. The choreography itself does lend itself towards some 'cool factor' sequences, basically where it looks good for the viewer but would be dumb/deadly if a person actually took the actions that they did... but how pervasive this is remains to be seen, and it's usually something only people exposed to such combat would notice (which isn't many people).
Non-fluid actions *can* be a stylistic choice, but its execution is critical. While someone commented on the blood dagger scene in the trailer, it's actually the one that sticks out of the most in this regard. When Sub-zero forms the dagger and grabs it, he actually does an extra action that's almost like a double-take that feels really off... when making it one fluid motion would be way better and less jarring. Same with the ice wall and skid: the scene just kind of stops while you watch this stuff, when having everything occur in a fluid action would likely be more appealing to watch. However, the fluid action method isn't chosen likely for two reasons: 1.) it requires longer takes and looks better in wider action shots, and 2.) it generally speeds up the action to where more choreography needs to be done to fill up the same film time elapsed.
With respect to the CGI and visuals, the film is still in post-production, so the trailer shots may not be finished yet. This would explain why some of the CGI in the trailer ranges from pretty solid to pretty awful. As an example, the icicle props at the start of the trailer look so plastic it's not even funny, but again post-production can fix this. This like Kano's eye laser and some of the fluid visuals could use some work, but the fire CGI is pretty solid in most cases.
A common annoyance I have with films of this genre are the props/clothing and how they looks. If you look at a film like Doom: Annihilation, you'll notice that the clothing people wear all looks like it just ironed and cleaned, the props and settings themselves all look sterile and freshly painted, and things like weapons look cheap and have no weight where they should. Basically, when a film cares, clothing people wear will look like it's actually been worn and used before, the props and settings will look like they've been used, and proper physics is given towards props (again, it can be a style choice, but for this genre it usually isn't). From this trailer, it looks like some effort was given at the very least. I did catch a shot of a sweater that looks like it was just bought from the store and had dirt/grime splattered on it to make it look 'worn', but there was actually wrinkles and fraying on some clothes that appear to make sense. Also the weapon physics seems fine considering the universe, no hints of people with no muscle mass easily swinging around weapons that should be insanely heavy unlike the 6 lbs Styrofoam props that they are.
Overall? Cautiously optimistic, but I'll still hammer home that the #1 thing that would make-or-break this movie is having a solid script. Good writing has a better chance of overcoming other potential flaws in a film than anything else. If they're going for "it's like the 90's version, but darker and more grit," they got their work cut out for them.
Last edited by exochaft; 2021-02-18 at 07:21 PM.
“Society is endangered not by the great profligacy of a few, but by the laxity of morals amongst all.”
“It's not an endlessly expanding list of rights — the 'right' to education, the 'right' to health care, the 'right' to food and housing. That's not freedom, that's dependency. Those aren't rights, those are the rations of slavery — hay and a barn for human cattle.”
― Alexis de Tocqueville
Mileena suppose to be a clone of Kitana? I'm not big into Mortal Kombat lore but that actress doesn't seem right for the role.
Yeah...the make or break is the script. The trailer gets me tingling in all the right places. But if what I'm hearing is incoherent...nonsense...
Hope we get to see Smoke. HUMAN Smoke.
The old dude in the garden is meant to be Scorpion without his armor on, right?
Or is it supposed to be like Shao Kahn? I know Shao Kahn has some spear like abilities in MK11.