Mortal Kombat *SPOILERS*

[Blue22]

Is only worse than Annihilation if people want to laugh at the movie.

I'd rather laugh at a bad movie than get no emotion at all from it. That's really the only big difference between this and Annihilation. Aside from that, they have a lot of the same problems.

God. I feel dirty after all the times I've defended Annihilation these past few days XD

[Psy-lock]

Honestly, they're about equally bad for me. These days I can even give Annihilation some props for doing my girl Sindel better than MK11

[Blue22]

Honestly, they're about equally bad for me. These days I can even give Annihilation some props for doing my girl Sindel better than MK11

Holy shit. She was better in Annihilation, wasn't she? They at least didn't try to disguise an unnecessary retcon into Shao Khan's willing arm candy as "giving her agency"

I...I don't like that. Annihilation Sindel shouldn't be better than anything! But at least Sindel wasn't the only character that the new timeline has fucked over...She was just...arguably the worst case. I only say arguably because new timeline Shao Khan and Shinnock are pretty bad too.

[Psy-lock]

Holy shit. She was better in Annihilation, wasn't she? They at least didn't try to disguise an unnecessary retcon into Shao Khan's willing arm candy as "giving her agency"

I...I don't like that. Annihilation Sindel shouldn't be better than anything! But at least Sindel wasn't the only character that the new timeline has fucked over...She was just...arguably the worst case. I only say arguably because new timeline Shao Khan and Shinnock are pretty bad too.

I know right? Never thought I'd see the day when I can say something positive about Annihilation...

And yeah, apparently the new and "improved" Sindel has so much more agency despite her spending decades as Quan Chi's revenant slave. Like, what?

[Surf]

LOVE is a strong fuckin' word but I really liked this. I've sat through (most of it) twice now. I've noticed a chunk of the bad feelings about the movie come from whomevers favorite fighter got done. I mean, I feel that but 2 dozen players is a lot to introduce, flesh out, hear from and show putting in the work in a single movie. Big of me to say as I'm a Scorpion guy so I was well fed. I really rock with Milena too, and I guess I ate a little, didn't really get full but hey. Goro didn't quite make it for me, how he jobbed for a jobber I don't get but at this point maybe just mentioning Goro and not having him onscreen is the play. :shurg:

If your beef is with the lore, OK but they don't make these movies like this to stand alone anymore is the best I got. There will be others, I've always been more of a fan of playing the game against someone than what ever narrative is assigned in cut scenes or in graphics before you press start. And can we be honest, the actual premise is predicated on game play. A three act screenplay will always struggle to work when it's adapted from a video game, it just is. There is such a large contingent of people who will see this who have never played this game.

YES, Cole was the weak link and wrapping it all around this schmuck was an odd choice. You have to talk many, many, many (white) people into making these movies and something like this doesn't get made without a guy like that, who- let's keep it a buck, barley looked like he was in Scorpions bloodline. If you use him and his family, who honestly should be dead, right, as a lens to view the rest ehh, I got about what I thought I'd get. I would have liked to see Johnny Cage myself.

My man that played Shang Tsung didn't do it for me. Bummed he didn't lift a finger and I also kept thinking he was going to say he was "good at calculations". The pool for Asian actors in Hollywood is so fucking small, they could have got a guy that was a dead ringer for the role but again, this is how Hollywood does it.

Reptile was lame and it did feel like a huge origin movie, without much of an origin but again, all video game movies should be graded on a scale. Could have used some incidental fighting other than cave paintings. 9 tournaments in and all we have is vague explanation? That was loose, a Raiden level flashback scene would have served much better. Seemed like we fought in the gym on more than a couple occasions.

After all that, Kano was hilarious, Blade was good I felt, their fight in the trailer was fantastic. The fights were dope overall I feel. I liked Jax, he looked the part, despite getting his arms out of thin air. Sub Zero was a fucking boss, he was actually in the Goro role and the look of his armor was fantastic. Kung Lao was a boss, Liu Kang is going to come back hard. Outworld was cool to look at. I think this movie will grow on people, there was more good than bad.

[Vakanai]

If your beef is with the lore, OK but they don't make these movies like this to stand alone anymore is the best I got. There will be others,

Bull. This "movie as a setup for a better movie" excuse is some crap that they need to step away from.

[Blue22]

Yeah I've been saying this for days now but being setup for a bad movie does not give you a pass to do a half assed job with the first. MCU movies are almost nothing but one setup after another but they still at least remember to make movies that can still stand on their own two feet. Even if we never got another Avengers movie, the first one was still good. Even if we never got another Black Panther, the first one was still good.

What happened with Mortal Kombat is the problem that a lot of filmmakers have when they try to build a franchise. They have all these "fantastic" plans for future movies so they think that makes it okay for the first one to be lackluster. Even though the success of the first movie is what's supposed to guarantee you those sequels in the first place. You can not tell me that this movie would have garnered enough interest in a sequel if it wasn't attached to a 30 year old cashcow. Whatever sequel it gets will not be because of its own merits. It'll be because Mortal Kombat as a whole is a popular franchise.

[Nate Grey]

Actually someone pointed out (here or another thread) the MCU "setups" were actually just the stingers (after credits scenes). The movie otherwise told its own story. Its weird that movie studios that try to copy Marvel's success don't notice that part.

[Cyke]

I'd rather laugh at a bad movie than get no emotion at all from it. That's really the only big difference between this and Annihilation. Aside from that, they have a lot of the same problems.

Truth. I mean, personally I prefer this film over Annihilation just from a standpoint of filmmaking craft and skill, but on the other hand, getting *something* out of a bad movie rather than watching a bland, lifeless one is why b-movies continue to live on (and a big reason why MST3K has such staying power). And so if someone likes Annihilation more than MK21, I can't fault them for that because this film just seemed so timid beyond the fatalities.

I'll take some of the worst Roger Corman or early John Waters films over a much-better made, much glossier generic romcom any day simply because the former is sure to elicit some kind of reaction from me.

[Surf]

Bull. This "movie as a setup for a better movie" excuse is some crap that they need to step away from.

Fine and I'm not totally disagreeing on principle, but to add 'needing to step away from'- no one is listening. As proof we have 4 Jaws movies.

At the same time this is a don't hate the player, hate the game situation. This is how movies budgets get allocated, this is the business for at least the last 20 years. With few exceptions, the licensing and franchising of IP is and has been the biggest mover in Hollywood right now. Beyond that, one can only hope whatever property holds whatever nostalgia to ANY of us, mostly get it right. I'm a big Transformers G1 fan. Does anybody have an hour of time to listen to me screaming about how shitty the Bay movies were, ALL OF THEM. No one does and at the same time, even casual MK fans PRAY they don't become those giant wastes of time.

I'm just sayin, we are in a weird period of movies. The MCU is the biggest player on the block and to a lesser extent, part of that extends to DC comics as well. At the same time we've gotten a terrible Justice League movie that was allowed a do-over that told a slightly different story on the same bones as the previous one.

All we can hope is enough cool shit happens that keeps us around if and when a sequel gets made... unfortunately. And that's the other thing, a lot of times the sequel ISN'T made. But I can almost guarantee, there won't me an Annihilation level production to follow this one. I just ask 1 question, like it's a fuckin' test group of diehards, outside of naked principle, was there enough here to make you come back for a sequel? There was for me and if this installment is the weakest of the 2 (or 3) then I'll take it. More Liu Kang, please.

Movies have become more like video games in that sequels are a measure of success. Weird how we provide the same favor for that type of marketing in video games as opposed to a movie, even when the movie is based on the game.

[BeastieRunner]

I don't know who said it earlier in the thread but I really liked the idea of some setup movies leading to the first tournament.

Sub-Zero, Scorpion, Shaolin, Outworld, Black Dragon vs. Earthrealm SDF, Shang Tsung collecting souls, etc. There's a lot that could be done before the whole 'Chosen One' tourney begins.

[Surf]

I'll take some of the worst Roger Corman or early John Waters films over a much-better made, much glossier generic romcom any day simply because the former is sure to elicit some kind of reaction from me.

That's a very specific either or. I don't like romcoms and don't look for them personally but at the same time I've seen some terrible Corman films that I'd rather not sit through again. How about a bad Corman movie verses something much glossier (to the degree this was CGI as a newborn) like the first Predator. Artistic merit is a broad sword. Some would look at both movies the same, I myself find nothing Corman ever touched I'd ever hold as high as say 1987 Predator.

At what year did charm in major studio film-making releases stop I guess.

[Vakanai]

Fine and I'm not totally disagreeing on principle, but to add 'needing to step away from'- no one is listening. As proof we have 4 Jaws movies.

At the same time this is a don't hate the player, hate the game situation. This is how movies budgets get allocated, this is the business for at least the last 20 years. With few exceptions, the licensing and franchising of IP is and has been the biggest mover in Hollywood right now. Beyond that, one can only hope whatever property holds whatever nostalgia to ANY of us, mostly get it right. I'm a big Transformers G1 fan. Does anybody have an hour of time to listen to me screaming about how shitty the Bay movies were, ALL OF THEM. No one does and at the same time, even casual MK fans PRAY they don't become those giant wastes of time.

I'm just sayin, we are in a weird period of movies. The MCU is the biggest player on the block and to a lesser extent, part of that extends to DC comics as well. At the same time we've gotten a terrible Justice League movie that was allowed a do-over that told a slightly different story on the same bones as the previous one.

All we can hope is enough cool shit happens that keeps us around if and when a sequel gets made... unfortunately. And that's the other thing, a lot of times the sequel ISN'T made. But I can almost guarantee, there won't me an Annihilation level production to follow this one. I just ask 1 question, like it's a fuckin' test group of diehards, outside of naked principle, was there enough here to make you come back for a sequel? There was for me and if this installment is the weakest of the 2 (or 3) then I'll take it. More Liu Kang, please.

Movies have become more like video games in that sequels are a measure of success. Weird how we provide the same favor for that type of marketing in video games as opposed to a movie, even when the movie is based on the game.

I think you're misunderstanding me - I'm not complaining about sequels, I'm complaining about movies that think they can get away with being crap just to set up better sequels. And that's not Hollywood or the game as usual, not even for just twenty years. It's new. It's nine years old. It's people taking the wrong lesson after the Avengers. Batman v Superman, The Mummy, and now Mortal Kombat. Sequels are nothing new, but films that only exist to promote a future sequel is new, and it's crap. And they rightfully never do that well critically or financially.

[BishopsJuice91]

I can’t think of a time recently when a movie looked like it was going to be good and turned out this bad. Every single change they made to the story was for the worse. By the time it was getting close to the end I was already ready for it to be over.

[Surf]

I don't know who said it earlier in the thread but I really liked the idea of some setup movies leading to the first tournament.

Sub-Zero, Scorpion, Shaolin, Outworld, Black Dragon vs. Earthrealm SDF, Shang Tsung collecting souls, etc. There's a lot that could be done before the whole 'Chosen One' tourney begins.

I like that too. One thing about the MK Lore is that it's pretty big, arguably bigger than 1 movie can do justice. This ain't Street Fighter 2, with likely more sequels than MK and only the one movie. Also MK has the hitch that combatants DIE, that's part of it lol so that's a hang-up a lot of properties don't have in their adaptations.

More than a couple of the guys I usually agree with tough, have been cooking the shit out of this movie. Yea I'm not there.