Mortal Kombat ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Mortal Kombat – R – 1 hr 50 min
NO SPOILERS Movie Review
Watched in theater Friday April 23, 2021
AMC Lakewood 12 – Lakewood, Washington
21st new movie seen in theater in 2021

Subzero vs. Scorpion starts in the 1600s and moves to present day with a descendant learning what the strange mark on his arm means. A tournament is coming between good and evil and if the bad guys win, it’s game over for earth.

Looked forward to seeing this movie with a little skepticism because almost every movie based on a videogame is not what it could be. Here, the filmmakers paid homage the awesome fighting game. Fatalities are brutal, just as they were in the game and there are plenty of cool nods to the game.

As we left the theater and recorded the video below, it was refreshing to hear we both had similar feelings about this film. Good action, pacing, excellent fight scenes, an overall fun, exciting film that reminds of playing a videogame.

There were a lot of showings sold out which confirms our thoughts that this is going to have a good opening weekend. Maybe among the better openings of any film since the pandemic. Whether you can see it in theater or on streaming, this is recommended.

Rating (out of 5 stars): ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (Todd) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️  (Kara)

Opening 4-23-2021 in Theaters: Mortal Kombat, Together, Together, Demon Slayer The Movie: Mugen Train

Thursday, week #17 of 2021 (4/22 – 4/25/2021).

Three movies available this weekend, including the much awaited Mortal Kombat in theaters and streaming on HBO Max.

Mortal Kombat
[FIRST LOOK]

For those with HBO Max you can watch the first few minutes of this already. I passed, as we already have reserved tickets for the first showing on Friday.

Anticipation: 7/10

Together, Together

This surrogate for a single dad story is only showing at one AMC theater nearby, so we might not get to see this one in the theater, but it’s opening this weekend as well. Think Kara might enjoy this premise anyway. I’m not that excited by the trailer above.

Anticipation: 2/10

Demon Slayer The Movie: Mugen Train
[FIRST LOOK]

This anime film, I believe, is the highest grossing film in Japan of all time. This is putting me in an Akira frame of mind. Have been wanting to see this for months now. Kara has zero interest, so I’ll be seeing this one solo. Can’t wait! Yes, I”m actually looking more forward to seeing this than Mortal Kombat (and I’m really looking forward to that)

Dubbed and subbed, here we come!

Anticipation: 8/10

Wherever you are watching movies this weekend, happy watching to you!

FIRST LOOK: Mortal Kombat

Historically movies based on videogames have been trash. Some have been better trash than others, but the vast majority of movies haven’t captured the videogame stories — which in fairness are usually very short stories — as good as they could.

Maybe movies should be anthologies of several videogames instead of full-length movies?

Anyway, the new Mortal Kombat movie, a game that has already been made into several movies, is hitting the big screen and it looks like it’s capturing a lot of what makes the videogame so cool: gruesome gory fatalities and finishing moves, plenty of martial arts and the signature character designs.

MMA fighter Cole Young, accustomed to taking a beating for money, is unaware of his heritage—or why Outworld’s Emperor Shang Tsung has sent his best warrior, Sub-Zero, an otherworldly Cryomancer, to hunt Cole down. Fearing for his family’s safety, Cole goes in search of Sonya Blade at the direction of Jax, a Special Forces Major who bears the same strange dragon marking Cole was born with. Soon, he finds himself at the temple of Lord Raiden, an Elder God and the protector of Earthrealm, who grants sanctuary to those who bear the mark. Here, Cole trains with experienced warriors Liu Kang, Kung Lao and rogue mercenary Kano, as he prepares to stand with Earth’s greatest champions against the enemies of Outworld in a high stakes battle for the universe. But will Cole be pushed hard enough to unlock his arcana—the immense power from within his soul—in time to save not only his family, but to stop Outworld once and for all?

Movie Insider: Mortal Kombat

Teaser trailer (you’ll have to visit YouTube to watch the official restricted trailer, which is even more graphic)

We just advance reserved our tickets for opening day. Not seeing this one in IMAX or any other special format, although it looks like that might be a good way to see it as well. Are you planning on seeing in theater or catching on HBO Max?

Mortal Kombat opens in United States theaters and will be streaming on HBO Max Friday April 23, 2021.

Mortal Kombat 11 Rambo Ending Compared To Last Blood By Screen Rant

Rambo: Last Blood ⭐️⭐️⭐️½ 

A curious Screen Rant article that compares the videogame ending of the non-canon Mortal Kombat 11 for John Rambo to the ending of the final movie in the series. We’ll be biased on this, but we actually enjoyed Last Blood. I just downloaded the MK 11 Game Pack for the Nintendo Switch, so didn’t know much about the ending.

If you don’t want the videogame John Rambo ending spoiled, best exit this post now. I don’t really consider videogame endings spoiler material, but throwing out that warning just in case you do, before reading the quote below and/or following the link to the full article.

In Mortal Kombat 11, Rambo kills the game’s villain, Kronika, and sits next to her body with a look of remorse. To his surprise, he is given her time-bending powers. Rambo never expected to receive her power; he just wanted to put an end to the fighting in MK11. With Kronika’s power now at his disposal, he considers righting all of history’s wrongs. He then quickly realizes that choosing the fates of billions – choosing who lives and dies – would make him no better than the men who sent him to fight in Vietnam. In the end, he returns the power and decides to live in woodland solitude (in a setting that looks strikingly similar to First Blood’s Washington).

Rambo’s MK11 Ending Is Better Than Last Blood | Screen Rant

Videogame storylines vs. movies? Not sure where to go with this except my first thought is two different mediums. I am not that into story modes on games. I don’t want to watch a bunch of long movies, I want to play a game. I’m there, ready to do something, not in a passive watching mode. The only place I really like stories are at the end of a game after beating it. There is a reward to watching end credits roll in a videogame you fought hard to beat.

That said, I wouldn’t compare Rambo’s videogame ending to Last Blood. Will admit seeing a number of people disappointed in Last Blood thinking it could have done more for John Rambo, but I think the most characterization happened in First Blood and every movie since was pretty much shirtless, sweaty Stallone finding creative ways to execute bad guys. In Last Blood, we had more of an elder statesman Rambo with sort of Western motiff and some hard R rated Home Alone booby traps, oh and don’t forget the beating heart Indiana Jones Temple of Doom ripoff.

What do you think? Videogame storylines compared to movies? Justified? Yes, no? Ambivalent?

Mortal Kombat 11 Shows Love to 80s Action Film Stars: Robocop, Terminator and Rambo

Still recovering from gamer’s hand after all day Halloween after playing through the story mode on Mortal Kombat 11. Took off my movie watching hat and went all in on videogaming.

Purchased the Ultimate Edition and played a ton of fighting matches. Part of the charm buying the series, besides following it off and on since its original debut in the 90s via Midway, is that it offered playing bonus characters from 80s action movies.

It was recently announced that the characters Rain and Mileena will be making their return to the hit fighting game, while ’80s action star, John Rambo, will be the surprise third DLC character. With his addition to the roster, Rambo joins characters likes RoboCop and the Terminator as classic blockbuster action stars to join the ranks of Mortal Kombat 11. This ’80s nostalgia might seems a little random to some fans, but it’s actually deeply rooted in the history of Mortal Kombat.

Why Mortal Kombat Keeps Adding 80s Action Movie Stars

When Midway started the fighter series which is famous for graphic brutal fatalities performed like ripping the spine out of your opponent at the end, playing as guest characters in game was all the rage in their other popular game, NBA Jam.

You could play all kinds of different famous basketball players and people like President Clinton.

Midway eventually was sold to Warner Bros. and they have decided to add more characters, including the Joker to Mortal Kombat. They need to add Harley Quinn to the game, she’d fit perfect.