How Mortal Kombat 2021 Gets EVERYTHING Wrong

1. The Mortal Kombat Tournament Is Used As Sequel Bait

Okay so, there didn't NEED to be a Mortal Kombat tournament in the Mortal Kombat movie.

Plenty of the games have gotten by without featuring one, and in honesty, the idea of writing a compelling story around the machinations of an ongoing competition is some grade-A Attitude Era WWE nonsense that could've resulted in "backstage brawls" left, right and centre.

Instead, we have a feature length movie that tries to compartmentalise its "tournament brackets" into the Mortal Kombat "mark" transferring from one fighter to the next... but there's no payoff other than setup.

We're told from Shang Tsung that "death is another path", as Goro is swallowed up for an assumed resurrection, and that's after it sinks in that you just spent 45 minutes of the flick watching the entire cast train.

Russo has revealed - though it wasn't anywhere in the marketing or buildup - that this Mortal Kombat was written to be the first part in a trilogy, though even during filming, he didn't know if Warner Bros would greenlight the next two instalments i.e. he didn't know if the second movie's tournament would ever happen.

Thankfully, MK has already made enough money worldwide for this second movie, but again it's a baffling way to structure a film and franchise.

Why not go all-out while you have the chance, actually nail the first impression, make the most of the cast and then see if people want to come back? As it stands, we have almost 2 hours of preamble, zero payoff and a reminder to "come back next time!" from the writing team.

As a huge MK fan I loved Liu Kang and Kung Lao's fatalities, the latter's entrance, Kabal's costume and the minutes of Scorpion and Sub-Zero sharing their two scenes, but that's literally it. Seconds of positivity in a sea of corporate swill, maybe paying off in the future but for now, Warner Bros. are content mining your love for a property to get the money out.