If you haven't watched the first trailer for the new Mortal Kombat movie yet, I'm here to provide you with it (followed, of course, by my thoughts on it):
Although I was peripherally aware of a new Mortal Kombat movie being made, I’ll admit that I honestly didn’t put a ton of thought into it. This is partly because movies based on video games are rarely ever all that good (the first Resident Evil being an exception, because I personally will always love that movie). However, it’s also because, although I’ve always thought that the Mortal Kombat games were cool, I was just never very good at them. At all. I even tried playing one of the newer versions of the game, Mortal Kombat X, shortly after it was released in 2015 and, although it had some truly badass graphics I was, predictably, terrible at it. Still, it was fun to see how the game had evolved to something both bloodier and more mature than the game that I remembered from my childhood.
No matter how much of a terrible gamer I am, the world of Mortal Kombat has always intrigued me on some level. The characters were all so unique and deadly. Similar to the X-Men in a way, but far more savage and definitely more likely to kill their opponents.
Mortal Kombat 2021's Scorpion
I was a kid when the first movie came out in 1995. It’s always been enjoyable (now mostly in that nostalgic way) but, like the games, the franchise was in need of something more…something bloodier and more mature. I’ve watched this trailer a few times and, although it’s possible that they simply just put all the best scenes in the trailer, it really seems as though 2021’s Mortal Kombat might actually deliver on that point.
Mortal Kombat 2021's Raiden
Here is the official movie synopsis that was released today on Warner Brother’s website:
“Inspired by the blockbuster video game franchise, which most recently enjoyed the most successful video game launch in its history with Mortal Kombat 11, “Mortal Kombat” features MMA fighter Cole Young, a brand new character to the Mortal Kombat universe, played by Lewis Tan (“Deadpool 2,” Netflix’s “Wu Assassins”).
“In the film, Cole is unaware of his heritage, and why he is being hunted by Outworld's Emperor Shang Tsung’s best warrior, Sub-Zero. 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. Once he is brought to the temple of Lord Raiden, Cole begins his training with experienced warriors Liu Kang, Kung Lao and rogue mercenary Kano. Soon he will stand with Earth’s greatest champions against the enemies of Outworld in a high stakes battle for the universe."
Okay, that’s a lot of words, but what it basically boils down to is that this movie, although definitely tugging hard on the nostalgia thread, looks like it will likely, hopefully, be awesome. I may be shamelessly fangirling a bit but, when Sub Zero froze his enemy’s blood into a blade and then stabbed him with it, and then later Scorpion growled out his infamous “Get over here!”, I was basically sold on the movie. Honestly though, I’m just really excited to have a new action-packed “nerdy” movie to look forward to.
Mortal Kombat 2021's Sub Zero
Mortal Kombat releases nationwide on April 16th, 2021 in theaters and will be available to stream in the US on HBO Max for 31 days from its theatrical release.
Angela “LaLa” Rairden is an avid fan of comic books, Star Wars, and most things nerdy. A cosplayer, she loves to attend comic cons dressed as her favorite fictional characters, particularly Harley Quinn. Although her day job is at a grocery store, writing has always been her true calling. She lives in the Pacific Northwest, where she is currently writing her first novel.