Mortal Kombat Review: A film is best when it mimics games.

For a series about people getting their spine torn, mortal Kombat There is a surprising amount of story. The fighting franchise over three decades has amassed a larger myth, full of history, lore and inspiration for many of its fighters, mostly used to answer the question Why Someone has had their spine and / or arm removed. You wouldn’t really know from watching a new movie. The film has plenty of callouts for the game – horrific plagues, goofy one-liners, and lots of familiar faces – but it never stops long enough to tell you why you should care about anything. Despite all the aforementioned rip-off weapons, this is not particularly fun.

mortal Kombat Roughly follows the same basic premise as the Games, where the champions of the earth descend against the creatures from one place in a fighting tournament, which hangs in the balance of the world’s fate. In the film, there is a slight twist as the champion of the earth is chosen for the task – and they know they are chosen because they all match mortal Kombat Dragon logo birthmark. Unfortunately, their Netherlands counterparts have decided not to play fair and are hunting Earth fighters ahead of the tournament, so that they can win by default.

Photo: Warner Bros. Pictures

Of course, that action is mostly a way of explaining the action, and for the most part, the film approaches that front. In the initial stages, you get to see exactly why the sub-zero is so afraid; He uses his ice powers to terrorize entire city blocks and, yes, rip off someone’s arms. (Sorry. Jackson.) Later, when faced with two realizations, this is an incredible spectacle. There is a sequence where an invisible reptile is stabbed with a flare so that it can be tracked down in the dark, as well as a completely brutal fight with a very CG-looking Goro – mortal KombatThe iconic four-armed warrior – who does not have four arms until the end.

But the story gets in the way of all of that. The setup is a bit like a big superhero epic, with a group of superpowers fighting a common enemy. But on the contrary, says the Avengers or even Justice League, mortal Kombat Almost does not spend a lot of time presenting its huge cast. The first half of the nearly two-hour film is a blot, a race from one character to another, while also trying to establish the rules of this unique fictional world.

This is too much and not enough: there is a plethora of information, but the film gives you no reason to care about it. I can’t tell you much about key details such as “Wash-Up MMA Fighter” or “Really Serious Army Man”. There are a lot of dramatic moments and twists where this film is evident Wants You have to be emotionally invested, but they were never a hit. It also seriously lacks a sense of humor. The funniest thing you’ll find is when someone indicates that “Kombat” is misspelled.

Photo: Warner Bros. Pictures.

The film is really at its best when it mimics the games. In an order toward the end, fighters are warned to fight with fierce wars one after the other in the world. There very In deaths mortal Kombat, And, as in games, they are eerily depressed. The head meets in half, the limbs are cut off, and blood flows freely. Some even called it “innocent victory” especially after the bloody murder. The fight is almost a great mix of ballistic martial arts and vicious violence. It looks good and it hits hard.

There just is not enough of it. if mortal Kombat It was nothing more than a steady stream of carefully choreographed fights and inventive deaths, I would be everything for that. This is the complete deal of the franchise. But instead it spends a lot of energy on how and why, without being sufficient to make it really compelling either deep. Both of these want to be a funny action film And A serious one, and those two sides never fully jailed. Worse, this is hardly a complete story; Instead of a true end, mortal Kombat Finish off with a huge tease for another film. It is like a two-hour long prologue.

Are playing mortal Kombat Cruel and bloody, but also very funny – the film misses much of the latter.