Video game movies are notoriously terrible. Going all the way back to the early days of video game movies, few have actually been worth the time or money required to watch them.
Are there exceptions? Sure, there are some pretty decent video game movies out there, but for every one of these, it seems like 20 bad ones follow along in their wake.
One of the best video game movies to ever hit the silver screen is Mortal Kombat. The film featured a fantastic blend of kungfu, western action film, and lore from the Mortal Kombat universe.
Was it a perfect movie? Far from it. But when put side-by-side with the other game-related movies, it stands head and shoulders above the rest.
As great as that movie was, there are plenty of ways it could be improved upon. And all of those things look like they're on the radar of the people behind the upcoming reboot of the Mortal Kombat franchise.
It's Going to Be Rated R
To me, the most exciting thing about the new Mortal Kombat movie is that the team is seeking an R rating for it. The original Mortal Kombat movie was rated PG-13, which greatly limited the amount of violence that could be shown.
The video game is known for its incredibly gory Fatalities, and going with an R rating will allow the film to show off some of those insane moves with the latest in CG technology.
According to writer Greg Russo, the game will feature game-accurate fatalities. "Game-accurate? Yes, we are. I can say for sure that the fatalities that we're gonna put into the film are from the game," Russo said in an interview with ComicBook.com.
If you like blood and guts, this rating could make this movie incredibly exciting. Picture all of the characters and fights you loved from the original MK movie, and add in a healthy dose of Fatalities, and you have a recipe for success!
It'll Be Produced by James Wan
When you think of excessive blood and guts, a brand that probably comes to mind for most people is Saw. The horror franchise consistently pushed the limits, and James Wan is responsible for much of that violence, as he directed the original film and served as an executive producer for all of the films.
Wan also knows action, as he directed Furious 7, which has some of the Fast & Furious franchise's best and most over-the-top fight scenes.
Sadly, James Wan isn't directing the new Mortal Kombat film, but he is a producer so we should see his fingerprints on the movie, which definitely has me excited for what the film could be.
It Has a Solid Cast So Far
While the movie is only in pre-production, there's already some pretty solid choices for who is going to play the beloved characters from the Mortal Kombat universe. Importantly, the actors and actresses announced resemble the characters they're playing, so you won't have to suspend your disbelief to get into the movie.
Here's the cast so far:
- Ludi Lin as Liu Kang
- Joe Taslim as Sub-Zero
- Tadanobu Asano as Raiden
- Mehcad Brooks as Jax
- Sisi Stringer as Mileena
Take a look at the photos of the actors and actresses above, and you can see how well they fit into the roles they've been given. It's just another layer that makes this movie seem promising!
Apt Comparison to Deadpool
The Deadpool movies are the perfect example of an R-rated comic book movie and writer Greg Russo is drawing comparisons to the Deadpool films. If what he says is true, this is incredibly exciting and could be just the right tone for the Mortal Kombat movie.
In a recent interview, Russo said:
"We wanted to be somewhat truthful with the tone of the game. So if you played the games, there are real stakes, there's real emotion behind what the characters are going through but at the same time, it's really fun. I mean Mortal Kombat's always been very tongue-in-cheek in how it approaches whether it's kind of over the top violence or just kind of some of the insane story ideas that they come up with.
I mean there's always been this kind of fun nature to it. We looked at the games and then we also were looking at some film comps to compare our tone to. And I think things like Deadpool popped up and we're like, we really like the tone of that. You know, it's got some great humor in there, but if you kind of take the humor out of it, it's got real characters, like really emotional stakes behind what the characters are going through. So that was something that we looked at for the tone of this. It'll be fun, but it'll also be obviously real stakes, real characters, real emotion."
Just picturing the tone and violence from Deadpool with the characters and lore of Mortal Kombat has me dying with anticipation.
2021 Can't Come Soon Enough
The biggest negative of the Mortal Kombat movie is that we have to wait until 2021 to enjoy it. That's going to be a long couple of year for us! In the end, though, we think it'll worth it. Or are we just getting caught up in the hype culture?