The trailer for the upcoming Mortal Kombat movie has dropped and I can say with my whole heart that this and Godzilla vs Kong are both going to give me the same happy nerd feels.
We start off with Sonya Blade (Jessica McNamee) describing a mission in Brazil in which Jax Briggs (Mehcad Brooks) gets his arms frozen off by Sub-Zero (Joe Taslim) to the new character and seeming audience stand-in Cole Young (Lewis Tan). Sonya explains that the ancient stories speak of a major event in which the champions of realms are chosen to engage in MORTAL KOMBAT.
The trailer delivers nothing but money shots and actors announcing who they are playing so that we at home can scream “omg Raiden,” “omg Liu Kang,” while I freak out about Mileena’s cameo!
I love how good the special effects look and it is clear that the powers at be have invested in both the budget and also in just allowing the plot of the film to be this ridiculous fight to the death in order to save the world. They know what the people want.
The official plot according to Warner Bros:
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.
Yes, all the blood and violence is great, but I’m glad that the cast reflects the diversity of the games so well. Mortal Kombat in recent years has worked to make sure that the Asian characters look Asian. The majority of the cast is BIPOC with the exceptions of Sonya and …. ugh Kano (Josh Lawson). It matters that we are going to see this on-screen, done well, and with actors who largely know how to bring realistic fighting to their performances.
Especially the crown jewels of Sub-Zero and Scorpion (Hiroyuki Sanada). When Sub-Zero made an ice sword out of someone’s blood, I was just like … this is my Mortal Kombat. Kano had a heart in his hand and just from the opening shot we know that they are going to deliver with the fatalities.
Also, I did get a little tingle when Scorpion said “Get over here.” I’m only human.
(image: Warner Bros.)
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