People aren’t going to watch the upcoming Mortal Kombat reboot expecting richly drawn characters, a complex narrative and some weighty subtext, and luckily that definitely isn’t the appeal of the movie. Fans want to see it in order to find out how director Simon McQuoid tackles the bonkers mythology and epic fight scenes, so the filmmaker’s promise of blood, gore and fatalities has gone down pretty well.
Those either unfamiliar or uninterested in the video game series will need to find another way in, though, so it was smart for the script by Greg Russo and Dave Callaham to create an entirely new protagonist to act as the audience surrogate. Purists might not be too keen on Mortal Kombat taking such liberties with the source material, but you could argue that it’s essential to draw in new viewers who otherwise might not have had a clue what the hell was going on.
Wu Assassins and Deadpool 2 star Lewis Tan will lead the ensemble as Cole Young, and the official plot synopsis for Mortal Kombat has now been revealed as Warner Bros. starts to ramp up the marketing campaign with the release date drawing ever closer.
“In Mortal Kombat, MMA fighter Cole Young, accustomed to taking a beating for money, is unaware of his heritage, or why Outworld’s Emperor Shang Tsung has sent his best warrior, Sub-Zero, an otherworldly Cryomancer, to hunt Cole down. 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. Soon, he finds himself at the temple of Lord Raiden, an Elder God and the protector of Earthrealm, who grants sanctuary to those who bear the mark.
Here, Cole trains with experienced warriors Liu Kang, Kung Lao and rogue mercenary Kano, as he prepares to stand with Earth’s greatest champions against the enemies of Outworld in a high stakes battle for the universe. But will Cole be pushed hard enough to unlock his arcana, the immense power from within his soul, in time to save not only his family, but to stop Outworld once and for all?”
It’s been a big week for Mortal Kombat, with the months of radio silence finally being broken by the first images and even the merest snippet of footage glimpsed as part of an HBO Max sizzle reel. The simultaneous streaming debut guarantees that a lot of subscribers are going to check it out regardless of how they feel about the property, while the studio will be hoping that the brand’s wide-reaching international appeal will be enough to generate some decent numbers at the box office.