Mortal Kombat trailer proves that it is possible for Hollywood to make a good video game movie
Fans think this video clip shows that the brutal energy of the beloved game has finally been faithfully captured onscreen. Which begs the question — why is it so hard for Hollywood to adapt video games in the first place?
As far as video games go, Mortal Kombat does exactly what it says on the tin.
The best fighters in the world compete against each other in a tournament, punching and sparring their way to the top. Game of Thrones-style, you either win — or you die.
Since the video game was first launched in 1992, there have been almost a dozen different iterations in the franchise, each advancing the gameplay and options available for players, while still staying true to that core promise. Whatever the larger plot or storyline is baked into the game, Mortal Kombat will always be about fighting and gore.
The success of the Mortal Kombat video game has led Hollywood to come calling more than once. In the 90s, two Mortal Kombat adaptations were made, featuring beloved characters Liu Kang, Sonya Blade and Johnny Cage, among others.
But they were campy and cartoony, and after Midway, the company that developed Mortal Kombat, went bankrupt, the series lay dormant for a good decade. Until now: in April 2021 a Mortal Kombat reboot is set to hit cinemas, starring Australian actors Jessica McNamee as Sonya Blade and Josh Lawson as Kano, as well as Lewis Tan as a new character called Cole Young, who finds himself drawn into the fighting ring.
First things first, there’s nothing campy or cartoony about this trailer. This clip is violent in a way that can only be described as gore-forward: as fans have pointed out, there’s more blood and brutality in this trailer than in the first two Mortal Kombat films combined.
And if you head over to YouTube, where a redband trailer is doing the rounds, there’s an even more R-rated version for you to watch.
The clip teases some of the movie’s more thrilling action scenes, as well as introducing you to the reboot’s cast of characters. All the Mortal Kombat favourites are back with the addition of Cole, a washed-up martial arts fighter who never realised that the birthmark on his chest was an invitation into the ranks of Mortal Kombat contestants. Drafted in with the best of the best, he will have to level up to fight alongside his compatriots to save the world.
Wow i didn’t think the Mortal Kombat movie trailer to be that good. Holy shit !
— clampgod (@LR_214) February 18, 2021
Mortal Kombat looks so good 🔥🔥🔥🔥
— T (@Stevenson_TMS) February 18, 2021
The new Mortal Kombat movie looks like it's going to be all kinds of fun. Bummer we won't get a good read on how it could have done in the box office.
— Andrew Reiner (@Andrew_Reiner) February 18, 2021
I feel good about the Mortal Kombat movie after watching the trailer just now. I think we have finally found a video game movie that might be good for once.
— Exotic Whisperer Yank (@SuperYank4Life) February 18, 2021
The fans are right, this Mortal Kombat movie does look good. Which shouldn’t be as big of a shock as it is, except that Hollywood is notorious for being completely unable to translate successful video games for the big screen.
There have been around 30 video game movie adaptations, almost all of which have been failures both in execution and reception. Think of Prince of Persia, Assassin’s Creed, Tomb Raider and Warcraft, all of which had high production values and star-studded casts — if you’ve ever wanted to see Charlotte Rampling explain the role of the Templar Elders, well, Assassin’s Creed is for you — but failed to coagulate into a compelling, or even coherent, story.
On paper, video games should be ripe for the Hollywood treatment. Phenomenally successful, especially this past year during the coronavirus pandemic, video games come with an in-built fanbase, strong storylines and characters that you want to root for. But translating the inherent allure of a video game, which is that you are driving the action, is near impossible when you take the controller out of a person’s hands and leave them on their own in a dark cinema.
But in the past year, Hollywood has shown improvement when it comes to adapting video games. In 2019, Netflix’s The Witcher series, starring Henry Cavill, became one of the streaming platform’s most successful productions.
More than 40 million Netflix households binged The Witcher, making it one of the year’s most popular series despite debuting on the streaming platform in the week before Christmas. The series was praised for not trying to squeeze a game played by fans for countless hours into a single two hour long movie, but instead into a multiple-episode series.
The result was a faithful translation of the game’s sprawling, epic energy — no doubt bolstered by Cavill’s performance, informed by the fact that he is a video game player himself. Cavill is on the record as a fan of The Witcher, and once famously missed a phone call first offering him the role of Superman, because he was in the middle of playing World of Warcraft.
The success of The Witcher has led to a spate of new adaptations, including The Last Of Us, which will be turned into an HBO miniseries starring The Mandalorian’s Pedro Pascal and Game of Thrones’ Bella Ramsey. The series will be overseen by Chernobyl screenwriter Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann, the creator of The Last Of Us video game.
It’s this detail that is so exciting for fans of the original video game, which in June 2020 became the fastest-selling video game in history. Previously, these creators had been shut out of the Hollywood adaptation process. Now, they’re coming along for the ride, helping to craft the story and vision in order to ensure that these new film and television versions remain true to what fans know and love about the games.
Based on this trailer, this Mortal Kombat reboot appears to have done the same. We’ll be reserving judgment until the film is released in April, but it would seem that Hollywood’s video game curse has been broken. You may proceed to the next level.
Mortal Kombat will be released in cinemas in Australia on 15 April.
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