Fair warning though, it’s about as violent as you’d expect. Yes, my standards are low. The trailer mostly consists of introductions to characters from the games, and the dialogue includes several instances of those character’s spouting the game’s catchphrases (“Get over here!”, “Finish him!”, etc.). But shots are well composed, it’s cleanly edited, and the effects look good. I can’t say the same for most videogame movie trailers, or for any of the previous Mortal Kombat movies. The story focuses on Cole Young, a protagonist created specifically for the film, who is an MMA fighter who realises he’s destined to compete in an otherworldly fighting tournament and goes looking for a training montage by way of Sonya Blade and Lord Raiden. The movie is the cinematic directorial debut of Simon McQuoid, a commercial director who has worked with videogames before, as in Call Of Duty adverts like this or this notorious PlayStation ad. Meanwhile I’ve watched five Fast and Furious movies and they are incoherent, deathly boring, and tell stories about the worst human beings in the world. Only four more films to go! I suspect the remainder will continue in kind - and as per the below.
