Why The New ‘Mortal Kombat’ Film Will Suck

If there’s going to be a new ‘Mortal Kombat’ movie, chances are it’s going to suck something awful. First off let me say that the news every nerd outlet is grabbing onto isn’t really news. I’ve been reading about this Chris Casamassa talking about being in a new ‘Mortal Kombat’ film since ‘Mortal Kombat Annihilation’ hit the gaming consoles years ago.

But, if it is true, the fact Chris Casamassa knows anything about it is proof it’s destined to fail. This is not 1996. Since then we’ve had a strong shift in what we expect from our martial arts films, and I don’t think karate instructors from California who doubled as Batman in the worst comic book film ever put on the big screen is a way to even approach this concept.

When you think of martial arts in films, I think we all go back to 1999 when the Wu-Shu style of martial arts filming got a Hollywood boost in ‘The Matrix’. This set a standard for fight scenes in American productions. Pulling in an experienced crew with choreographers like Wu-Ping, who are legends in the industry, became like second nature. If I heard about a group like this being involved, I’d have more faith. But with Chris Casamassa being the one linked to the film, I’m worried the fights would be outdated and lack the epic look a movie like this would need to even compete in today’s world of martial arts.

Groups like 87eleven, which is an American based company, have taken their cue from this Asian style of choreography.   They are the reigning champs of modern martial arts when it comes to films. Their fight scenes are some of most memorable in history. Involvement of their group would, again, bolster my faith in this film, but they’ve said nothing as well.

Other reasons this might suck also go back to Chris Casamassa (who I’m just giving a beating to, and I’m kinda sorry about that). If Chris Casamassa is involved, then it means they’re looking for some kind of continuity between the old films and the new film. If that’s the case then there’s no way you could get me to see this movie. ‘Mortal Kombat’ is that film people refer to as “that one good video game movie.” But, sadly, thirteen years later, it does NOT hold up at all. The fights are boring by today’s standards, the acting is even worse, and even characters we all loved like Scorpion and Sub-Zero are boring.

Take a look at the fight between Johnny Cage and Scorpion from the film.

It’s boring! The choreography is incredibly poor. The fighting looks telegraphed and too planned out. It’s slow and methodical, and they don’t look to be improvising anything. It’s also shot with terrible, American aesthetics from a director who’d never done a martial arts film before. Now do you that Chris Casamassa has actually gotten better in thirteen years? Chances are he’s slower, weaker and less in shape. That version of Scorpion doesn’t exactly make me shake in my boots.

‘Mortal Kombat’ has grown as a franchise and has a long and extensive history of characters and events. Even the hero, Liu Kang, died and came back as a zombie. That’s how many of these games there have been. Raiden actually switched sides at one point and was completely evil.

If you want to make this game into a movie, and do it correctly there’s only one way to go.   That’s with an experienced martial arts director, a cast of experienced martial arts experts, and a team like 87eleven backing them up. But there’s a chance this movie isn’t even getting made.

‘Mortal Kombat’ isn’t exactly at the top of everyone’s must play gaming pile, and while Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe was a surprisingly fun and a well-balanced fighting game, it was a financial failure, and the promised DLC for the game is officially canceled (which annoyed me because the “constant stream” of new content they promised was the reason I purchased it).

Ed Boon (the creator of Mortal Kombat who actually voiced Scorpion) recently tweeted that they’re working on Mortal Kombat 9. The first real sequel to a MK game in years, and he’s really excited about it. But you’d think he’d bring up this new film in some way. Addressing it as truth, or as a rumor. He hasn’t said a thing on his twitter about it.

I’d leave this rumor as just that… a rumor. Until we hear from WB, or Ed Boon, I doubt we’ll be seeing a Mortal Kombat movie hitting the theaters anytime soon, especially not next year.