"Mortal Kombat" and "Avatar", tapes to return to the cinema 2:07
(CNN) -
Any sober analysis of "Mortal Kombat" risks being overstated, but even taking this adaptation of the game in its clearly R-rated terms, the film offers few of the gut emotions that could elicit a collective audience response. , which makes seeing her on HBO Max perfectly adequate.
Of course, in such an environment, laughing at awkward dialogue will also be a less common occurrence.
The film, which comes nearly a quarter of a century after a previous version and a sequel, marks the feature-length debut of Australian commercial director Simon McQuoid, with "Aquaman" director James Wan among the producers.
The clear hope is to turn this into another franchise, while leaving enough scattered limbs and blood to satisfy those who are simply impatient to hear someone yell the famous phrase "Finish him!"
For the uninitiated (and thanks for reading this), the minimal plot involves a new character, mixed martial arts fighter Cole Young (Lewis Tan), who is recruited to fight on Earthrealm's behalf against the emperor's forces of evil. Shang Tsung (Chin Han) from Outworld.
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It turns out that Cole bears what he believed to be a birthmark, which actually indicates that he is one of the chosen ones to protect his world, with a historical heritage unknown to him.
Jax (Mehcad Brooks) will be the one to guide him down that path, after an unexpected attack from Sub-Zero (Joe Taslim), an ice spray man.
Ludi Lin and Max Huang in 'Mortal Kombat' (Courtesy of New Line Cinema and Warner Bros. Pictures).
"Mortal Kombat" is a tolerable endeavor in terms of mythology and world-building up to that point, but then the movie turns into an extensive training sequence, and the story, as such, kind of stops.
He recovers with a series of battles in which defenders must discover and put their unique talents to use, leaving gallons of blood and raw anatomy lessons in their wake.
The mix of martial arts-based combat and special effects, such as a burly, four-armed opponent, give the film a distinctive visual touch, but, perhaps reading the audience, there is no effort to add dimension to the characters.
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Instead, the main mission seems to be to rectify the diluted violence of the previous version.
All that's left, then, is the search for "wow" moments during battles, spawning two or three that feel gruesome enough to produce the desired effect.
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"Mortal Kombat" is within its right to take the material semi-seriously, but it does so by taking itself too seriously, given the routine nature of bringing the game to the screen, whatever its popularity in that format.
(The film is released by Warner Bros., which like CNN is a unit of WarnerMedia.)
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Probably nothing will deter those who are enthusiastic about it and the better-than-expected premiere of "Godzilla vs. Godzilla from watching the movie."
Kong 'by Warner Bros. suggests that there is a very understandable desire for big, absurd action.
However, for those who do not make up their minds, it is not worth starting to watch "Mortal Kombat", much less finishing it.
"Mortal Kombat" opens April 23 in theaters and on HBO Mx.
It is rated R.
Mortal Kombat