I'm 100 percent for casting actors who look the part. Especially in MK where there's no shortage of diversity as it is. However, when you get to fantasy races from fantasy worlds, I do give it a little bit of leeway.

Despite appearing to be of different ethnicity to most in-game depictions of Mileena, I think Sisi Stringer looks the part okay. Yes, her skin color is darker, but not by THAT much. Her hair color is the same. Her physique is in the right ballpark. Her wardrobe is something I could see Mileena in.

I'm not gonna say racebending is always okay. There have been really bad cases of racebending where characters look and act way different than their source counterparts. I'm just saying this looks like one of the cases where it's not that bad. We'll have to see how Sisi acts the part before I could say for sure.

On the debate over Mileena's skin color, I have less of a problem with that than I do with her possessing a relatively normal set of teeth. Frankly, that's way more egregious to me. That said, the specific choice of actress would've been better for Jade or Tanya, given the source material. I will say, though, that after there was a concerted effort to make Kitana and Mileena more Asian in appearance in MK11, this development is kind of funny to me.

"But Mileena had darker skin on the MK2 select screen!"

Look again, because it's just about the same tone as Kitana's. It's called lighting.

The only thing that really affects my perception of the character and the movie is the teeth thing, but I felt the need to comment on it because it's something that keeps coming up in movies in recent years.

Pausing the trailer does show fangs, in some shots, but nowhere near the level in the games.

As for Mileena's skin pigmentation, I'm sure people remember this recent representation by a rapper.

This is what made me take notice with this controversy.

I dont even have a gripe with that, either. Cosplay is cosplay. Go nuts.

I know this is a dress up and I couldn't give a rat's ass (about skin tone) either, just being open-minded. I'm not getting involved with this racialism debate.

PLOT TWIST: Mileena is Shao & Sindel's biological daughter. Kitana is the modified clone. Maybe mixed with Shang or GKL's blood to make her look Asian/appealing to his chosen descendants as a trap piece to sympathize with when they try to save/help her perceived cause.

Johnny Cage isn't in this because Mr. Hollywood asked for too much money, greedy bugger.

Ka-Tra

That.... would make a whole lot more sense to be honest.

I'm a huge fan o B and C-class movies. I just hope it won't be a disaster. Hiroyuki Sanada is a plus. All the people who can throw a punch also are a plus. Introducing a completly unknown character who is going to be the main hero is... well... no comment. But those masks look horrible. Why are they so big?! I wish I could unsee them.

All in all, I'll give this flick a chance. If it will be in cinemas in my country, I'll probably go. Unfortunately, I predict it will be a one-time watch. Ah, well...

After watching the trailer, my first impression was that even MK Annihilation looked way better than this.

Paul W. S. Anderson's masterpiece came out 26 years ago. They had 26 f***in years to make something great once again but instead they made this... This looks like some kind of a cheap Chinese Netlfix project combined with woke PC propaganda all over the place. Mark my words, It will flop harder than MK11.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pVWlsp1lbM

NOTE: If you choose not to read this wall of text, please at leas skip to the end for an interesting tidbit!

I have a long post here where I'd like to discuss something I haven't seen brought up here. I don't much use social media, so maybe it is being talked about somewhere, but would like to share here.

The first thing that jumps out at me is the budget. For a film that comes out in April, the visual effects are certainly not finished, and some of these were maybe specifically put together and rendered ahead of time for the trailer, as is common practice. But even giving them some leeway there, a few things bother me.

CG BLOOD

All of it. It's cheaper (squibs and special effects aside, the time it takes to set up, and clean costumes and sets between takes is usually the main budget inflating culprit), but for a film that has heavily included a hard R rating, and gritty realism in their marketing campaign, I really expected to see loads more practical blood. CGI blood can look great, but it doesn't here. Hopefully this gets polished, but some of this will remain janky by virtue of what they captured on set.

Example, 2:23 in the trailer (best viewed in the downloadable trailer released for the fan contest--YouTube compression sucks, and this way you can go frame by frame with ease), Scorpion's "finishing move." Actor is holding a hilt with no blade, and jamming it on top of the other actor's head. That is what they shot. The CGI blood here isn't great for a lot of reasons, observable in almost every instance in what we've seen of that particular sequence.

First, it's too clean. No splatter on Scorpion's face or clothes--not even the hand that wields the sword! No splatter on the victim either, just a heavy flow of blood splattering out and almost disappearing (note the blood released from the warrior's eye through his mask, it doesn't even stain the mask! It more or less disappears!) Forget about just blood for a moment, NO liquid behaves the way the blood does here. This is the fastest route to off-putting visual effects--when things very easily observable in the real world don't behave accurately in your VFX shot.

Second, weight. A large sword is being forced through the victim's head, and down into his neck. But if you film this with a blade-less hilt, there can sometimes be a cartoonish lack of impact, which is certainly observable here. Not just impact, but follow through as well. Through bone, brains, muscle tissue, etc, the sword appears to glide, because the actor faced no resistance on set. This is what I mean when I talk about things that cannot be fixed with cleaned up VFX, but rather are the result of poor planning, quick shooting, an inexperienced VFX supervisor, or all of the above.

Lastly, the blade itself. It pops into existence. Move frame by frame, and you'll see the blade pop in in a single frame. In the next frame, the sword shrinks to become a dagger, to compensate for Scorpion's thrust-- remember the actor was imagining the blade here, so in this case, his imagination was not accurate. There was no relationship between the victim and the blade on set, and it shows in the disconnect between the movement of the victim's head, the the hilt floating above his head. It should be firmly planted in his skull, so both would be moving in tandem.

I'd like to stress that this is not nitpicky stuff. When studio films know they'll be utilizing extensive VFX, they'll have an on set supervisor who's entire job is to make sure there is no disconnect between what they're filming, and what the VFX artists are being asked to add later. When a decision is made to use CGI for a majority of the blood in a film that uses blood and gore as a central marketing gimmick, these are not things you should gloss over. The norm is that these things are accounted for. I won't bore you with the hundreds of ways I might have made this shot look better on set, but I cannot stress enough that this is not inconsequential.

The whole Scorpion sequence is filled with really amateur stuff like this. Loads of blood shooting out of enemies, but no noticeable splatter on Scorpion. Tiny, neat puddles of blood. He yanks his kunai out of someone, and blood splatters everywhere... except on him. He throws his kunai through an enemy's head, and blood explodes out the back of his skull with such velocity that not a drop remains on his neck down. In the following shot, no blood is observable, painting his surroundings. It evaporated. This stuff might not jump out at you, but this is the sort of thing that makes a sequence feel weird and you just can't put your finger on why. This is exactly what happened to me this first time I watched the trailer. The violence feels cartoonish and unrealistic in a lot of what I've seen.

Another example, and this one is so bad it's almost funny, especially given it's from one of the highlights of the trailer, according to most. 2:01, Sub-Zero slices open Scorpion, freezes his blood, and stabs him with it. Gnarly! Go frame by frame. Sub is supposed to be cutting his underarm. The blood appears out of nowhere, and looks like a stock splatter effect laid on top of Scorpion. There is no wound. No tear in Scorpion's clothing, no blood on his person. He's sliced with a blade, and a massive splatter of blood shoots out of his... armor. This one, at least, can be fixed if they simply add visible damage to his clothing and person in that shot, but that only applies if they actually thought of this in the first place, and in the following shot applied battle damage to the actor and his wardrobe. My hopes aren't high on that one.

But let me clarify here why I think this is worth noting. Wide release studio action films like this do indeed routinely do CG blood wonderfully. That is the norm. A lot of these things I've pointed out are avoided by blending practical blood in when necessary, and having an experienced VFX supervisor with a really solid understanding of the VFX pipeline. Its already strange that some of these inconsistencies would exist in the first place, but that is made even stranger when you consider what it means for how this particular film is being sold to you. Violent, bloody, gritty, real.

"Real," like how Scorpion doesn't look like a "yellow ninja," he looks like a Japanese warrior. "Real," like how Outworld looks like the new MacOS screensaver instead of a purple fantasy wasteland. This is undercut when something as "gritty and real" as blood is an afterthought. It goes against the two main talking points of your marketing campaign so far. The rest of the CGI is great from what I can tell. Fire looks cool, Goro looks killer. This is probably due to the fact that those things a) don't actually exist, and when we have nothing to compare them to, we suspend our disbelief and b) don't have to interact with the real world in the same way and to the same extent as gallons of free flying liquid.

LOCATION

Another budget thing. The epic battle between Sub-Zero and Scorpion takes place in a frozen gym. Outworld is just mountains (with a planet comped in the skyline), Jax and Sub-Zero face off in a warehouse. The more exotic locations we glimpse are stone temples, stone temple ruins at night, stone ruins at night with sharp sticks and torches, etc. This will either be really cool, or really lame. It presents the opportunity to really take things down, and focus on character and story. But it could well end up looking cheap if those things fall flat. I optimistically lean toward it working out. That (presumably) climactic fight between Scorpion and Sub-Zero taking place in Cole's gym already begins to paint a picture of how a character's journey might weigh heavier on set pieces than eye candy, so I'm hopeful.

The money they saved on cutting extravagant locations and decent blood VFX seemed to go towards wardrobe-- the costumes look really cool so far.

COLE

If the character is done well, and interesting, I won't really care much at all. But I do understand the frustration with bringing in a newcomer. The justifications they've provided so far are easily dismissed-- "vessel for the audience into the lore" makes little sense. Sonya, Liu Kang, Johnny Cage, Kung Lao, Jax. Literally any character from Earthrealm could serve this purpose if you simply start from the beginning. You might want Sonya and Jax to already be on the case, and you might want Liu Kang and Kung Lao to be Shaolin monks who are well versed in the tournament. I think fans have gravitated towards Johnny Cage because there is no practical reason why he can't be the vessel. Moreover, in the recent games, he played exactly this role.

To me, the point is moot if the film is good. I will understand why they chose Cole-- because they had a good story to tell. That'll work for me. I genuinely wonder why the call was made, though. In terms of lore, there is enough on the table to craft a wonderful story without a new character.

If the leaks are still accurate re: Cole and Scorpion, I still don't see the need. You can hit a lot of the themes this dynamic utilizes by using existing characters. Want the lead to have a connection to the villain? In the original MK movie, they gave Liu Kang a brother, and had Shang Tsung kill him. Want the lead to be connected to the poster characters of the series, Sub and Scorp? Use Sub's younger brother, use Takeda

Finally, Mileena...

I get why people are upset. As has been noted, there is no real reason her character has to be white, or asian. There is also no real reason Jax has to be black, but obviously there'd be a difference in reaction. The difference would likely be attributed to volatile politics. I use the word volatile to mean ever changing, and quickly devolving into something usually less noble than the original purpose of inclusion. If its a matter of representation for under-represented people, Mileena could just as easily have stayed asian. As has been noted, much in line with the push for the inclusion of more asian actors in the games.

This stuff usually involves studio execs entirely unconcerned with anti-racism feeling the need to hit quotas outside of any real push for justice, and people reducing inclusion down to, quite literally, black or white, while failing to acknowledge how the film may be inclusive in many other ways (asian leads, female leads). It is also an idea already at odds with itself-- perhaps taking an asian character and applying black skin doesn't create dynamic, representative black characters, but instead belittles the idea of inclusion. Personally, I think the mission is far from accomplished if we've let representation become white writers and white directors taking white characters and making them black. Maybe a film like Mortal Kombat, with an already diverse cast, shouldn't be on our radar at all, and we should be, first and foremost, looking at the more tangible effects of representation behind the camera, behind the typewriter.

Why aren't people annoyed that Raiden, who has existed as a white man through the entire series, is now being portrayed as asian? These issues tend to be picky and choosey, and they tend to utilize a hyper-American version of racial politics that finds itself more concerned with black vs. white. People were quickly willing to forgive casting The Ancient One as white when provided with the oddly gaslight-esque explanation that it would have been more racist to cast the character as asian.

It isn't usually a conversation worth having over the internet, given its nuance. If Mileena is an interesting, fleshed out character, I couldn't give a damn.

INTERESTING TIDBIT:

At 2:07, when Sub-Zero throws Scorpion, Cole can be observed in the background, behind the gate, to the right of Sub-Zero. He seems to be... Punching ice? The air? I thought it was a reflection of Sub-Zero at first, but after downloading the trailer and viewing on my computer, I can confidently say it is Cole. Is someone trapped in ice maybe?

Yes it’s Cole. It’s also the same cage he was fighting in at the beginning of the trailer.

hey gorostilllives have you or Bran heard anything about Mel jarnson charcther is?

Raiden's ethnicity isn't an issue, Gods/Angels/Demons can literally appear as anything they want(or are forced) to be.

Some are shared by several cultures with the same face/form, sometimes with same or different name, others have different faces/forms depending on the different cultures visited.

Fujin for instance, is borrowed from the Greek wind god Iaolus.

Ka-Tra

This looks like what I expected a James Wan produced Mortal Kombat film to look like. It's like a cross between the original Rebirth short and MKX. I don't really give a shit about Mileena so what they've done with her is irrelevant to me. Cole Young =Kuai Liang. It's a little on the nose but it's a nice little misdirection for the general audience. I don't buy for a second that he's a "new" character. All in all, I'm happy with what I'm seeing. It's what I expected given the people involved.

Since the beginning of the production, I was afraid of this movie being a Tekken-like (the bullshit 2009movie) or as poor as Chun-Li Legend

But finally, pics, posters and trailer surprised me. I expect this movie would be awesome, as good as a MCU movie

I already want a sequel based on Shao Kahn's invasion (MK3 storyline) starring Kuai Liang as main characters instead of Cole! and Bi-Han secretly ressurected by Shinnok as Noob Saibot

It'ld be great to see young Sub-Zero fighting alongside Raiden chosen warriors, Liu, KungLao, Sonya, Jax, Cage, Nightwolf, Kitana, Jade - against Kahn's army : Rain, Ermac, Baraka, Sheeva, Kintaro, Motaro and eventually returning characters (Shang Tsung, Reptile ..)

You know, one character no one has talked about is Smoke... who was that appearing out of the smoke?

Sub Zero coming out of a portal. He's literally wearing the exact same outfit.

@jack4813 Really, you expect good special effects and all from a movie with a budget of $5 made in James Wans' backyard? Really? It was obvious from the beginning that they green-lit it just because it was supposed to be cheap to make and it HAD TO be made in Australia. Just watch it when it comes out and have fun - or don't. I don't expect much from it but it may positively surprise me. Just let go.

I accepted the fact that my favourite cinema genre is dead. There will never be movies like Bloodsport, Kickboxer ot my fav Hong Kong flicks with stars like Ti Lung, Cynthia Rothrock, Hiroyuki Sanada and others never again. Sad, but true. But this "pandemic" has some good effects also. Telly in my country stopped showing marvel/dc movies as often as it did and started showing B-class flicks. I haven't had this much fun in at least a decade and I can safely say that Gerard Butler and Scott Adkins (Yuri Boyka <3) are my two favs in this century.

PS. I do get an MK movie every 4 years in the form of story mode so why shoud I care about Wan's fan-project?

PS2. Really, Mileena is black? I didn't notice. XD

Although they have an all-female cast, have you never seen Raze (which has this Mileena's stunt double in it), Female Fight Club or Lady Blood Fight? They're pretty modern. Even all-female, Ragdoll, Chokehold, and Bella Thorne's new fight film are pretty awesome. They're all MMA films. If by "favorite cinema genre" you mean kickboxing films, well, muay thai isn't as popular unless you're in Thailand or in some areas of Europe so you can see why.

Tekken (2009) wasn't that bad of a film. But Tekken 2 yea that was stupid.

Good luck freeze framing to point out errors in the theater. Shit goes by so fast most wont even notice it. As for blood, it would be too time/money consuming cleaning up all the blood splatter, and keeping it consistent with each take/retake. Maybe it disappears because that's how it works in the damn games? There's still plenty of time to polish off editing shit.

The characters are strong enough to slip blades n shit through somebody's skull without the tip of the blade pushing their head back. People can even do that in real life. The laws physics don't always work the way you THINK they should, like how tension wires don't become cheese slicers when snapped/cut then whip at things. Sometimes real life physics are stranger than movie physics, sometimes movie physics are underwhelming compared to real life physics.

Ka-Tra

True. But here in the United States we won't have to freeze-frame the film in the theater... we can do so on our computers through HBOMax, lol. Sorry that's not yet available in Canada, hopefully you guys will have a way to watch the film at home rather than just in cinemas.

MORTAL KOMBAT (2021) OFFICIAL REACTION / ANALYSIS POST BY GOROSTILLLIVES

My reaction and analysis/breakdown is based on watching the trailer on 2 different platforms: my 4K TV and my 1080p HD phone. I recommend you watch it on a 4K device otherwise it doesn't look as sharp or good.

First Reaction

This is definitely an extension of Mortal Kombat Legacy, Season 1. I'm going as far as to suggest Legacy Season 1 was, in fact, meant to be a prequel and precursor to this film (over the new animated Scorpion's Revenge which is akin to the 1995 film, The Journey Begins) because, based on the leaked scripts I read, the backstories aren't as well explored in these leaks as they were in Legacy, although this film will sort of rewrite some of them (Jax's arms) and retell the decades old duo story, Scorpion/Sub-Zero. However, with that said, the information released thus far has even surprised me and presented new or altered information from the leaks, so I leave it open to more surprise. It wouldn't shock me if WB tries to sell Legacy Season 1 with this film, as that makes more sense in terms of look and feel, although in some ways Legacy Season 1 does supplement some of the backstories left out in the first MK movie and is often bundled with both movies. Legacy Season 2 has yet to be coupled with this triple-feature, at least in the United States, and I don't look for it to be anytime soon.

Budget

Part of my initial reaction is the budget is very low. For the first film, they were given around 20-25 million and eventually it went to 30+ million. We don't have any modern evidence to suggest the current budget for this film. However, what we do have is the initial budget forecast laid out by Warner Bros. all the way back in 2012 when Lance Sloane was attached to the project: Warner Bros exec Lance Sloan reveals 'Mortal Kombat' movie budget is between $40 million to $50 million at 2nd Annual Marseille Webfest on 10/13/2012, credit: https://www.complex.com/pop-culture/2012/11/mortal-kombat-reboot-film-budget-revealed . The costumes, the look and feel overall, the blood splatter, and the overuse of CGI coupled with cheap, practical set locations (an abandoned mine, which looks to be mainly of salt, and located in Australia, is supposed to represent Outworld; compare to 1995's version, which was a huge combination of very poor CGI environments coupled with an abandoned racetrack... but still had the purple hues we all know Outworld to have since MK2); not to mention the actual location being in Australia for most if not all of the film and not to mention using mainly no-name talent along an almost-all Australian cast and crew in a film market heralding Mortal Kombat as one of their breakthrough films (as other films, like Aquaman, only had some locations filmed there rather than essentially the whole film).

Characters

WTF is up with Liu Kang looking like Ryu? I'm only hoping this is an easter egg or nod that we could soon see some kind of cross-over between MK and Streetfighter. How the hell did Warner Bros. even get past clearance to have Liu Kang look like Ryu in the first place? I am loving the use of his Dragon animality currently present as his fatality in MK11 and his standing beside Kung Lao brings back memories of MK: Shaolin Monks and their scene together in MK11's story timeline. I'm happy to find out Kung Lao does speak and looks like the newer games. I'm not upset by the Cole "Young" addition - and I want to emphasize his last name, as it may elude to foreshadowing revealed in the leaked scripts) - but, even as a former backstage manager in MMA fighting events and a fan of MMA since UFC #1 in the early '90s (when it was known as "no-holds-barred or NHB") I'm even tiring of rehashing MMA... especially when the lead is another down-on-his-luck deadbeat father "fighting for his family" bullshit fighting what we call here in the United States "underground fights," since they are often held in the gyms and not at publicly sanctioned events (MMA gyms may call it "sparring" thinking they're getting past the legalities... but I digress). As a huge Mileena fan since MK9, I'm not offended by her race - Sisi Stringer looks mixed and she appears she could pass off as having some Asian influence in her looks - no it's not the stereotypical Asian features you expect to see but nevertheless mixed people can still have other races and look like another race (I worked with a celebrity model who has both Staten Island Italian with Asian ancestry - her skin tone is a nice mix but she doesn't have stereotypical Asian features otherwise). What I am startled by, is that Sisi Stringer's stunt double is Tara Macken, who is also mixed but with Asian features (although I do see Asian influence in Sisi but not as pronounced as Tara). I almost find it insulting to the fans griping about Mileena's race - if you knew she was intended to be Asian in the first place then why not just cast Tara in the film as her? Tara Macken, for those who don't known, played a very minor role as a tribute / kidfighter in "The Hunger Games" and a prominent fight role in the film, Raze. Sonya Blade, played by Jessica McNamee, surprises me and resembles a younger Sonya (Jessica, to me looks too old to play a younger Sonya but they did a great job with her makeup). Although not known for them, I do like the use of giving Sonya a knife. It's actually very realistic to believe a military woman would actually have one. I also like the fact she has taken a leadership role in this film, much like the reboot games (MK9-MK11) and has very well progressed since her being the token female character in 1992's Mortal Kombat game. Raiden, from what I have seen, is impressive in visuals. I'm not at all upset the trailer didn't show Raiden guiding the heroes - and I'm not going into what the leaks suggest other than his guidance doesn't come until later in the film and Sonya takes the lead first. Reiko is a 3D era character and I'm not really fond of the era so I won't comment since I have little to compare to and in the dark why he is even in it. Not much is shown about Kabal from the trailer but if you really want to see his mask you'll need to zoom in the footage where he's about to meet Liu Kang's fire dragon. I am looking forward to seeing Nitara just because I'm that much a fan of horror and with James Wan, a king in horror backing this, I'm not at all upset she was included. Shang Tsung - I do love his evil eyes which can barely be seen in this trailer but I don't love those big cheeks. I think they make him look goofy and clownish. I know he stills souls through his eyes but does he eat them now too? Kano, for whatever purpose, has become the funnyman of Mortal Kombat (alongside Johnny Cage) and Warner Bros. felt it was practical to have a comedian play him. I'm not upset by this but given that Kano has always been a supporting character and not so much a lead, I think it's fine. Reptile, which is presumably the Godzilla-lookalike creature whose heart Kano rips out, does slightly resemble B-grade horror creatures from the '80s era like Pumpkinhead (who hilariously was created by Tom Woodruff and his pal, who designed Goro in the 1995 MK film) and of course Godzilla (I don't consider it consequence this wasn't meant to cross-promote the new Godzilla film in some weird WB way). Jax feels like Jax, played by Mehcad Brooks in this, and may possibly be the best representation of Jax yet. I also love how he is given more of a role than just Sonya's sidekick. Goro, his look right now is unsettling and I am hoping he is unpolished CGI. Like the rest of the movie, they were obviously trying to base alot of these characters from the MK-horror game, MKX, but in some ways Goro is a bad mix of human/dragon. He looks honestly like an inbred of something. Not the kind you expect to see in the Wrong Turn film series either, but maybe something hidden deep in the lush jungles of China? He doesn't look like any past iteration of Goro in the face. I felt the same way about him in Scorpion's Revenge. Sub-Zero (Bi-Han) is perhaps the prize winner here for perhaps the most progressed and best look - and that's coming from a definitely-not-a-fan-of-Sub-Zero guy. I love him more probably because they turned him into a horror villain and less of a palette swapped whose story is centered with another palette swapped ninja "low-budget" move. For once he is creepy and not laughable. He's even scarier than Goro or Shang Tsung. Scorpion, when he is Scorpion, continues as another winner. I'm more of a fan of Scorpion than I am Sub in the media (divided in the games). Scorpion is the perfect supplement to this mma-horror-fantasy hybrid film and I love the use of his fire/skullhead. His outfit, while I know represents feudal Japan, is okay. I get that they are keeping with the Japanese feudism fashion here so we shouldn't expect a solid color vest over a traditional-black ninja suit. I accept that. I do accept them finally adding his demonic twist into the film rather than just "a dead guy resurrected," as he was in the older games and 1995 film. It plays well here. We do see a brief snippet with Emily Young in a brief exchange with Cole and Jax, as the leaks written, she's scrappy and even a typical teen smart-ass. I'm not a huge fan, overall, of putting the Young characters as stereotypical, poor Asians to attract the largest global audience - Asians, when there are many Asians who financially do well for themselves. I mean, come on, we are all people, every ethnicity has poverty in it and definitely it's an ongoing plot device that any fighter, be it the new MMA moves or the older Muay-Thai kickboxing films, for some reason have to be poor and "fighting their way out of poverty?" It rarely, and I mean rarely happens in the real world. Contrary to fan belief and theory, Smoke is NOT in this trailer. I think it's too early to suggest Bi-Han becomes Noob Saibot in this film but then again, I mean, why not (FYI: the scripted leaks or Scorpion's Revenge did not suggest this even as an idea). Nitara unfortunately doesn't make this trailer and while I understand she's not a fan-favorite I'm actually perplexed why they would leave her out but put in Reiko? I guess you had to play and give a shit about the 3D era to even care. If it in fact is proven to be Reptile (the leaks suggest it is) then I hate his reptilian appearance; I have hated that since MK2 even though it sets him apart from being another obvious palette-swapped ninja. But then again, Mortal Kombat is supposed to be a battle... among mortals... from different realms... so he fits well. If I haven't already mentioned them, then it is safe to say they won't be in this film unless I forgot to mention them (and as it stands, neither Kitana or Johnny Cage are in this film, you'll have to see this film to see how this plays out). And I have no clue about these Kuang Liang (sic) or Ermac references... really, WTF on this? Close-minded much?

Locations

Although I am often inconsistent and sometimes hypocritical when it comes to this film, one consistency I've had is a distaste towards the film being made in Australia. Maybe that's because Australia was taught to me as a former prison colony, much to the delight of Europe, where they would send prisoners to live and fend for themselves. Films like Wolf Creek don't especially help either. When I do see "exotic scenery" like these abandoned salt mines setting for Outworld, I can't help but to laugh. Hell, the Valley of Fire in Nevada is waaaay more exotic than anything Australia has to offer and I bet my soul even Death Valley in Nevada is even more exotic than Australia - there was, after all, a reason Thailand was chosen for the first film. For the record, I visited both of these deserts in Nevada in October. I also visited the Royal Ontario Museum in 2016 in Toronto, Canada and can very much confirm that feudal Japan is very much samurai as the director mentions in his trailer breakdown video. Also, if they keep a lot of the locations the same from the leaked scripts, yea, not a fan. I wasn't a fan during production when cast/crew members posted photos of their new locations.

Marketing

Knowing Warner Bros was attached to this film and had names like James Wan of Conjuring/Aquaman fame behind this film, I knew Warner Bros knew what they were doing when it came time to marketing. They knew, from the script leaks and all the preliminary leaks between 2012-2016, the fanbase would not tolerate another MK: Rebirth. That was a sick, sad joke many of us would like to believe never happened or was a very long April Fool's joke. I am pleased with the more-than-expected positive fan react, not to mention the overwhelmingly positive fan reaction, so much it drew producer Todd Gardner to tears, and I am impressed that social media and Web 2.0 (aka FB/Tw/IG/Youtube) helped to reawaken this sleeping giant once again, especially after waiting almost 10 years since the initial budget was announced in 2012 (see above). I am impressed by the simple and sleak design of the official Web site and the very clever cross-promotion with this movie and the MK11 video game (see my recent post topic on this if you have no clue what I am talking about). I'm not a big fan of marketing this film with the same way we've seen the games marketed - using Scorpion and Sub-Zero - but it does attract fans so I'll leave sleeping dogs lie here. Though, not a fan of WB's own marketing materials, even the Web site after screenwriter Greg Russo corrected, that Shang Tsung is the Emperor of Outworld. Um, like... when was that ever the case? Even in MK1 there were elusions to "the Emperor" not being Shang Tsung; he was only an weasel evil sorcerer who just happened to winover the Emperor, Shao Kahn.

Moves/Fatalities

From what I can tell these are the very strong point of the film and moreso the focus than story, for obvious reasons. It feels like, even with the changes of the birthmark over the originally-planned medallions, these film-makers don't want to overshadow the 1995 film but definitely want to "annihilate" the 1997 film by revisiting it but doing it way better. That's where these Dragon birthmarks come in to play. I also like how they kept the original production Dragon logo - the sea serpent - as the birthmark. It makes a way better birthmark than the actual closed logo. However, I am not a fan of calling it a birthmark - and definitely less a fan of calling it a tattoo. These marks look like they were burned into them at birth and if you want to see a film that burns a symbolic mark into a baby's hand to see what I mean, you can in the 1982 film, The BeastMaster. This makes way much more sense for a horror film than just being born with it inside the womb. As previously commented by me and another poster, the blood right now looks horrendous. There is a LOT of CGI blood and it looks way too gamey. While I hope they polish it, I don't expect it to take away from the film. Not too many people will notice unless they specifically nit-pick and if this generation of movie-goers, fans to the like of the DCU and MCU and Star Wars crapfests, are any indication, then the general public doesn't care about this.

Story

I read the leaked scripts. I get it. I really do. As a film maker. Who understands the business side of film, including its dirty politics. But as a MK fan, no, not happy at all. However, while this film does retain much of the lore and rules of Mortal Kombat, I feel overall you almost have to be a lawyer or just a smartass to "get it." Don't expect a great epic masterpiece, especially since it's one part of a wider-planned Universe that will likely become very forgettable by the n-tenth of these later sequels. I'm not entirely impressed with Scorpion's Revenge having a different take/story than this film when they are just recent, I mean Jesus-Christ-on-a-stick here, how many damn times are we going to reboot/retell MK? I'm with many fans who feel the original stories should have been explored, but like John Tobias recently said and as I posted in my post topic about the MK lore recently, if you really want to watch a medium that captures the original Shaolin Tournament called Mortal Kombat before Shang Tsung/Shao Kahn corrupted it, look no further than MK: Conquest. However, this brings me to my next subject which I feel is this film's commercial greatness, aside from it's brand-name recognition:

The Visual Effects

In many ways, this film feels like it's relying on visual effects (ice, fire, lighting) to sell the movie, coupled with 1) the MK characters and 2) the fact that many of us fans are so damn hungry to see a MK film since we've been dreaming of this day since 1997 that at this point we'll eat, shit, and shower anything branded MK. And they're right. As of right now, these visual effects are strong. Why? Because, this feature film will serve as the first-ever MK medium to be presented in both IMAX and Real3D cinematic technologies. So the visual effects will make this film cinematic. In order to bring the IMAX qualities to life means this film would had some scenes filmed in IMAX. My 4K TV suggests these may very well in fact be the icy gym, Goro/Cole fight, and the fiery dragon scenes, so far, in the trailer. The CGI blood splatter is only cool in that it resembles the games but definitely needs improvement. Kano's Eye Laser, while adopting spectacular and dazzling visual effects into an otherwise boring laser, not only looks like it's been flipped (else someone really failed to realize the eye laser is in his right eye) but that's it's also not finished. The lightning right now looks very good and makes me excited to see Raiden, who I only liked after Christopher Lambert's portrayl of him. The gym covered in ice is very well done but, like in Legacy, I'm not a fan of the way they are freezing people. I feel like that ice may not exactly freeze around people so geometrically, like, I dunno, it may bunch up and I see little of this during the feudal Japan scenes (you have to look very close to see this, pause if you have to but Scorpion's frozen family sits by the steps of his house in the background). I am a huge fan of using icicles made from the blood of an enemy and I am happy to see it but as the other poster said, it needs polished to not look cheap. Perhaps Goro is the biggest disappointment here so far, but given the fact we are also seeing Goro in motion leaves the very possibility I may have a better appreciation of him once the film is released. Ij many ways Goro's face does remind me of the villain in Kickboxer, Kim Po, whose face was also less-than-attractive. I am a fan of Shang Tsung's evil eyes and I hope they prove to be less a distraction from his puffy soul-eating cheeks. Mileena's teeth are too early to tell because I noticed between frames one minute she had human teeth and the next jagged human-like fangs. I'm not getting why she has a scarred mouth if we are keeping her fangs more human-like and not those largely exaggerated Tarkatan-like teeth she's had in recent iterations of the games. But I do love SiSi's monster portrayl of this beloved character and I feel it will be better once seen. I am also hoping she delivers one hell of a monster voice as well.

Sex Appeal

Like the MKX and later MK11 games, there is little sex appeal in this movie. They definitely wanted to outdo Dana Hee's portrayl of Mileena by revisiting her braided ponytails from that 1997 film and adding some modern twist rather than a latex suit. SiSi... or her stunt double Tara for that matter... isn't an unattractive Mileena by any means; in fact she could very well play a very sexy Mileena or anyone else in another movie for all it matters; she's way sexier than Dana Hee ever was. But, in some weird way, the filmmakers added the sex appeal to a character usually, until MK9 anyway, not known for her sex appeal - Sonya Blade. With her beautiful gray-blue exotic eyes, glowing pale skin, and golden locks of hair, as this film suggests, she serves as the film's sex appeal... albeit from an obvious girlfight between her and Mileena (also revisited from the 1997 film, just without the bar-laden mud) and not including the unseen Nitara, who could go either way.

Costumes/Makeup

Not much more to say than what's been said. I'm not sure why Mileena has a scarred mouth if her teeth are normal, unless they can somehow morph into Tarkatan teeth, and I understand the unattractive looks of Scorpion's feudal Japan samurai attire - I witnessed the same stuff, even some of the war gear, when I visited the ROM museum in Toronto. Plus, as the director Simon said in his trailer breakdown (which I feel is very cheap but also needed for a fanbase like this with such passionate fans) it was in respect to the actor's Japanese ancestry. Mileena is definitely getting a simple, somewhat armored design; Cole will have some strange armor reminiscent of a medieval knight (not chainmail); Jax honestly doesn't look bad; Raiden impresses me; Sonya's, despite being very simple and military, is also not so bad; Kano is one character that every reiteration just redesigns so I don't know what to make of it yet; Kabal so far looks look; Reiko kind of looks fake like Goro; but the real winner here is probably Sub-Zeros's, for looking both horror and brutal. He means business and he is bringing it to this Mortal Kombat. I do slightly recall the makeup jobs SiSi showed us of Mileena and definitely focused on a scarred mouth, still hoping for better teeth. Cole's MMA outfit is a typical gritty, grungey gear but his tourney armored outfit does look weird - but then again we're usually shown him in this armor when he's in the background so I'll wait until the film's release to comment more.

Dialogue

One of the earliest things I am seeing many fans bring to the table is the dialogue. I am not so sure why people are making this a big deal (although written by an American English writer adapted to American customs, the film was made in Australia, by Australians, a country whose people primarily speaks British English - and adapts to the British customs, whose fiction is often horrifying and full of madness) and I feel it's a cheap insult to the film. Some have taken the conversation among Jax/Cole/Emily about the birthmark and compared it to the dreadful line spoken by Sindel in the 1997 film. Others have said the dialogue overall is poor. Yet, there really isn't much dialogue spoken other than Sonya telling Cole about the MK tournament. After that we hear bits and pieces - including a grave challenge by Shang Tsung. Then some fans have taken to poke fun at the Scorpion's actor way of saying "Get Over Here," ignoring the fact Scorpion is played by a Japanese actor and that Scorpion's voice has usually been voiced by an American, Ed Boon. Sorry but there are WAY better points to assess than dialogue. For one, the whole birthmark thing is in there for 3 reasons - 1/2) to establish the story and show a working relationship between Jax and Cole, and 3) character development of Emily Young, who already we learn from that line alone is a smart-ass and naive and protective of her father (the script leaks called her a scrapper, although she was dressed conservatively and for winter in the film, nothing bad-ass you'd think a scrapper would wear).

So there isn't any confusion as to what was said, these are the official subtitles from the trailer Warner Bros embedded into the trailer I was able to extract. I took the liberty of removing the timecode data and applying the actual speaker to each line of dialogue; notice it tells a story in the first half and acts as a character promotion for the second half; including slang, I did not otherwise change the dialogue, only presentation:

SONYA BLADE
First learned about this seven years ago on a mission in Brazil to capture a wanted fugitive. When we got there, it tore through our unit in seconds.

JAX
[yelling]

SONYA BLADE
The target has superhuman abilities. It had the same marking you do, Cole.

EMILY YOUNG
It's a birthmark.

JAX? (Maybe a MMA Promoter?)
What do you mean?

EMILY YOUNG
He was born with it.

JAX
It's not a birthmark, Cole. It means you've been chosen.

SONYA BLADE
Throughout history, different cultures all over the world... reference a great tournament... of champions. That dragon marking,
I think it's an invitation to fight for something known...as Mortal Kombat.

SHANG TSUNG
These are your champions?

SONYA BLADE
I'm Sonya. That's Kano.

LIU KANG
I'm Liu Kang.

JAX
Name's Jax.

KUNG LAO
Kung Lao.

RAIDEN
Lord Raiden. The fate of Earth is in our hands.

SHANG TSUNG
No matter how many of my people you put in the ground... we will not fail. Kill them.

LIU KANG
[yelling]

SUB-ZERO
I am Sub-Zero.

SCORPION
Get over here.

SHANG TSUNG
Finish them!

SONYA BLADE
[yells]

KANO
Kano wins. You fucking beauty.

Overall Summation

Overall, by reading my analysis and reaction, you would think I am hating this film. And while there are many things that made me cringe watching both seasons of Legacy and some in Scorpion's Revenge, I am at the point of my life where I am just glad and excited to FINALLY see hard evidence that another live-action MK film has been filmed and completed. It's been a rough 10+ year wait since Warner Bros' initial announcement and almost 30 since Threshold's infamous "fan request" and sequel plans in 1996/1997. For the record, lest we forgot that Larry Kasanoff, the original MK movie producer, is back as another producer for this film? Anyway, the film really "looks" cinematic and spectacular, and its strongest points are the characters (the ones who appear in the film), the gore, the fatalities, the special moves, the horror element, and the visual effects. Marketing has already proven a strong point thanks to social media and Yotube and while I feel fans will get the plot and lore, what it chooses to use, I feel that all the strong points will overshadow any major negativeness fans have both going into this film and out of this film and that the majority of fans, either MK casuals, MK hardcores, horror fans, or general moviegoers, will come out positive. In fact I have spoken to a majority of people in my "silent majority fanbase" who conjur - once the fans see it they will love and appreciate it. If the trailer reaction is any indication, we are set for a Cinematic Mortal Kombat Universe.

BONUS! TRAILER EASTER EGGS BY GOROSTILLLIVES

The majority of "influencers," who have devoted videos to the slew of easter eggs found, I've noticed, aren't exactly fans of Mortal Kombat aside from casually playing the games "here and there." So I've uploaded a zip file with screencaps and am elaborating below on the easter eggs... and to clarify some things as needed.

Note: This breakdown was completed after my analysis above, so if my opinion changed on anything or further evidence has been found you will find it below. Also, none of this breakdown is revealing and I will not spoil anything even with my knowledge of the leaks, so everything is just presumptuous as a fellow fan observing what I see.

The link to all 159 screencaps I captured using freeze-frame, literally sitting here and capturing the best or most revealing frames (so they may not be crisp as others) is here: http://www.wskel.com/MK/mk2021_tt1_red.zip

Without Further Ado:
(Photo numbers are in parenthesis () in the file names)

1

This is the RED BAND screen advising viewers this trailer has only

been approved for appropriate audiences by the MPA; this means no

one under 18 can watch this trailer.

2-3

As a flashback with voice over narration by Sonya Blade, Jax is

searching for a fugitive in abfrozen building. He finds him and

the fugitive freezes his arms and shatters them.

4-5
We learn Sonya is telling this story to Cole Young inside what

appears to be an underground bunker.

6-7

These are studio logos. Nothing special about them, right? WRONG!

Notice how in 6 the Warner Bros logo is surrounded by flaming hot

ash and in 7 the New Line Cinema logo freezes?

8-10

Cole Young enters his MMA gym. Here he is having a conversation

with his daughter Emily and presumably Jax; In 9 Cole shows off

his mysterious Dragon birthmark. This is the same Dragon logo used

during production including on all film cast and crew memborabilia

such as hats and waterbottles.

11-12

Cole Young in a MMA fight with an unknown opponent. Notice the

slew of extras, especially those at cageside (not seen is the

female, likely his daughter, on the left side of cageside). Cole

appears to kick the opponent near the heart.

13-15

An erratic SUV is speeding under a bridge in a city. We see Jax

driving. Notice Jax's hands are still... human? That's likely due

to the fact the film is still being edited.

16

Cole, in a hooded jacket often worn by MMA fighters before walking

down to a fight, looks at his taped hands. Emphasis on the yellow

color of the tape. Does it have a meaning?

17-18

Mileena walking in Outworld. This has been confirmed as Outworld

by the director, Simon McQuoid. Notice the purple haze,

reminiscent of Outworld? Now notice the sun's position? This could

be sunset or sundown in Outworld.

19-20

Kano walking in front of a mural depicting The Great Kung Lao

standing over a defeated opponent.

21-22

Sonya still is talking to Cole. She's really obsessed with Mortal

Kombat has this room is littered in research, mainly photos. But

what are in the photos?

23

Inside Cole's frozen gym we see Shang Tsung facing off against...

Raiden!

24-26

Looking into a mirror and upset, a demon Scorpion spawns in Cole's

reflection, scaring him and causing him to look over his shoulder.

This would have been the perfect jumpscare and one James Wan is

known for putting into his horror films... an ode to the Krypt's

jumpscares in the games? Boo!

27-29

A ninja approaches in a forest. We see a harpoon attached to rope.

An unidentified man picks these up...

30

We now know him as Hanzo Hasashi aka Scorpion!

31

Lin Kuei warriors approach a frozen mother and her son... (Will we

see them DIE the same way we did in Scorpion's Revenge? We'll have

to wait to find out!)

32

Hanzo is devasted to see his dead family...

33-39

He fights back, brutally and violently killing these warriors.

These screenshots have been added to show how the visual effects

have not been finished, please take time to browse these.

40-41

Ouch! That's landing on your head, shit he's dead!

42-46

Give me back my dart, asshole!

47-48

An unknown person being killed with blood splatter by a sword.

49

INTERTITLE: "ON APRIL 16"

50

A wide shot of (left to right) Earth's champions: Kano, Liu Kang,

Sonya Blade, and Cole Young, in Outworld, approaching a large

mound, in what appears to be an unfinished shot depicting natural

Australia lighting.

51-53

Sonya and Kano fight scene... in Outworld?

54

Kano's eye laser in full effect in what appears to be a flipped

video because the laser should be coming out of his right eye, not

his left.

55

Liu Kang in Outworld.

56

Kano inside Sonya's bunker.

57-58

Liu Kang inside Raiden's temple igniting his fireball move.

59

Jax intro at an unknown location, likely a secret location, or

perhaps the gym?

60-61

Jax vs Reiko. This location is actually cool and resembles

something you'd see in the game's krypt. Jax appears to about clap

Reiko's head off. We'll have to wait and see what happens!

62

Kung Lao, beside Liu Kang in Raiden's temple, introduces himself.

63-65

Kung Lao vs Kano fight... but wait, why? Aren't they both fighting

for Earth? Anyway we see Kung klao deflecting Kano's eye laser

using his bladed hat.

66-67

Lightning strikes and materializes Lord Raiden!

68-69

In an unlikely unfinished shot, Raiden reveals his glowing

lightning-charged eyes inside the temple of Raiden.

70

Jax looking up... but at who... or what? We'll have to wait until

the movie comes out!

71

Jax shows off his new robotic, cybernetic hand...

72

Raiden slams down his staff as Earth's warriors look on. From left

to Right: Kano, Liu Kang, Kung Lao, Cole Young, and Sonya Blade.

To the left of Kano is Kitana's fan.

73-74

The omnious mound in Outworld gets zapped by lightning!

75

INTERTITLE: "EXPERIENCE A NEW AGE"

76-79

Inside a frozen gym we see Scorpion materialize in flames to

reveal his hideous firey demon skull.. oh my, looks like someone's

about to get flamed!

80

Liu Kang against a sunset, an ode to the 1995 film where Liu Kang

meditated on a beach, recalling his brother's death, before the

climatic events of MK.

81-82

In an unknown setting, likely Hell, glimpse of Scorpion looking up

into the camera.

83-84

Kung Lao vs Cole Young? Wait, why? Man this Kung Lao guy must hate

the other Earth champions!

85

Mileena, perhaps in a temple, licking the blood off her sai. Look

at her evil eyes and those sharp teeth, yikes!

86

INTERTITLE: "OF KOMBAT"

87

A Shao Kahn statue? But why? And what's behind it?

88-89

Is that a creature materializing?

90

Evil Shang Tsung telling his army consisting of Sub-Zero and

Mileena, behind him, to kill them, presumably the Earth Warriors.

91-92

Sub-Zero emerging from a smoky portal. Hope he doesn't die from

carbon monoxide poisoning!

93-95

Ryu... I mean... Liu Kang slamming fiery fists into the ground...

96-97

A flaiming Dragon emerges to threaten the existence of... Kabal!

98

Goro rises in the air against an armored Cole Young!

99

Sub-Zero throws hail and sleet against a slew of parked cars... oh

you know it's on!

100-102

Liu Kang vs Kabal... notice how much younger Liu looks in 102 like

iut's Ludi's stuntdouble?

103-141

Sub-Zero vs Scorpion fight inside a frozen gym. Pay close

attention to these photos. Notice the effects aren't complete and

sometimes you will see the actual stuntdoubles for both Scorpion

and Sub-Zero (hint: when you see a younger, fatter Scorpion,

that's the double). Also in 135 you clearly see an armored Cole

young. But wait..,. where did he get that armor from?

142

TITLE CARD: MORTAL KOMBAT

143

Shang Tsung.

144

Reiko is attacked by Jax.

145-149

Sonya and Cole pitted against Mileena. In these shots we see right

through Mileena where, presumably, Sonya shoots an energy ring

through her like in the games. Notice in these unfinished shots

you will see who appears to be Tara Macken of Hunger

Games/Raze/Avengers fame serving as Mileena's stuntdouble.

150

Hanzo with a sword inside a Lin Kuei warrior's skull...

151-153

Clearly SiSi Stringer as Mileena coming at Sonya. Sonya screams in

horror signifying Mileena has somehow hurt her.

154-158

Godzilla is that you? In what fans are presumbing is Reptile,

inside a burning bunker, Kano slams his hand into the monster's

chest and rips out his heart, loving every minute of it!

159

Final title screen. The film will be in theaters and HBOMax April

16. Also available in Imax.

The flaming stuff behind Kano appears to be Sonya's Conspiracy Theory/Heist Planning Board. Could be wrong.

Ka-Tra

i wont mind if they say this is extenson of mk legacy season aslong hey don mk legacy season 2 what a disater that season was also do you know mel jarnson is playing