Best bits:
-The backstory and story telling of the characters was great- Sub Zero and Scorpion had some of the biggest focus in terms of this as you will have seen for the release of the first 7 minutes. The back story gives you enough to go off as a newcomer, but if you are a new comer that asks questions about specifics, you wouldn't get the answer (about the clans) but that doesn't take away anything really.
-the gore was right- Understandably, this was something that they never really got right in previous telling's of Mortal Kombat, so it was refreshing to see actual gore and violence that they inherited from the games. This was absolutely necessary to make the story telling feel real. You needed this to understand the seriousness of what was happening.
-Sub Zero and Kano- These two were by far the best casting and talent showcasing of the movie. The trailer doesn't give much away about Kano, so his part was a big surprise in the movie. He was witty, funny, pulled out some brilliant one liners including one about a low kick. Sub Zero really gets showcased in the movie as a villain, and his screen presence was brilliant. You felt that anyone who came across him was in danger, and rightly so.
-Cole- I am all for Cole. The trailer didn't really give him justice and many fans were wondering "well, who the hell is this guy, and why should be care?". But I felt his character brought a sense of grounding to the story. AS much as characters like Jax and Sonya are regular people, we still know them as video game characters being brought to life in a movie. I think the addition of Cole was smart to help make the story and what was happening around you feel like it could all be real.
Bad? Bits:
Okay so there weren't really BAD bits as such, just things that maybe id want different in some way.
-Pacing- The movie felt short and everything happened so quickly. It felt like they wanted to tell so much in a short space of time that it felt like it interrupted the pacing. In sequels, i'd like to see a longer movie, between 2 and 2.5 hours. That may seem crazy, but i feel like we really need that length to help pace the movie, control the dialogue and allow for more development between the characters etc.
-fight scenes- I loves the fight scenes, they were brilliantly choreographed and the cast did an awesome job. However, again i felt like many of these scenes were shorter than they should be. It might be that I've become accustomed to longer fight scenes because of films like The Raid and im a big fan of Jackie Chan's fights because they have a good length of time.
-Casting?- While I believe that 90% of the casting was perfect (it really was!) I'm not sure how I feel about Raiden. I may be overthinking it, but I didn't feel like he was presented in the best way. He felt annoying, arrogant and didn't have much to say. It might be that the writers didn't pay too much attention to his script for this movie but will for sequels, so I don't want to pass too much judgement on the casting for that reason.
Conclusion: This movie in my opinion is the best video game adaption and easily beats the first movie. The issues needing to be ironed out are the pacing and length of the movie. You can easily add 30-60 minutes to this movie filled with dialogue and you wouldn't be bored of it. It needed it as some characters felt disconnected from others in a way. The movie stays true to the law of MK, and the character design and casting felt near perfect. The action was great but could be longer also. The gore was perfect. The Comedy aspects were perfect.
-the gore was right- Understandably, this was something that they never really got right in previous telling's of Mortal Kombat, so it was refreshing to see actual gore and violence that they inherited from the games. This was absolutely necessary to make the story telling feel real. You needed this to understand the seriousness of what was happening.
-Sub Zero and Kano- These two were by far the best casting and talent showcasing of the movie. The trailer doesn't give much away about Kano, so his part was a big surprise in the movie. He was witty, funny, pulled out some brilliant one liners including one about a low kick. Sub Zero really gets showcased in the movie as a villain, and his screen presence was brilliant. You felt that anyone who came across him was in danger, and rightly so.
-Cole- I am all for Cole. The trailer didn't really give him justice and many fans were wondering "well, who the hell is this guy, and why should be care?". But I felt his character brought a sense of grounding to the story. AS much as characters like Jax and Sonya are regular people, we still know them as video game characters being brought to life in a movie. I think the addition of Cole was smart to help make the story and what was happening around you feel like it could all be real.
Bad? Bits:
Okay so there weren't really BAD bits as such, just things that maybe id want different in some way.
-Pacing- The movie felt short and everything happened so quickly. It felt like they wanted to tell so much in a short space of time that it felt like it interrupted the pacing. In sequels, i'd like to see a longer movie, between 2 and 2.5 hours. That may seem crazy, but i feel like we really need that length to help pace the movie, control the dialogue and allow for more development between the characters etc.
-fight scenes- I loves the fight scenes, they were brilliantly choreographed and the cast did an awesome job. However, again i felt like many of these scenes were shorter than they should be. It might be that I've become accustomed to longer fight scenes because of films like The Raid and im a big fan of Jackie Chan's fights because they have a good length of time.
-Casting?- While I believe that 90% of the casting was perfect (it really was!) I'm not sure how I feel about Raiden. I may be overthinking it, but I didn't feel like he was presented in the best way. He felt annoying, arrogant and didn't have much to say. It might be that the writers didn't pay too much attention to his script for this movie but will for sequels, so I don't want to pass too much judgement on the casting for that reason.
Conclusion: This movie in my opinion is the best video game adaption and easily beats the first movie. The issues needing to be ironed out are the pacing and length of the movie. You can easily add 30-60 minutes to this movie filled with dialogue and you wouldn't be bored of it. It needed it as some characters felt disconnected from others in a way. The movie stays true to the law of MK, and the character design and casting felt near perfect. The action was great but could be longer also. The gore was perfect. The Comedy aspects were perfect.