Selected US journalists were allowed to see the first 13 minutes of “Mortal Kombat”. The first impressions give hope for a successful video game adaptation, inspired by Quentin Tarantino and Akira Kurosawa.
The video game adaptation “Mortal Kombat” is eagerly awaited by fans of the series. Finally, a serious blockbuster could be waiting for us here that lives up to its template. The first try from 1995, directed by “Resident Evil” and “Monster Hunter” director Paul WS Anderson, is actually only good as a B-movie that you watch with a wink.
Some US industry magazines have now shown the first 13 minutes of the new “Mortal Kombat”. The first impressions give hope for a successful film adaptation of the fighting game …
“Mortal Kombat”: Compare with Tarantino and Kurosawa
The scene shown to the journalists takes place at the beginning of the film and shows how the rivalry between the two iconic ninjas Hanzo Hasashi aka Scorpion (Hiroyuki Sanada) and Bi-Han aka Sub-Zero (Joe Taslim) comes about. We don’t want to go into the details of the plot here, but Bi-Han and his clan attack Hanzo’s home and cause a bloodbath there.
Gregory Lawrence of Collider describes his experience with the first 13 minutes of “Mortal Kombat” as “tough, captivatingly staged, very well acted and surprisingly emotional.” He also makes a comparison with a popular film by Quentin Tarantino:
“The moments of tension and hostility remind me a lot of the opening scene of ‘Inglourious Basterds’, where the bad [Nazi] Hans Landa breaks into a hut to find a Jewish family under the floorboards. ”“ Mortal Kombat ”would not let the tension rise so slowly, but lead to violence much more quickly.
Rob Keyes from Screen Rant Instead draws a comparison with another great director. The start of “Mortal Kombat” is staged in the style of a film by Akira Kurosawa (“The Seven Samurai”). A rural Japanese hut and a brutal armed conflict between two clans also contribute to this impression, as does the fact that the characters in the scene do not speak English, but switch between Japanese and Chinese. The US viewers have to read subtitles at least in this first scene: Not a matter of course for a Hollywood blockbuster.
Further comments on the “flawless” 13 minutes
Rosie Knight from Nerdist has high praise for the video game adaptation and describes the first 13 minutes of “Mortal Kombat” as “flawless”. Meagan Navarro by Bloody Disgusting In the meantime, he is largely reluctant to use judgmental formulations, but describes the “action-packed” opening scene as “successful in building up an emotional fall, while it effectively indicates how brutal the fight scenes are”.
It all sounds almost too good to be true. A film with the feeling of an Akira Kurosawa classic with the tension of one of the most brilliant Tarantino moments, which lives up to its iconic original in terms of brutality and action? Well, despite all the advance praise, such first reactions should often be enjoyed with advance, especially since it is only about the first 13 minutes that say nothing about whether the rest of the film can convince.
Detailed reviews of the overall result will not be long in coming either, as the film is due to be released in cinemas in the USA on April 16, 2021 and, at the same time, on the streaming service HBO Max.
When “Mortal Kombat” will start in Germany is currently still unclear after the recent cancellation of the last planned cinema date.
“Mortal Kombat” as a super-brutal anti-Marvel film: We learned that on the set of the film adaptation of the cult fighting game
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