Mortal Kombat!! 2011?

arroway said:
I hope not.
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I also hope that things don't go that way. Problem is that they seem to be heading that direction. I just wonder if the studios will eventually just admit to themselves (and the audience) that they just don't want to hire writers and directors to do "original works" anymore. Maybe the rare occasion when a big name filmmaker wants to do something original. Even Avatar was a hard sell. Supposedly 20th Century Fox decided to foot the bill for Cameron because they didn't want the competing studios to have it, even though they didn't really think it was worth risking the money to make.

Then again, every movie is a financial risk, from no budget indies like El Mariachi at $7,000 to any mega budget $100+ million Hollywood blockbuster. Either way, the studios are continually moving towards less risk. The only way to continue to further mitigate the risk of lost funds is to keep moving towards "known IP" for film material. Sure it sucks, but it is the cold hard truth.

If it eventually comes to the point where all Hollywood movies are based on known IP, then isn't it easier for studios, agents, producers, etc. to gauge if new talent is capable by how well they can write and create stories in already established worlds like those of novels, comic books, TV shows, older films up for remake, and the dreaded reboot of a lagging property?
 
Looks like it paid off. Instead of a movie, they gave the director a web series. Two episodes are now available. New ones premiere every Tues. Would love to hear what the hardcore MK fans think of this series. My opinion, anything beats those old movies. I must admit, this is very good, especially the 2nd episode. In some ways, how this all turned out, it might be better then if they gave him a green light for a movie. This way, he has time to develop the characters and put more depth into the story. Check it out. My future prediction is, if this garners enough hits, a Feature film greenlit by Warner is in the pipeline, if not already.

 
This is much better than I thought it was going to be. It feels a lot more like Mortal Kombat than that wacky original pitch video where Baraka was a crazy torture-porn surgeon. Hopefully this web series will stay true to the Mortal Kombat mythology throughout its run. It did seem a bit like a generic action film until the second episode when we finally got some one on one fighting. I mean, this is Mortal Kombat and they spend a lot of time showing us an average shootout. And I have to say, the laser/plasma rifles were a bit much, and the effects seemed a bit off. I suppose they are hinting at the robo-ninja's and their energy weapons capabilities, but I thought the dudes with the energy rifles bit was unnecessary.

I have to admit, I am not totally thrilled with the fact that this seems to focus on Jax and Sonya. Liu Kang should be the focus, even though we already had that approach in the sub-par MK movies. I think that a great hero's journey structured mystical martial arts epic could be made from the MK mythos. But this is not my film, so I am sort of armchair directing here in saying that this is not how I would have approached the story.

Still though, not bad for what I would assume they had for a limited budget for this, so some slack does have to be cut in terms of production values.

Michael Jai White is a good choice for Jax ("who's interrupting my kung fu"). The dude that played Kano fit the part pretty well too. I don't see Helo from Battlestar as Stryker. That seemed like a really strange casting choice.

I'm curious to see how the plot develops, and whether we'll get to see Outworld and the more fantastical aspects of the Mortal Kombat universe (my favorite parts).

It will be easier to judge this once all the episodes have been released.
 
Nektonic said:
I'm curious to see how the plot develops, and whether we'll get to see Outworld and the more fantastical aspects of the Mortal Kombat universe (my favorite parts).
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I'm with you on this one. The way they set up how Kano & Jax came about is great. I hope they introduce all the characters in the same aspect. Not sure they they can maintain the realism of this though considering half of MK characters are mythical creatures. But so far so good. I'll be there next Tues for the next one.

One thing I do wonder about though, how much if any input the original creators Ed Boon & John Tobias has on this series. I hope lots but I'm guessing none at all. That would suck if none.
 
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I'm kind of bugged by a couple of things.

The police briefing scene was a bit over the top, the way it was written and directed. In fact, everything so far has been extremely over the top.
The factory was a cool setting for a Mortal Kombat fight, but it didn't fit naturally in the story. Wouldn't an underground operation like that be more natural in a small garage setting than a huge factory? And if they wanted that setting, why didn't they utilize it the way it would be used in a Mortal Kombat game? Like, they could have the characters punch eachother from one floor to another etc.

As far as the casting goes, I really like Michael Jai White, but if you're casting him as the lead for this you should make sure all the bad guys are even bigger and meaner looking. That's the thing about Milius' Conan The Barbarian. Arnold is really huge and really tough, but all the bad guys look even bigger and tougher still. They even bring that up in the commentary.

Looking at his fight against Kano... based on what we know about Kano at that moment (which is absolutely nothing), I'm surprised Kano didn't just **** himself and run for cover when Jax came after him. If he's a skilled fighter who can go up against a guy like that who's taller, heavier AND looks meaner, there should at least be some emotion going on between the two fighters. As it was now, it's just a choreographed fight that looks cool but means absolutely nothing emotionally.

See the emotions going on between the fighters in these fights?


I like the idea of Mortal Kombat Legacy, and it's far better so far than the movies but I just wish they wouldn't try so hard to make it "cool".
 
Jawa, you make great and very valid points. The only thing this can be attributed to is the director's choices . Not saying that any of them were wrong, but one director sees value in certain things and another in others.

For what it is, it's decent all around. Competent.
 
as far as i remember Kano had a plate on his face and wasnt UK resident ,guy cant even hide his accent.
Cliche after cliche ,JAx cant go but he goes ,you know what they will do and what they will say ,this is a joke.
They need to change writers finally cause watching the same stuff being said by different heads is not entertaining at all.
Mortal kombat and guns ? This is like dragon ball evolution fanbase rape.
Kills kills everywhere but sonya is kept alive on chains wow :)
Jax and Sonya are 2 most boring chars in MK universe its pathetic choice,they didnt learnt anything from MK special forces game.Who makes these decisions i dont know.
LEt me guess ,explosion caused kano metal face and jax's metal hands in next episode.
 
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You don't need to be a genius to guess that one. :)

But this could get interesting...sooner or later, I HOPE, they will involve Outworld. If it goes this way, Shang Tsung is leader of the Mafia with cool assasins such as Sub Zero or Ermac. And Sub Zero is science-something failed experiment who can survive at low temperatures. Or whatever. Everything so far is explained like it's happening in a real world.

If it does keep this way, how will they handle characters like Raiden, Shao Khan, Goro...?
 
bwwd said:
as far as i remember Kano had a plate on his face and wasnt UK resident ,guy cant even hide his accent.
Cliche after cliche ,JAx cant go but he goes ,you know what they will do and what they will say ,this is a joke.
They need to change writers finally cause watching the same stuff being said by different heads is not entertaining at all.
Mortal kombat and guns ? This is like dragon ball evolution fanbase rape.
Kills kills everywhere but sonya is kept alive on chains wow :)
Jax and Sonya are 2 most boring chars in MK universe its pathetic choice,they didnt learnt anything from MK special forces game.Who makes these decisions i dont know.
LEt me guess ,explosion caused kano metal face and jax's metal hands in next episode.
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I love your passion for MK LOL! Seriously! You know what though, I rather have this for now then nothing or something that can be easily much cheasier trust me. But I don't disagree with you one bit.

Look at it this way, at least there's no Techno music during the fight scenes, at least not yet :)
 
Why they have need to put characters from games in this world of guns ,swats and mafias is beyond me,they did it with street fighter too ,so.... if its for the money to put everything in the same "action and guns" bag then...
How about putting MK characters in pirates world ,let them sail looking for treasures ,rob other boats ,since those pirates movies ca$h so good these days ,good business ,lets ruin more games and lets terrorize fan bases,lets rape their childhood memories cause we can .
There was no need for this to look like that,just replace kano,jax and sonya name and i DARE you to find smething MK related in this MK series.
I dont know... if they are making it now and it will fail then there will be no green light for MK movie at all.
BUT there is this spiderman reboot and hulk was done second time so i dont know,anything can happen these days,reboots after remakes and reimagings.
Hey,scorpion can throw his parrot on the chain "get over here !",this would be great ,right ? This is what they do.
 
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Kholi said:
Jawa, you make great and very valid points. The only thing this can be attributed to is the director's choices . Not saying that any of them were wrong, but one director sees value in certain things and another in others.

For what it is, it's decent all around. Competent.
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I don't disagree with that, and there's still a lot of stuff I do like a lot about it. For example, I like the fact that they take the thing seriously. There's no winking at the camera. It's also very beautifully shot.

I'm a story geek though, and wish they'd focused on that as well as the visuals.
 
I might catch some flak for this, but I think the only way to do a truly kick-ass (from a narrative point of view) Mortal Kombat movie is to minimize the real world stuff and the robo-ninja stuff as much as possible for the sake of showing Outworld and some big epic one on one martial arts fight sequences. Mortal Kombat characters should be modeled on the archetypes used so effectively for Star Wars:

Liu Kang = Luke Skywalker
Shang Tsung = Darth Vader
Shao Khan = the Emperor
Raiden/Kung Lao = Obi Wan Kenobi/Yoda
Kitana = Leia
Johnny Cage = Han Solo

Then bring in characters like Kano, Sonya, Jax, Sub-Zero, Scorpion, and Reptile as supporting characters and henchmen.

Or how about The Matrix?

Liu Kang = Neo
Shang Tsung = Agent Smith
Shao Khan = the Architect
Raiden = the Oracle
Kung Lao = Morpheus
Kitana = Trinity
Johnny Cage = Seraph
The ninjas (Scorpion, Sub-Zero, Reptile) = the agents

The robo-ninjas Cyrax and Sektor should initially be unique characters, and then later revealed to be the first two prototypes of the robots that Shang Tsung is having build in China using cheap labor, so that the forces of Outworld have a fighting chance against Earth's technological military defenses.

The fighting should be choreographed like an actual martial arts film by people that know how to do it. This is Outworld. Let them fly around a bit like in Hero and The Matrix.

A few fatalities should be shown at the end of some of the biggest fights. No winking at the camera and having a character say "fatality" though.

Outworld should be a unique world in and of it self, that is a truly fantastical version of reality based on ancient Oriental cultures. Of course, the budget would be large, but for a live action Mortal Kombat, I say either go big or don't go at all. There is no reason that Mortal Kombat has to be cheesy because the games are. People accepted all the over the top or fantastical martial arts antics of The Matrix, Kill Bill, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Hero, etc. This style is perfect for a Mortal Kombat film that wants to appeal to audiences outside of the Mortal Kombat fanbase.
 
MATRIX movies hurt badly action/sci-fi genre ,after producers saw matrix they wanted to plagiarize effects and outfits and theyre doing this to this day.This is terrible IMO.:huh:
There was no good MK movie,they should kept original costumes from games but they never did,i hate how theyre making redesign of characters outfits for movies,its just stupid,no excuse for that.How about making it IDENTICAL to the game,is this really that hard to copy what you see.
Optimus prime mouth in live action transformers is real CGI disaster
 
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bwwd said:
MATRIX movies hurt badly action/sci-fi genre ,after producers saw matrix they wanted to plagiarize effects and outfits and theyre doing this to this day.This is terrible IMO.:huh:
There was no good MK movie,they should kept original costumes from games but they never did,i hate how theyre making redesign of characters outfits for movies,its just stupid,no excuse for that.How about making it IDENTICAL to the game,is this really that hard to copy what you see.
Optimus prime mouth in life action transformers is real CGI disaster
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The Matrix didn't start it, it was only popularized in american cinema by such. Very well, might I add.

As far as Mortal Kombat, honestly... as a video game and anime nut, the first one was about as close to appropriate as you can get for the subject. Let's face it: it never had a story to begin with outside of a tournament, and to try and inject some serious one into it just makes it look like SyFy movie, and this show is about SyFy caliber.

You can't get serious with these things, I think the original MK movie knew this, which is why amongst video gamers the MK movie is the best translation of a video game to screen. It was fun in the theater, it delivered the awesome, that's that.

Resident Evil? appauling

Silent Hill, acceptable.

I hope they never touch Street Fighter again without the budget to set it in a different world altogether.
 
Kholi said:
The Matrix didn't start it, it was only popularized in american cinema by such. Very well, might I add.

As far as Mortal Kombat, honestly... as a video game and anime nut, the first one was about as close to appropriate as you can get for the subject. Let's face it: it never had a story to begin with outside of a tournament, and to try and inject some serious one into it just makes it look like SyFy movie, and this show is about SyFy caliber.

You can't get serious with these things, I think the original MK movie knew this, which is why amongst video gamers the MK movie is the best translation of a video game to screen. It was fun in the theater, it delivered the awesome, that's that.
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I agree Kholi. Mortal Kombat as a film should be fun but not cheesy, and not too serious either. That is why I mentioned Star Wars as an example. Fun, but not over-the-top silly and with archetypal characters that stood out from one another and each one had a specific task, motivation, and just overall charm or something interesting about them. I think that would work with a Mortal Kombat film and would allow it to have a bit more of a story that people would give a damn about and would also satisfy the fans.

Resident Evil? appauling

Silent Hill, acceptable.
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Silent Hill was pretty good for a game movie. They definitely projected the games' dark atmosphere and sense of dread during many parts of the film.

As for the closest game to film adaptation, I am gonna have to go with a couple of the recent Halo live action commercials. While technically they are short short films, they do the best job I've so far seen of translating a game's universe and feel into live action without falling into the cheese factory.


I hope they never touch Street Fighter again without the budget to set it in a different world altogether.
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I thought the Street Fighter anime series was the best and closest thing to a proper film adaptation of the games.

Actually, I wouldn't mind seeing a Mortal Kombat anime series or movie. That would probably be the best way to do a lot of the fantastical stuff like Outworld and all the creatures like Goro, Reptile, and the centaur dude (Mintaro I think was his name?) while not needing a mega budget Hollywood production to accomplish it.
 
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Absolutely, Nek. Anime or cartoon is the best way to roll on Mortal Kombat. Then you can buy into the crazyness that is the world.

I mean, I think you can do a Street Fighter well,even if it's set in an urban jungle, but you really need the right sensibility and you sort of have to forget everyone else and work it for the fans. They'll fund it on their need to see the fan service alone.
 
I dont think first MK game was sci-fi,but adaptation of it would be gore and that kind of stuff isnt suitable for cinemas,they should be faithful to MK games 100% without any gothic monuments and made up arenas,i did not like MK movie at all.
If people are touching things like games and want to ca$h on them making movie adaptations then they should listen only to the fanbase or please GTFO of it :)
MK didnt had MAIN storyline really BUT it had costumes had mood and story for each character.
BTW there is another episode of this MK series,i didnt saw it yet tho.I dont know if i want to.
SF animes were great IMO,why they cant make movies like that ? I liked V series and alpha + full lenght animated.Only the last one wasnt that great.
 
Kholi said:
I hope they never touch Street Fighter again without the budget to set it in a different world altogether.
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I pray for this too.

Honestly, I would love to see the Mortal Combat movies done in a way they did Big Trouble in Little China, that was epic. That was done in the 80's, so I'm pretty sure it could definitely be done today to include all the elements of outworld. It would take a special kind of director to get it done. And this Fame dude is the closest so far, maybe if he gets a real budget he can do it. I think in the web series, he is very limited as to what he can do because of money.

But I did like the first Mortal Kombat movie, though it wasn't great, it was the closest I came to seeing subzero on the big screen, and that alone excited me.

But you know what, someone made a good point about not having any stories outside of the video game for a movie, that is somewhat true, but who ever saw Blood Sport? I wouldn't mine a Street Fighter Movie or Mortal Kombat movie being done in that form, because after all, we all play the games because of the one on one combats, and what better way to adapt it then actual one on one fights.

Speaking of the games, do any of you guys plan on getting the new game next week? After many years, their bringing the old 2D fighting style back.
 
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^ In this post we trust.

I am NOT getting the new game: my friend linked me to the Fatality Reel on GameTrailers and it was at that point I realized I was too old and conscious of the world to enjoy the brutal and quite disgusting fatalities portrayed in polygonal space.

No thanks. LoL
 
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