Mortal Kombat (2021)

(R) ★★★

Director: Simon McQuoid.

Cast: Lewis Tan, Jessica McNamee, Josh Lawson, Tadanobu Asano, Mehcad Brooks, Ludi Lin, Chin Han, Joe Taslim, Hiroyuki Sanada, Max Huang, Sisi Stringer, Matilda Kimber, Laura Brent, Daniel Nelson, Damon Herriman, Angus Sampson, Nathan Jones, Mel Jarnson, Yukiko Shinohara.

"Ice to meet you? I don't get it."

The old 1995 Mortal Kombat film has enjoyed a re-evaluation in recent years. But as beloved as it is for its cheesiness, fan service and mid-'90s nostalgia, it lacked the one thing that set its video game inspiration apart from most other fighting games - over-the-top, blood-drenched violence.

That's not the case with this R-rated reboot, which unleashes fatalities in all their claret-soaked glory. And - surprise, surprise - the endless and enjoyable fights are combined with a simple but serviceable story that's delivered by a solid cast of B-listers with just enough panache to ensure this version lands its punches and honours its origins.

As with the source material, plot is like a bonus feature on top of the fighting. For what it's worth, the story revolves around bad guys from an evil realm coming to Earth to defeat our best fighters as part of a transdimensional takeover. Among humanity's last hope is a washed-up MMA fighter (and new MK character) Cole Young (Tan), former soldiers Sonja Blade (McNamee) and Jax (Brooks), and wise-guy criminal Kano (Lawson).

Unless they can unleash their secret inner powers before the coming of soul-sucking baddie Shang Tsung (Han) and his minions, our world is doomed.

There's a low bar to get over for video game movies. The main rules are a) stay true to the source as much as is practical without being slavish and ultimately detrimental to the film you're making, and b) try not to ruin it with bad acting or bad writing. It's like doing a good cover of a classic song - figure out what it is about the original that made it great, treat that bit with dignity and respect, and make sure the bits in the between don't piss anyone off. Simple.

Mortal Kombat gets all that right. The script isn't going to win any awards, but it's not distractingly bad. There are a couple of clunky exposition dumps, and a few unnecessary lines straight out of the Captain Obvious School of Dialogue Writing, but largely it works. 

Same goes for the acting. Asano, Sanada and Han add gravitas, Lawson steals the show by swearing a blue streak and injecting some much-needed personality into proceedings, and McNamee is solid (and nails the American accent) as Sonja Blade. No one truly stinks up the screen, despite most of the rest of the cast being there for their butt-kicking abilities alone.

And the butt-kicking is where the film shines. The fights are great, digging deep into the games to pull out the various combos, signature moves and fatalities that made the console classic what it is. The fan service comes thick and fast, but it also makes for dynamic fight sequences that manage to avoid too much repetition. The editing hides some of the lesser fighters' capabilities, and some longer takes with the better fighters in the cast would have been welcome, but in between is a cavalcade of bits being ripped out, torn off, and sliced in half. 

This reboot gets what made the game fun - blood and battles - and it's just smart enough to make sure nothing gets in the way of that fun.