Hong Kong action cinema has had it since the 80s, and Hollywood is just learning.įor many fans, Cole’s addition may be an off-putting element. To avoid any spoilers, we can simply say that Cole has a pretty significant role in the feud between Sub-Zero and Scorpion, birthing only the sickest fight scene between the three fighters towards the end of the movie.Īnd this is where the reboot wins the original, hands down, with the amazing fight sequences that shows you what happens when you put real-life martial artists and action choreographers in the mix. Cole, bewildered and confused, does whatever he can to save his family.
The movie then introduces Cole and his family at one of his boxing matches right before the family of three gets hunted down by Sub-Zero. It’s a heart-wrenching tale that not only makes sense of Scorpion’s taste for vengeance but also shows off how brutal and cold-hearted (pun intended) Sub-Zero is.
As seen in the trailer, the movie starts off with a Scorpion’s backstory and how his feud with Sub-Zero came to be. Of course, McQuoid has put in his own twist with the addition of franchise newbie Cole Young ( Lewis Tan), a stronger focus on the original Sub-Zero (Joe Taslim) as well as the feud that stands between him and Scorpion (Hiroyuki Sanada). Maintaining the video game’s known lore, where Outworld has won the tournament nine consecutive times, this reboot sees Singapore’s Chin Han take on the role of the vile Shang Tsung, who wants an absolute win and takes things into his own hands and challenges Earthrealm’s fighters in order to invade and take control of the realm once and for all. Each realm sends its best fighters and goes into combat that only ends when an opponent dies. The whole basis of the tournament is to protect each realm from being invaded by other realms. With that, McQuoid has gone ahead to embrace the violence and gore that is a signature of the franchise. Directed by Simon McQuoid in his directorial debut, 2021 Mortal Kombat has the advantage of better special effects and over 30 years of history, video games, comics, and books to tap on.