Mortal Kombat: A simple formula that replicates the original’s guilty pleasures

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It’s actually quite simple – just try to recreate the original’s guilty pleasures. The only major departure in this third (and most exciting) movie version of the fighting blood fest in 1992 is the creation of a new character named Cole Young (Lewis Tan).

Cole is a thinly drawn cage fighter with a loving wife, adorable daughter, and a birthmark that looks suspiciously like the trademark of a video game franchise. And that’s more than enough to make him our lovable guide, as he’s been selected for Team Earth in an annual interdimensional demolition tournament.

Strangely enough, we never really see the competition. This Mortal Kombat is stuck in the training levels as Cole is coached by sensei Raiden (Tadanobu Asano) and meets his new teammates – military hard nut Sonya Blade (Jessica McNamee), metal-armed Jax (Mehcad Brooks) and a dirty-mouthed Aussie mercenary Kano (Josh Lawson).

Lewis Tan plays the thinly drawn cage fighter Cole (Image: Mark Rogers)

When the rival fighters from ‘Outworld’ boot camp gatecrash, director Simon McQuoid skillfully integrates the signature moves from the game into the film.

The pace certainly falls under the weight of his in-jokes, but when it looks like it’s getting a little too geeky for its own good, Lawson pops up with an outrageously funny and perfectly timed drop. The sexist, racist, hard-drinking Kano won’t get along with the Australian Tourist Board, but he’ll provide the right mix of blood and laughter.

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