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Courtesy of Entertainment Weekly, the upcoming Mortal Kombat film has received a slew of first look images, with an appropriate amount of frozen-framed fisticuffs for the whole family.
Mortal Kombat has seen a bit of a rocky road to release, its timeline converging with the coronavirus pandemic such that we haven’t seen so much as a teaser trailer for the latest cinematic depiction of the seminal fighting series. Following their groundbreaking streaming plans, Warner Bros. announced last month that the film would see simultaneous release to theaters and HBO Max April 16, 2021.
Besides the new images, director Simon McQuoid provided some insight on the film, noting that the blood that the series is famous for represents “family,” as well as carnage. “Blood represents a connection. Blood represents who we are. Without getting too overcomplicated, what we did is use blood executionally.” Clearly aiming to tell at least somewhat of a story in between bouts of brutality, McQuoid also mentions the research put into the film, imparting symbolism on things like iconic brawler Scorpion’s (played in the film by Hiroyuki Sanada) kunai dagger.
Focusing on the iconic rivalry between Scorpion and Sub-Zero (Joe Taslim), Mortal Kombat, Sanada describes the film as “a family drama with excitingly brutal fighting.” Whether “family drama” comes to mind for most Mortal Kombat fans remains to be seen, but I think the intention here is pretty clear: Tell a story worth telling while keeping the action somewhat justified.
Besides the iconic leading ninjas, crucial characters Shang-Tsung (Chin Han), Jax Briggs (Mehcad Brooks), and Sonya Blade (Jessica McNamee) make appearances, as well as the Shaolin monks Liu Kang (Ludi Lin) and Kung Lao (Max Huang). There will be no shortage of fists flying when Mortal Kombat hits screens, that’s for sure.
Though still being edited, McQuoid was sure “it’s definitely not gonna get a PG-13 rating,” insisting that the comment isn’t meant as hype or exaggeration, citing the technical side of haggling a rating with the MPAA. “It’s amount of blood, it’s amount of red… We had a lot of discussions about getting the balance right so there was gore and there was blood and there were fatalities. And there is gore, blood, and fatalities.”
Sounds about right for an R, then. Stay tuned for more Mortal Kombat updates.
Source: Entertainment Weekly