Movie Review: Mortal Kombat (2021)

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Despite a strong opening sequence, “Mortal Kombat” quickly devolves into a mess, with a lackluster plot and mediocre characters that don’t do their video game counterparts much justice. The film very quickly rushes through the lore of the Mortal Kombat tournament, which will probably lose viewers unfamiliar with the video games franchise. Quickly cutting from the relatively grounded earth-based characters to the bizarre Outworld menace makes the villains seem a little silly instead of threatening. The plot rushes by, giving little time to get attached to the main characters. And it doesn’t help that poor acting, uninspired casting, and mediocre character designs give the film nothing to fall back on. The only standout in the bunch being Kano, and even he borders a bit on being over the top and too much of a joke to take serious. The fight scenes are also generally pretty uninspired. The hand-to-hand stuff is nothing special, and the sporadic use of magic powers doesn’t mesh well with the choreography. The film is quite bloody, but the gore and fatalities can’t salvage the overall product.

*1/2 out of *****

TV Review: The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (Season 1)

***This review contains minor spoilers***

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The second entry to the Marvel Studios’ streaming shows goes back to the more traditional superhero formula, and yet the show is less about the “punch them up” action and more about overcoming personal baggage. While it delivers on both fronts, a lack of clearly-defined stakes take away any sense of urgency.

Essentially, the main plot boils down the heroes trying to locate and stop the Flagsmashers, while the secondary story deals with The Falcon’s reasons for not taking up the mantle of Captain America, and the Winter Soldier’s path of redemption. The more personal story arcs work great, especially Falcon’s. By the end you feel like he’s earned the right to make his choice. The “stop the bad guy” portion is where things get muddled. The Flagsmashers don’t do much to justify such intense of a manhunt, and if they weren’t super-soldiers, our heroes probably wouldn’t even be involved. And because they keep them sympathetic for most of the series and they only go full villain in the finale, it doesn’t seem like that big of a deal if they get away and nobody stops them.

While the main heroes are clearly defined, most of the remaining cast works in a grey zone. Former terrorists Baron Zemo, CIA agent gone rogue Sharon Carter, and new Captain America John Walker all display both noble and morally questionable traits. Pretty much everyone gets a chance to shine, whether it’s in an emotional scene or a badass action sequence.

The action is top-notch, with movie quality special effects. There are some amazing flying sequences with the Falcon, and a lot of well-choreographed hand-to-hand moments with a many of the characters. And while there is a lot of stuff designed to flesh out the characters and the world they live in, sometimes there’s a bit too much downtime and the show drags a bit. (But it rarely feels like they have anyplace better to be anyways.)

“The Falcon and the Winter Solider” is a fun superhero adventure, with some solid character beats that don’t shy away from real-life issues. The Flagsmashers spending most of the series feeling more like an annoyance and less like a threat makes show feel like it’s sometimes just spinning its wheels.

***1/2 out of *****