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Hollywood has forgotten what to do with the human body.
This truth has seeped into every genre of film today.
Musicals lack wit and the understanding that more than just the face can tell a story.
I didnt want depth or intelligence or high-minded subversion.
I wanted to see people ripping out spines and shoving swords into the eye sockets of their enemies.
Given this,Mortal Kombatis the last kind of film that needs to be explained.
It should be ridiculous.
But dont we deserve better?
I can takeMortal Kombats slapdash script.
What I cant take is its lack of visually intriguing and understandable fight scenes.
At first blush, this scene appears competently composed.
But upon closer examination, all of the fight scenes reveal themselves to be sloppily constructed.
What marrs them are the incessant cuts, each jumping to a new angle.
The fights have no room to breathe.
These choices undercut the ability to establish the characters personalities through their physicality.
One of the distinct joys of the video games is the diverse breadth of their characters.
One of its greatest characters, Kitana (my personal favorite), is nowhere to be found.
The scripts issues arent easy to ignore, either.
Its heavy on exposition in what should be a simple, straightforward, punch-to-the-gut kind of story.
(Of all the turns in this film, none include an actual tournament.)
Anderson adaptation does him no favors.
(Hes also involved in the upcomingShang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.)
There are moments, however fleeting, that do work.
Mileena (Sisi Stringer) licking her sai clean of Sonyas blood, her jagged teeth and eyes gleaming.
Leaves splattered with blood.
An occasionally sharp vulgarity.
But these moments lack the energy and boldness that would inspire a swell of excitement in the viewer.
Mortal Kombatisnt notably bad its just disappointing and indicative of larger problems with indistinctive filmmaking in Hollywood.
There are exceptions, like the sprawling Keanu ReevesledJohn Wickseries.
