The attempt at funny banter between characters fell flat for me. But everything else was spot on.
I thought for sure that’s where things were heading up to that point. When he started glowing or whatever during the Goro fight I thought “This is it. Here comes Scorpion!” but then his powers just manifested as some absorber armor skin that didn’t really seem to help him keep from getting his ass beat by SZ at the end. Although I loved Scorpions grand entrance during the finale I think they missed an opportunity right there.
As an aside were SZ/Scorpion Chinese/Japanese in the games like they were in this movie? I don’t remember that bit.
Almost all of it, without knowing anything about Mortal Kombat it’s a mediocre kung fu movie.
That’s canon dating all the way back to the original game, though you probably had to be pretty well-steeped in the lore since it’s all in the manuals and magazines more so than the game itself. Scorpion/Hanzo Hasashi was the leader of the Shirai Ryu ninja clan, who was murdered by Sub-Zero/Bi-Han of the Chinese Lin Kuei order of assassins. I don’t recall whether this was supposed to have happened 400 years ago as portrayed in the movie, or in modern times.
Canonically, Bi-Han dies during the first game, and the Sub-Zero in subsequent games is his brother Kuai Liang, who becomes an ally to Scorpion. If the sequel they hinted at in the closing scene gets made I’d expect that character to make an appearance. I hope it does - WWE’s Mike “The Miz” Mizanin has expressed an interest in playing Johnny Cage and has the support of Tobias and Boon, and given that his wrestling persona is that of a B-movie actor who thinks he’s hot shit and the greatest thing to ever happen to Hollywood, he’d be perfect for the role.
The problem with that is I don’t think The Miz is worth the reveal at the end and won’t put butts in seats. Now if The Rock was Johnny Cage that would actually make the ending twist worth it.
Dwayne Johnson is too much of a legitimate superstar to play Cage, though. The role is crying out for a bit player who thinks he’s on the Rock’s level but really isn’t fit to shine his shoes, and Miz has shown that he’s fully capable of being that kind of character.
Cena .
Nah, Cena’s still too legit. Bruce Campbell would’ve been a good Johnny Cage, but he’s too old for it now. Danny Trejo could probably pull it off despite his age.