Mortal Kombat 2021

[Rocketboy1313]

It gets worse because Lewis Tan would have been able to play a good chunk of them. Johnny Cage, Liu Kang, Kung Lao, Sub-Zero II, Scorpion (via possession!), Kenshi, Takahashi Takeda, and so on. Cole is an okay character but his role as the everyman isn't something we really needed to create a new character for. It's like doing a Street Fighter: The Movie remake except the protagonist is a blond red-gi wearing American karate champion named Bill. Worse, maybe get him played by someone too good for the part like Chris Evans or Ryan Reynolds.

Charles you are a great writer, so this whole review is a fun read, but that line in particular had me laughing longer than it should have.

[Beastro]

Cole is an okay character but his role as the everyman isn't something we really needed to create a new character for. It's like doing a Street Fighter: The Movie remake except the protagonist is a blond red-gi wearing American karate champion named Bill. Worse, maybe get him played by someone too good for the part like Chris Evans or Ryan Reynolds.

One of the producers explained why they did it: https://www.sausageroll.com.au/entertai ... for-movie/

Despite the title latching onto one aspect, which is annoying in an of itself, the main issue seems to be production convenience (I'd say laziness) and typically underestimating of the audience:

“There are a lot of characters in the Mortal Kombat universe and there’s no character I could take and dust off and give a new backstory. We needed somebody to completely manipulate, so there’s not 30 years of people going, ‘You can’t do that.’”

He continued: “I feel like if I was getting to make a movie with a diverse cast, it felt weird to have a white actor, literally Johnny Cage, be the hero of the story.”

So they wanted a tabula rasa to completely mold to the structural demands of their story, rather than integrate Cage in as someone who's still a great introductory/fish out of water character asking these questions, but they'd have had to fit in his background and make compromises with it, which they blanched at.

[CharlesPhipps]

Part of the issue is that Cole's story is so....bland.

His family only exists to give him something to defend, which is barely there. Eliminate them, make Cole a former B-Movie star doing MMA fights and the story almost wouldn't change.

I think the director also overestimates how much Johnny Cage's whiteness is important to the guy.

But I am biased because in my fantasy casting for JC, I had picked...Lewis Tan.

[Thebestoftherest]

Part of the issue is that Cole's story is so....bland.

His family only exists to give him something to defend, which is barely there. Eliminate them, make Cole a former B-Movie star doing MMA fights and the story almost wouldn't change.

I think the director also overestimates how much Johnny Cage's whiteness is important to the guy.

But I am biased because in my fantasy casting for JC, I had picked...Lewis Tan.

I just don't want this to be like Alice in resident evil where they put the story of the games and it own story to the back burner to make their new character seems better.

[McAvoy]

Part of the issue is that Cole's story is so....bland.

His family only exists to give him something to defend, which is barely there. Eliminate them, make Cole a former B-Movie star doing MMA fights and the story almost wouldn't change.

I think the director also overestimates how much Johnny Cage's whiteness is important to the guy.

But I am biased because in my fantasy casting for JC, I had picked...Lewis Tan.

I think they wanted to do a parallel to Scorpion's own character arc especially since they are related to other. That Cole inherited the 'dragon' mark or whatever.

He was bland. Like I said the only of that group that was interesting the shit talking laser eye guy. This was really a Scorpion versus Sub Zero movie to be sure.

[Beastro]

Part of the issue is that Cole's story is so....bland.

His family only exists to give him something to defend, which is barely there. Eliminate them, make Cole a former B-Movie star doing MMA fights and the story almost wouldn't change.

I think the director also overestimates how much Johnny Cage's whiteness is important to the guy.

But I am biased because in my fantasy casting for JC, I had picked...Lewis Tan.

I just don't want this to be like Alice in resident evil where they put the story of the games and it own story to the back burner to make their new character seems better.

That's why the original MK, however bad it was relative to other movies, was and remains one of best video game movie adaptations ever done. About the closest I've seen come to it is, of all movies I never thought I'd say this, last years Sonic.

[McAvoy]

Part of the issue is that Cole's story is so....bland.

His family only exists to give him something to defend, which is barely there. Eliminate them, make Cole a former B-Movie star doing MMA fights and the story almost wouldn't change.

I think the director also overestimates how much Johnny Cage's whiteness is important to the guy.

But I am biased because in my fantasy casting for JC, I had picked...Lewis Tan.

I just don't want this to be like Alice in resident evil where they put the story of the games and it own story to the back burner to make their new character seems better.

That's why the original MK, however bad it was relative to other movies, was and remains one of best video game movie adaptations ever done. About the closest I've seen come to it is, of all movies I never thought I'd say this, last years Sonic.

Sonic was a very enjoyable movie. Though I am not up to date on that character, did he ever show up in the real world like in the movie?