Movie · 2021 · Action, Fantasy, Adventure · 1h 50m · R · English
Curator score: 0.8/10 (487.4K ratings)
Get over here!
Overview
Washed-up MMA fighter Cole Young, unaware of his heritage, and hunted by Emperor Shang Tsung's best warrior, Sub-Zero, seeks out and trains with Earth's greatest champions as he prepares to stand against the enemies of Outworld in a high stakes battle for the universe.
Ratings
Curator score: 0.8/10
IMDb: 6.1/10
Letterboxd: 2.46/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 55%
Metacritic: 44
TMDB: 7.0/10
Director
Simon McQuoid
Production
Atomic Monster, Broken Road Productions, New Line Cinema
Cast
Lewis Tan, Jessica McNamee, Mehcad Brooks, Josh Lawson, Ludi Lin, Max Huang, Tadanobu Asano, Chin Han, Hiroyuki Sanada, Joe Taslim, Sisi Stringer, Daniel Nelson, Matilda Kimber, Laura Brent, Mel Jarnson, Nathan Jones, Ian Streetz, Yukiko Shinohara, Ren Miyagawa, Mia Hall
Where to watch
Max
Curator Review
Verdict
A glossy, violent game adaptation that mostly works as a prelude to the real spectacle. It has strong fight choreography, a few memorable character beats, and enough gore-fueled fan service to satisfy genre fans, but the story is thin, the pacing is lopsided, and it often feels like it is holding back the tournament it was built around.
Best for
fans of video game adaptations
viewers who want stylized fantasy brawls
audiences looking for gore and creature effects
people who can enjoy cheesy lore and franchise setup
Skip if
you want a self-contained story
you need a true tournament movie
you dislike exposition-heavy worldbuilding
you prefer bright, playful action over grim seriousness
Overview
Mortal Kombat is at its best when it stops explaining itself and starts throwing people through walls. The action has real impact, the fatalities deliver the promised shock value, and the film occasionally finds the right balance between comic-book absurdity and brutal spectacle. When it leans into the mythology, it can be fun in a pulpy, late-night way.
Worth noting
The problem is that it spends too much time setting up a bigger movie instead of being the movie in front of us. The new hero framework dulls the weirdness that makes Mortal Kombat memorable, and the pacing keeps deferring the payoff. It often feels like a prologue stretched to feature length.
Bottom line
For fans of the franchise, there is enough blood, elemental powers, and recognizable iconography to justify the watch. For everyone else, it is a decent-looking but uneven action fantasy that never fully earns its own title. The result is more competent than inspired, more tease than knockout.
Top Letterboxd reviews
David Sims (2.5★) · 5941 likes
none of these movies have ever explained why they spell combat with a k
Mohammed 🕸 (3★) · 3969 likes
The entire movie was a trailer for the sequel
Karsten (1.5★) · 2213 likes
gotta know which of the three writers that wrote Mortal Kombat (2021) threw in the line “all the great artists are a little twisted, man”
Amanda the Jedi (3★) · 1724 likes
I simply do not know what people were expecting.
Is it perfect? No. Is it rushed at times? Yes. Are some of those performances rocky? Absolutely.
Was it a fun time?? HELL YEAH IT WAS - LET'S FRICKEN GO BABY
FRICK EM UP! Say the cheesy one liners!
It's a story about a fighting tournament for the fate of the world, could it get super deep and flip our perception? Sure. Does it have to? No.
I would have loved… more
No Given Name (4★) · 1527 likes
Cheesy lines? CheckBlood? CheckFatalities? CheckBad Raiden? CheckBad story? Check
I love it
2008 · Drama, Action, History · 1h 46m · R · Curator 7.3/10 (365.6K ratings) · Where to watch: Hulu, fuboTV, Peacock Premium, FlixFling, Hi-YAH, Peacock Premium Plus
A polished martial-arts drama that pairs emotional stakes with elegant, forceful combat.