{"id":35864,"date":"2016-05-09T22:25:29","date_gmt":"2016-05-10T05:25:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/?p=35864"},"modified":"2016-05-09T22:35:56","modified_gmt":"2016-05-10T05:35:56","slug":"challenge-week-18-mortal-kombat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/2016\/05\/challenge-week-18-mortal-kombat\/","title":{"rendered":"Challenge Week 18: Mortal Kombat"},"content":{"rendered":"

When I first announced this challenge back in December, Ken Gagne was one of the first ones to lock in his choices – but he chose a week in May rather than January. So I’ve had quite a while to consider his choices, and I’mma be honest, when Mortal Kombat<\/em> the movie was one of them, I had a moment of wondering if this whole idea had been a terrible mistake! Letting other people pick movies for me? Who knows what could happen? Well, what’s happened has been wonderful, and even the movies I haven’t been looking forward to have given me a lot of pleasure.<\/p>\n

This is a video-game based movie made probably before video-game based movies got the bad rap they have now, adapting the long-running fighting game series to the screen. I’ve never played Mortal Kombat (I’m a gamer, but fighting games aren’t my thing), so I had to look up on Wikipedia whether the story here has any relationship to the game, and apparently it does – so strange to me that a fighting game would have this amount of lore, but there you go.<\/p>\n

\"tf-liu-kang\"<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The emperor of Outworld wants to take over Earth, but his representatives need to win ten Mortal Kombat tournaments in order to do so. If it’s explained EXACTLY why this is, I missed it, and I’m not sure it’s particularly important. The important thing is that the protector of Earthrealm, Lord Rayden, finds three people he thinks can defeat the emperor’s right hand dude Shang Tsung in the tournament: young martial artist Liu Kang, with a prophecy and a revenge motive, Hollywood hotshot Johnny Cage, with an ego problem, and Special Forces type Sonya Blade, who’s after a crime lord and gets pulled into saving the world.<\/p>\n

It’s remarkable how similar the larger story is to the Power Rangers movie I watched a few weeks ago; I ranked that one lower than I wanted to (I enjoyed it, but it’s pretty cheesy\/teen show-esque and it came up against some tough competition), and this one ended up quite a bit higher, largely because it is still over the top, but is a bit easier to take seriously because of better acting and fighting. Basically, imagine the Power Rangers movie crossed with Enter the Dragon<\/em> and there you go.<\/p>\n

\"tf-Johnny-Scorpion\"<\/p>\n

The fight scenes are all pretty fun – my favorite was the one between Johnny Cage and Scorpion that started in a giant tree farm (no idea why they were there), but ended up in a hellish orange dimension with rickety poles and bridges and cages everywhere. It’s a marvelous set-piece design. I haven’t played the game, but I definitely recognized and got a kick out of the ends of fights when someone would go “FATALITY!” or “FLAWLESS VICTORY.” I did kind of expect it to be more gory, since that’s also something the game is known for, but this is pretty tame in the blood and guts department.<\/p>\n

The overall story\/lore is a bit silly, but you gotta take that as it comes with a movie like this, and I enjoyed it a lot. I wish some of the narrative transitions were a bit easier to follow (I thought I was paying attention, but I’ll grant I may have drifted a time or two), but nobody’s watching this for the story. I thought the fights were fun and paid off, and that’s what really matters in a movie based on a fighting game.<\/p>\n

Stats and stuff…<\/h3>\n

1995, USA<\/em>
\ndirected by Paul W.S. Anderson, written by Kevin Droney<\/em>
\nstarring Christopher Lambert, Robin Shou, Linden Ashby, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, Bridgette Wilson-Sampras, Talisa Soto<\/em><\/p>\n

I’m ranking all my Challenge films on Flickchart (as I do all the films I see), a movie-ranking website that asks you to choose your favorite between two movies until it builds a ranked list of your favorites. Just for fun, I will average out the rankings and keep a running tally of whose recommendations rank the highest. When you add a film to Flickchart, it pits it against films already on your chart to see where it should fall. Here’s how Mortal Kombat<\/em> entered my chart:<\/p>\n

Mortal Kombat<\/b> > Three Times
\nMortal Kombat < Rango<\/b>
\nMortal Kombat < The Music Man<\/b>
\nMortal Kombat < The Garden (1968)<\/b>
\nMortal Kombat < The Far Country<\/b>
\nMortal Kombat < November<\/b>
\nMortal Kombat < The Last Hungry Cat<\/b>
\nMortal Kombat < A Generation<\/b>
\nMortal Kombat<\/b> > The Ugly Dachshund
\nMortal Kombat < The Pruitt-Igoe Myth<\/b>
\nMortal Kombat < Hare Conditioned<\/b>
\nMortal Kombat < Sharps and Flats<\/b><\/p>\n

Final #1810 out of 3636 films on my chart (50%)<\/p>\n

It is now my #3 Paul W.S. Anderson film, my #24 Martial Arts film, my #3 Video Game film, and my #22 film of 1995.<\/p>\n

Mortal Kombat<\/em> was recommended by Ken Gagne, a friend from Twitter.<\/p>\n

A few quotes…<\/h3>\n

Shang Tsung:<\/b> Your brother\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s soul is mine. You will be next.<\/p>\n

Johnny Cage:<\/b> We got a guy with things comin’ out of his hands, we got another guy who freezes stuff, and then there’s a man, who as far as I can tell, is made out of electricity. I mean, how did he disappear like that? What is goin’ on here? WHO IS THIS GUY?
\nSonya Blade:<\/b> Let’s just think this through. There IS a rational explanation for all this.
\nLiu Kang:<\/b> He’s Rayden, god of lightning and protector of the realm of Earth.
\nJohnny Cage:<\/b> Oh yeah. THERE’S your rational explanation!<\/p>\n

Lord Rayden:<\/b> You’re about to embark on a secret mission. You have been chosen to defend the realm of Earth. In a tournament called Mortal Kombat.<\/p>\n

Lord Rayden:<\/b> I have looked into their souls… and yours. One of you three with determine the outcome of the tournament. The fate of billions depends upon you. <\/p>\n

Shang Tsung:<\/b> FATALITY.<\/p>\n

Johnny Cage:<\/b> [while fighting Goro] Those were $500 sunglasses, asshole.<\/p>\n

Liu Kang:<\/b> You can look into my soul, but you don’t own it.<\/p>\n

Shang Tsung:<\/b> Johnny Cage, I challenge you!
\nLiu Kang:<\/b> No! You’ll fight me. I am Liu Kang, descendent of Kung Lao. I challenge you to Mortal Kombat.<\/p>\n

Liu Kong:<\/b> Flawless victory.<\/p>\n

A few more screenshots…<\/h3>\n

\"tf-liu-kang\"<\/p>\n

\"tf-sonya-blade\"<\/p>\n

\"tf-rayden\"<\/p>\n

\"tf-creature\"<\/p>\n

\"tf-scorpion\"<\/p>\n

\"tf-forest\"<\/p>\n

\"tf-Kitana\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When I first announced this challenge back in December, Ken Gagne was one of the first ones to lock in his choices – but he chose a week in May rather than January. So I’ve had quite a while to consider his choices, and I’mma be honest, when Mortal Kombat the movie was one of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":35884,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3027],"tags":[3124,1981],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/tf-faceoff.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":35863,"url":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/2016\/05\/challenge-week-18-fail-safe\/","url_meta":{"origin":35864,"position":0},"title":"Challenge Week 18: Fail-Safe","author":"Jandy","date":"May 9, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"If Ken's other film Mortal Kombat had me a bit apprehensive going into it, I was pretty excited about this one - a political thriller based on the same book as Dr. Strangelove (and released the same year), but with a totally straight rather than satirical take on it. It's\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2016 Movie Challenge"","block_context":{"text":"2016 Movie Challenge","link":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/category\/film\/2016-movie-challenge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/tf-feat1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":35387,"url":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/2016\/01\/the-2016-movie-challenge-a-preview\/","url_meta":{"origin":35864,"position":1},"title":"The 2016 Movie Challenge: A Preview","author":"Jandy","date":"January 3, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Because I can't leave well enough alone, here's a brief rundown of (some of) what I'll be watching in 2016 for this crazy challenge. I currently have 50 people signed up to recommend me movies, and all but a handful have already chosen their picks, so this thing is scheduled\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2016 Movie Challenge"","block_context":{"text":"2016 Movie Challenge","link":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/category\/film\/2016-movie-challenge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/fc-keaton.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":35505,"url":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/2017\/03\/2016-challenge-debrief\/","url_meta":{"origin":35864,"position":2},"title":"2016 Challenge Debrief","author":"Jandy","date":"March 15, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Well, it's been almost three months since my year-long movie challenge officially completed, and it's taken me that long to decompress, rerank everything, and generally get ready to post a recap of the year. The short version: it was awesome! I watched a ton of movies I really liked, very\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2016 Movie Challenge"","block_context":{"text":"2016 Movie Challenge","link":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/category\/film\/2016-movie-challenge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/crop-400-Blows-watching.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":26743,"url":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/2011\/09\/50dmc-28-a-movie-i-refuse-to-see\/","url_meta":{"origin":35864,"position":3},"title":"50DMC #28: A Movie I Refuse to See","author":"Jandy","date":"September 2, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"The 50 Day Movie Challenge asks one question every day, to be answered by a few paragraphs and a clip, if possible. Click here for the full list of questions. Today's prompt: What's a movie you refuse to see? There aren't too many movies I refuse to see - in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Film"","block_context":{"text":"Film","link":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/category\/film\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/08\/salo.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":35577,"url":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/2016\/02\/challenge-week-8-mr-nobody\/","url_meta":{"origin":35864,"position":4},"title":"Challenge Week 8: Mr. Nobody","author":"Jandy","date":"February 25, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"So far in this challenge I've been assigned films that I loved, that delighted me, that I thought were okay, that surprised me, and that impressed me. This was the first one that blew me away. On Facebook I've been asking people involved in the challenge to guess which of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2016 Movie Challenge"","block_context":{"text":"2016 Movie Challenge","link":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/category\/film\/2016-movie-challenge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/tf-feat-pier.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":26283,"url":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/2011\/08\/50dmc-25-best-scripted-movie\/","url_meta":{"origin":35864,"position":5},"title":"50DMC #25: Best-Scripted Movie","author":"Jandy","date":"August 19, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"The 50 Day Movie Challenge asks one question every day, to be answered by a few paragraphs and a clip, if possible. Click here for the full list of questions. Today's prompt: What's the best-scripted movie you're ever seen? My excuse for falling so far behind getting to this entry\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Film"","block_context":{"text":"Film","link":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/category\/film\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/08\/50DMC-the-women.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35864"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35864"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35864\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35884"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35864"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35864"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35864"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}