R.W.R.

I'm a little too hyped to keep this professional right now but Mortal Kombat Rebirth is f*cking awesome.  Please forgive me if I get any names wrong as it is hard to find information on this.  For those who don't know Mortal Kombat was an infamous fighting game that appeared in the early 90's.  Renown for it realistic violence and being one of a few games that helped create the ESRB, Mortal Kombat took video games to a new level.  This "review" if you could call it that, isn't about the video games.

Directed by Kevin Tancharoen and starring Michael Jai White (Dark Knight) as Jax, Jeri Ryan (Star Trek Voyager) as Sonya Blade, Ian Anthony Dale (Tekken) as Scorpion, Matt Mullins as Johnny Cage, Richard Dorton as Reptile, and Lateef Crowder as Baraka.  Unfortunately I couldn't find out who played Shang Tsung.  If anyone knows please post them below and I will add them.  I apologize for all the links, but some people may not be familiar with MK. (Shout outs to Casey for helping me out with Reptile's actor and the posts to interviews.)

Taking place in the fictional town of Deacon city, Jackson Briggs (Jacks/Jax) introduces our lineup of favorite MK characters to a mysterious man in handcuffs.  At first I was a little hesitant of the more serious approach and the filter put on the film.  It reminded me of the green filter in Michael Bay's terrible horror remakes.  I found after watching MKR that this filter was used appropriately as it gave the city more character by showing the state of disrepair Deacon city is in.  I was very pleased with the end result of this short.  The acting was excellent, especially from Michael Jai White and it genuinely had me believe that these characters could exist..  If anything this film is worth a watch for a great fight scene between Johnny Cage and Baraka.

Apparently this was made as a pitch to Warner Bros to revive this long dead series.  I enjoyed the more realistic approach, as it gave the film a bit more grounding and made it less cheesy.  After the travesty that was Mortal Kombat Annihilation I was dreading the next MK film.  As a long time fan of Mortal Kombat,  I would love to see this version (actors included) come to the big screen.  My only gripe is that Johnny Cage died, as my favorite character I demand he live!

I encourage everyone to take a look at this film and give me their opinions below.  Do you guys like the new direction this film may take should it be picked up?  Do you favor the old school movies that were much closer to the source material?  Either way, show the creators and actors your support by watching it and giving Warner Bros hell.  Make this movie happen!