Paul W. S. Anderson's original Mortal Kombat film from 1995 might not have hit the heights of the legendarily gruesome game series, but it was goofy popcorn fare and it very comfortably ranks among the better video game movie adaptations thanks to the generally low quality of that particular genre. Following promo clips for the new reboot, we kept our expectations in check, but the film recently debuted in US theatres and on HBO Max following a short delay and, by all accounts, it's pretty good.
With a US domestic box office take of $22.5 million over its first weekend (thanks, Destructoid), Warner Bros. will presumably be pleased with the movie's performance out of the gate, especially considering its 'R' rating.
Given the realities of COVID-19 and its effect on cinemas and cinemagoers across the world — and the fact that the movie is also available to stream from the comfort of your home — that's not a bad opening salve for director Simon McQuoid's latest take on the ultra-violent fighter series. Add in international takings and the film's worldwide box office figures currently stand at just over $50 million.
Whether the movie has the stamina to keep up a decent pace over the coming weeks is another matter, although reviews so far have been relatively positive, so perhaps it's got legs yet.
Have you caught the Mortal Kombat movie yet? Let us know your thoughts on it below.
[source destructoid.com]
Comments 42
and if they released it in the UK they would have gotten more money. Why do companies hate money by not releasing world-wide? Why WB, why you hate money?
Fun Fact: The word "Nintendo" does not appear once in this article
I thought it was pretty good. The opening scene was particularly good and I wish the rest of the movie would have had that quality throughout.
"by all accounts, it's pretty good"
Trust me, it is not. I went with low expectations, looking for good fatalities and some great action overall.
The action is a choppy mess, the story makes no sense and it introduces elements that have nothing to do with MK mythology and that are laughable at best.
Characters are boring beyond belief.
I am not joking when I say it would be better to just watch the original from the 90s.
All that said, Kano is hilarious, so when it comes on youtube, check the Kano scenes compilation.
@bluemujika Cinemas don't open in England until 17th May
That’s actually a really decent box office taking, considering it’s during a pandemic.
@KillerBOB
Good! It's all "Nintendo this" and Nintendo that" on this website and I'm sick of it!!
On a more serious note, get this film released in the UK already Warner Bros. ffs.
Pretty good, considering the budget probably wasn't huge and the pandemic has hit cinemas hard.
@KillerBOB It doesn't. The game series has a history on Nintendo platforms, though, and we imagine lots of readers will be interested in this new film and how it's faring.
We'll continue covering gaming-related news like this, in addition to all our usual Nintendo-exclusive/specific stories, so feel free to pass on the articles that don't interest you.
It was OK, i think the reviews have been fair. If a sequel gets green lit then they need to ramp it up as the story just left you wanting more from it.
Kano is hilarious though, very well written and the Scorp vs Sub Zero backstory was decent with some good fight sequences.
@bluemujika considering the anti consumer practices of wb published games I'd say that they love money too much
@uptownsoul Batman is a comic book character that has featured in games, rather than a game series that's made the jump to movies. Slightly different, no?
First act was good, last act was great, the middle act with the training etc was beyond boring. Lots of cool fan service moments though and Kano & Kabal were standout characters for me.
Love it or hate it at least it's better than MK Annihilation. That's gotta count for something.
As a huge fan of the game series i will always have fond memories of the original movie but at the same time i now see just how cheesy and awful it was. The costumes, the horrible CGI and the acting were all pretty terrible. Don't be blinded by nostalgia. They did a much better job this time around.
At least it was rated R and kept the gore that made the series so popular in the first place. Oh and the fights are way better too!
@TheFullAndy its still a very Nintendo relevant 3rd party franchise, seeing as 8 of the 11 mainline MK games have been on Nintendo consoles (exceptions being 8 (MKvsDC), 9 (MK9) and 10 (MKX)). Multiple MK spin-offs have also been on Nintendo hardware.
@roz061 I think they’re referring to the fact that it didn’t release on VOD services like previous WB movies (some went on Amazon Prime and some went to Sky - this movie was expected to go on Amazon Prime and it was on on the 23rd that WB confirmed that they have no plans to release the movie in the UK at this time).
Which sucks. I totally planned to watch it on Friday. Now I have to go and sail the high seas since the only official comment from WB is that they aren’t releasing it in the UK.
It's alright for what it is but I prefer the 90s movie still. At least this one has blood and gore in it though.
@roz061 Yeah but they could have released it for streaming.
@bluemujika yes I’m still waiting for monster hunter movie to release over here in UK
I watched this on HBO Max and I dug it. It's not great, but it hits a lot of the notes that I think it needed to. It had some cool fights and fatalities, some funny one liners. On the flip side, there is some lazy dialogue and limp acting, and it must be insanely difficult to sell MK as a believable fiction with live actors. There are some real issues with plot holes and logic, but what are you going to do?
I'm not a huge MK fan by any stretch. So depending on your familiarity and fervor for the brand you may find the movie wanting.
omg this movie is so bad, i watched about 45 min before i had to turn it off. this would have worked way better as a tv show in the right hands imo.
@KillerBOB also fun fact - the snes port to MK2 was earth shattering enough 28 years ago that NL could use that as a basis for any article here on out, regardless if one word is omitted
@NESlover85 i absolutely loved the beginning. i feel like it promised a way better movie than what followed. as i mentioned in my above comment, it would have made a great tv show with the right people working on it
Kano wins, you bleeping beauty! 😝
@Citano
I was joking.
Could of been even bigger if they'd actually released it in the U.k, instead everyone streamed it illegally.
@bluemujika but this article is about its box office success...
Sourcing Destructoid? Disgusting. Such a hive of scum and villiany.
@Crockin You're right. It would have made a good TV show...in the right hands.
The movie isn't without its flaws but it was fun regardless. Much better than the originals and good casting. I will say that I found Cole (the main protag) to be too cookie cutter for my tastes and they should have left him out and just focused on the popular characters. But its still worth watching for those of you who haven't seen it
Wow i seriously loved this movie. Action packed, welldone.
Cant wait to see the next one.
I will stick the the original thank you very much. Yeah it was a bit odd having Christopher Lambert as Raiden but he did a very entertaining Raiden and the actor for Kano was so good that they made Kano an Aussie in the games. Plus Shang Tsung was perfect. IMO they didn't need to remake that movie but latest face it unless it's a Superhero flick Hollywood had no ideas anymore.
Watched it last night really enjoyed it Kano was the definite stand out with a bigger budget it could've been better hopefully this makes enough money to greenlight the sequel & they can give it a bigger budget
Watched it this weekend, fun movie! In some ways it’s better than the originals - but I’m still missing Linden Ashby as Cage, Cary Tagawa as Shang, and Chris Lambert as Raiden. 😂
Hollywood def took a couple liberties in the overall story, per usual, but it made for a more cohesive story than the originals did.
Also, we may still yet see the original actors reprise their roles.... (spoiler ahead for anyone who hasn’t played MK11’s story) as Netherealm has made canon time travel and ability to alter events in time. This would allow for multiple versions of Raiden, Cage, Tsung, etc, just like Spider-Man: Multiverse...
And supposedly, if this does well, the actors are signed in for a 4 part movie deal, so we very well could see the story go all the way to MK11...
this movie was so bad that even my friends who have bad taste in movies said "wow, that was awful".
do not waste your time on this....it's really ridiculously terrible.
@MatoFilipovic it was awful, confirmed---and i had low expectations going into it. It's worse than i even expected.
IDC what anyone says, mortal kombat was awesome. Kano had me in tears for most of the movie.
@MatoFilipovic We must of watched two seperate movies cause......
Nice to know. I haven't seen it yet, but plan to on Wednesday.
I haven't seen it yet, however, I'm planning on watching it, at some point this week.
Awful movie. The original is still the best video game movie.
Lol too bad the movie was garbage it didnt even come close to the real mortal kombat movie.
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