This month, EW is offering exclusive looks at more than two dozen of the most anticipated films of 2021. Check out more of our preview here.
When you think of Mortal combat, you think of blood. Buckets of that. That kind of horrible splash that comes from “kali ma shakti de” – an opponent in a wild fight to the death. But blood, as director Simon McQuoid thought for the restart of the video game-inspired film, has many meanings. “Blood represents the family,” he tells EW. “Blood represents a connection. Blood represents who we are. Without getting too complicated, what we did was to use blood in execution.” And it starts to flow from the beginning.
If this new one takes over Mortal combat, revealed in EW’s first exclusive photos, is a “blood universe”, so McQuoid says the kunai blade is at its center. It is the characteristic weapon of the fan favorite character, Hanzo Hasashi, also known as Scorpio, played by Logan and The Twilight Samurai star Hiroyuki Sanada. “We did some research and the kunai is actually an old Japanese gardening tool,” explains the director. “So one of the first scenes in the film is the kunai blade being used as a gardening tool by Hanzo’s wife.”
Mortal combat, produced by Todd Garner and Aquamanby James Wan, begins with a crucial piece of the tradition of the original games: the blood feud between the Hanzo and Bi-Han clans (WarriorJoe Taslim). The 10-minute opening sequence begins in feudal Japan, long before these fighters exert supernatural abilities like Scorpio and Sub-Zero, and ends in “a very unpleasant hand-to-hand combat” between the two, says McQuoid. That is why the debuting filmmaker cast Sanada and Taslim, two actors known for their martial arts prowess. “[Hanzo’s] the leader of a ninja clan and he is strong, but also … at first, he is a peaceful family man, “says Sanada.” It’s like a family drama with excitingly brutal fights. This is the image of the film for me ”, he adds.
Bi-Han and Hanzo’s story “needed to be told during the fight,” says McQuoid. “There are some great camera movements to add some dynamism, which makes it really enjoyable. We needed it to be really elementary and really brutal. It’s not a brilliant film … I wanted dirt and grime to appear.”
This brutality continues to the present, where we find Cole Young, a totally new character for the Mortal combat world played by actor and martial artist Lewis Tan (Wu Assassins, Into the Badlands), someone who prides himself on performing his own stunts, despite the pains and sufferings that come during training.
“When we met Cole, he was in a very bad position,” said Tan. “He’s out of luck. He’s kind of a failed MMA fighter who was a champion, who believed in himself, who had a lot of hope in his career. And it all went down the drain. It’s a very interesting place for a hero to start, and I think, throughout the journey of Mortal combat and Cole discovering where he comes from, you’re introduced to all these other iconic characters and elements that everyone loves so much. “
Cole knows nothing of his heritage, except for the mysterious birthmark on his chest – in the form of the Mortal Kombat symbol. Tan remains silent about how this birthmark connects to the character’s origins, but agrees that “it is a unique symbol” that “will eventually connect with the journey he is taking”. It remains the only clue that Cole has when the sinister sorcerer and emperor of the Outerworld realm, Shang Tsung (SkyscraperChin Han), sends Sub-Zero, now with its cryogenic powers, to hunt him down.
Major Jackson “Jax” Briggs (SupergirlMehcad Brooks), a special forces major who carries the same brand as Cole, encourages him to look for Sonya Blade (The megis Jessica McNamee). She takes him to the next stage of the journey, to the mighty Elder God known as Lord Raiden (Thor(Tadanobu Asano), who grants sanctuary in his temple to all those with the mark. There, Cole encounters even more recognizable characters than Mortal combat games – Liu Kang (power Rangers‘Ludi Lin), Kung Lao (actor and stuntman Max Huang) and Kano (Superstore(Josh Lawson) – while they all train for a high stakes tournament to defeat the invading enemies of Outerworld.
Tan is familiar with the idea of a legacy. His father, Philip Tan, national martial arts champion, began his film career in the film by Tim Burton bat Man and he progressed to a fight choreographer, stunt coordinator and second unit director. Tan has fond memories of rolling on stunt rugs on film sets as a child. Mortal combat now marks the actor’s first leading role in a high-profile feature film from the studio that launched his father’s career. Tan also realizes the legacy of the original games.
“I’ve been playing this game since I was a kid,” he says. “For lack of a better way to describe it, you don’t want to mess it up because it’s so iconic. You want to bring something new to the table that people haven’t seen before, but at the same time, they really respect and honor these legendary worlds that they’ve already were created. ”
Cole is certainly something that fans have never seen before. While many players can invoke the unique fighting moves of well-known names, such as Mileena’s daggers (played by actress Sisi Stringer), Tan used his own experience to develop a new style for Cole. He took from UFC fighter Jorge Masvidal that “grain of salt from the earth”, while also playing muay thai (also known as Thai kickboxing), judo, jujitsu and “MMA roots”.
“I wanted to make sure that everyone would respect the material, the tradition of Mortal combat, the fans and the love they have for it. All were clear, “said McQuoid about the development of the reboot. Respect for the material also meant leaning towards what makes Mortal combat so popular after all these years. Blood has a lot to do with it.
As a joke, McQuoid told stunt coordinator Kyle Gardiner to create “the best fighting sequences ever made in a film.” In reality, these action pieces are some of the most watched elements of the film that came out of the first test screenings, according to McQuoid and Tan. “We need to be smart about how we do [the fights], “watch the director”, and there are times when you’ll see it when you see the movie, when it’s just ‘F — that! Let’s have fun.'”
McQuoid is still editing the film, but he already knows that “it definitely won’t be rated PG-13”.
“Out of context, this quote may seem incendiary, isn’t it: the rules around ratings are not what many people think they are,” he says. “It’s an amount of blood, it’s an amount of red, it’s an interpretation of how you do it. We had a lot of discussions about how to get the right balance, so there was clotted blood and there was blood and there were deaths.” He pauses to repeat what he just said. “She It’s blood, blood and fatalities. ”
Fatalities, as in the dramatic final movements of the games, which often involve cutting someone completely in half or tearing someone’s spine, will be noticed for the first time in a Mortal combat movie. “There are some crazy fatalities,” confirms Tan. “We picked some iconic ones. There are a lot of really cool exclusive moves that you’re going to see, a lot of Easter eggs that we put in the movie, but there are some really tough fatalities that I can’t wait to see on the big screen. They’re brutal, man. They, they don’t “At the same time, McQuoid” did not want to enter NC-17 territory. ” He notes, “It’s amazing how quickly you can get there. It doesn’t take long.” At least not for one Mortal combat movie.
The film will be released simultaneously in theaters and on HBO Max on April 16.