Warner Bros Pictures has given audiences a sneak peek behind the scenes of the newMortal Kombatmovie. The three-and-a-half-minute featurette includes behind-the-scenes footage and inter clips, introducing us to the cast and characters of the latest adaptation of thenotoriously bloody video game franchise.
First up is director Simon McQuoid, who discusses his desire to both respect the material and the fans when approaching the video game franchise. This will be the third live-actionMortal Kombatfilm, which had previously been stuck in development hell for decades. The previous two films were financial and critical bombs, so there is a lot of pressure for this new adaptation to perform well.
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The first cast member introduced is Lewis Tan, who plays the character Cole Young, an MMA fighter whosetrue identity has yet to be revealed. While the other main characters are direct adaptations of their video game counterparts,Young appears to be an original charactercreated for the film. In the video, Tan talks about how the new film is a powerful experience that audiences haven’t seen yet, calling it a “grounded, dramatic, but violent tale.” Tan has appeared in other action heavy movies and tv shows, including Netflix’sIron Fist, AMC’sInto the Badlands,andDeadpool 2.
Next is actor Chin Han who calls theMortal Kombatstory universe “expansive.” Han is a veteran Singaporean actor whose onscreen credits includeThe Dark Knight,Captain America: The WinterSoldier,and the 2018 Dwayne Johnson action movieSkyscraper.Han plays the character Shang Tsung,who in the games is an evil warlock who absorbs the living souls of those he defeats in order to maintain his youth and power.Next is Indonesian martial artist Joe Taslim, who plays fan-favorite Sub-Zero. Taslim is best known for his work on the intense and violent Indonesian action moviesThe RaidandThe Night Comes for Us.Along with Scorpion (Hiroyuki Sanada) Sub-Zero is one of themost recognizableMortal Kombatcharactersand has been around since the first game. He is a fierce warrior with the innate ability to control ice,which he uses to devastating effect.
The video continues to introduce the rest of the leading cast, including Jessica McNamee as special forces officer Sonya Blade, Mehcad Brooks as her robotic armed commanding officer Jax, Josh Lawson as the laser-eyed Kano, Ludi Lin as the Bruce Lee inspired Liu Kang, Max Huang as Kung Lao, and Tadanobu Asano as Raiden.
The video continues with members of the cast explaining the importance of playing the characters authentically and having actors who are also capable of performing the movements required for the extensive fight choreography. Finally closing out the video is McQuoid again, explaining thatMortal Kombatis not simply just a game, but a rich cinematic experience with heart and emotion that he says should make for a “fun, powerful ride”.
Mortal Kombatwill be coming to theaters and HBO Max on April 23rd.
