teppo-2

... because I figured it'd be disappointing, just like the entire season. But it managed to be even worse than expected. I'm a pretty forgiving guy which is why my given score is most likely still too high, but this would've been a pretty poor series even if it was just an original generic fantasy series. However it is an outright crime when supposedly being about the Wheel of Time.

Aside from the plethora of changes to the core storyline - which were necessary in some form, even if not this form - none of the on-screen characters are even recognizable from the books. And I don't even mean the "racial diversification" of the cast - which in itself is unnecessary, given the breadth of cultures and races to be found in the world of WoT - but the characters, their personalities, motivations and everything that makes them, them. They even aged them up to avoid making it a "teen show" or some such nonsense that they stated, but yet their versions of the characters act like dumbass teens at best anyway, more so than their book counterparts. Heck, even the older cast are basically hopeless idiots here. Additionally magic here is mostly a deus ex machina-like crutch that pops up to save the day randomly in a manner entirely inconsistent with the magic system of the books.

Why does the showrunner and writers hate the source material so much? It wasn't a perfect book series by any means but this is just malicious. I'm entirely aware of the scope of the books and changes having to be made to adapt it to a TV show, but this is nonsense. Just because some changes are needed doesn't mean you scrap the original entirely. If the first 7 episodes were a progressing dumpster fire, in the finale the dumpster suffered a direct hit from a Tsar bomba after which the moon was derailed from orbit and landed on the damn thing for good measure.

I can't but conclude that the people behind this show are actually Darkfriends looking to tarnish Jordan's legacy. Nothing else really makes sense at this point.

I always liked the trilogy overall, the latter parts probably more than most people despite some of the nonsense in Revolutions in particular. I would've been more surprised than not if a sequel didn't appear eventually.

So, here it is, then. And... well, it could've been worse, but it definitely could've definitely been better as well. I do reckon it is weaker than even Revolutions, though rating Revolutions on its own is a bit tricky for me.

The film starts rather slowly. I must say it feels like a bit of a slog for a good while. It is somewhat of a similar "setup" as in the first film, but takes much longer to get going. The overall story isn't exactly all that surprising, treading a lot of old ground instead. Expected, but unfortunate when true to this extent.

One issue is also that there seems to be a bit of a lack of memorable characters. This continues throughout the film. The "replacements" for old cast members are forgettable, and especially a certain ex-agent just... doesn't even try to evoke the feeling of the original character. The way the possessed "Bane/Smith" did in the original trilogy, for example. Both of these two end up feeling pointless additions. The entirely new characters don't get much treatment either. Little backstory or anything, even if what little acting they do get to do is okay. There's also Niobe, who's also decent but very different (but hey, at least it's still Jada), and also a fourth sort-of-familiar face who I fully expected to appear... and did. (Talking of appearances, there are a bunch of "flashbacks" to the trilogy, which in a way perhaps fit story-wise but on the other felt a bit annoying.)

With the other cast out of the way, that then leaves us with Neo & Trinity. The latter gets much less screen time. Both performances are actually fairly good, though the characters definitely have changed. But that was to be expected two decades later, and given the story setup.

Finally, the main item of Matrix movies generally speaking - the action. I think this was probably the most disappointing aspect. It wasn't bad, but it was quite tame compared to the trilogy, lacking a lot of what made it cool. Quite basic and uninspired stuff, really. Action movie scenes have come a long way especially for melee fights since the trilogy, and while the trilogy still holds up (at least to me), here we - or at least I - are left wanting. Though one thing that still remains much the same is that no one can shoot worth a damn. Oh, perhaps worth mentioning that the imposing agents from the trilogy are basically gone. For whatever reason they are replaced by what are basically just mindless zombies. Just... why?

In summary we are left with a passable but uninspired effort. In typical fashion the ending definitely leaves open the option for more movies, but whether that happens or not is anyone's guess, and obviously also affected by how the movie performs with audiences and the box office. Despite my less than glowing review personally I wouldn't say no to another go, because if nothing else the ending does provide for the possibility of getting more of that juicier kind of action. Though there is the valid question of where to go with the story that doesn't just do more retreading of old ground.

It's not a BAD movie, especially for a "video game movie". But despite the director's self-professed MK fanboyism, it kinda manages to miss the mark.

The basic story was never going to be Shakespeare, obviously. But for some reason they decided to alter things quite a bit for no real reason, and not really for the better. Firstly, there's no tournament. Not a catastrophe by default, but still a somewhat unfortunate choice. The whole thing does kinda seem unnecessary for Shang Tsung's plan.

Then there's the matter of Cole, the main protagonist. Like a lot of reviewers, I find the character pointless. So many characters in the franchise, and they feel the need to make one up from thin air for no real reason. Why? It's kind of a slap in the face for fans. Doesn't help that the character really isn't particularly interesting at all.

Also, it's clearly designed as a franchise starter. Which also isn't necessarily a catastrophe by default, but at times it just feels painfully obvious that that is what this is, instead of a movie standing simply on its own right. Now, I don't mind as far as the sequel(s) actually see the light of day, but with video game movies being what they generally are revenue-wise, I'm not holding my breath,

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, given this is Mortal Kombat after all... the action. Well, it's R-rated, alright. But to me it seems strange that this really isn't much of a martial marts movie at all. The action is... I mean, it's not Star Trek (pre-Abrams) level of clunky or anything, but if this really was "Earth's champions" and even the Outlanders' best, man, that's some slim pickings. There's no "virtuosity" to be found. Hell, for all its flaws and campiness the 1995 movie had way better martial arts. For the most part this was like pulling a bunch of random thugs off the street and have them go at it. Things focused way too much on the "arcanas" of the characters rather than any real fighting skills.

Mixed feelings, in the end. It has better production value and acting than the 1995 movie, but they could've done so much better. If this does get a sequel, I really hope they'll improve the action if nothing else. After all this is quite clearly designed a franchise starter, but with how "successful" video game movies generally tend to be and especially with COVID in the mix lowering revenues further I'm not holding my breath about that actually happening.