With less than a week to go before release, we’ve got a new clip from Warner Bros./New Line’s Mortal Kombat today, including the entire first seven minutes of the film!
Mortal Kombat releases in theaters and on HBO Max on April 23. This clip gives an early peek at the rivalry between Bi-Han (Joe Taslim) and Hanzo Hasashi (Hiroyuki Sanada), who the video game franchise’s fans know as Sub-Zero and Scorpion. The opening establishes deeply personal stakes for Hanzo, as well as teasing Bi-Han’s icy powers.
Director Simon McQuoid previously spoke about the importance of this opening, both narratively and stylistically. Look for plot threads introduced to pay off much later. Producer Todd Garner added of this scene, “You’re setting up romance, you’re setting up tragedy, you’re setting up this longstanding hatred for one another. You’re having a guy attempt genocide on a clan and then the reaction to that. So, there’s a lot going on in that first scene.” In other words, expect Mortal Kombat to hit the ground running.
Aside from the narrative and character arcs established in this opener, the Hanzo compound nestled deep within a peaceful forest also speaks to McQuoid’s insistence that production handled everything as practical as possible, including the sets. Garner explained of this scene, “That is a weird forest in Adelaide that they planted because they thought they were going to have pine production and then it didn’t take. So, it’s just this weird forest in Adelaide, and that’s all practical. It’s a testament to [McQuoid] and his style. He really wanted to be out there in the middle of coal mines, Coober Pedy, and woods.”
Don’t expect the tone and fighting style glimpsed in the first seven minutes to carry throughout; every fight scene gets treated differently to match the character. “When you go later into the film, each fight is treated that way. Who’s fighting, what is the style, what’s happening in this scene? What should that look like? There’s a hand-to-hand fight in this movie that is so brutal that it is like nothing I’ve ever seen. It’s intense and violent and messy and disturbing, which is totally different than the scene you saw, which is different than the end scene, which is different than the middle scene,” Garner says of their approach to this martial arts movie.
Check out the opening seven minutes now!
In the R-rated Mortal Kombat,” MMA fighter Cole Young, accustomed to taking a beating for money, is unaware of his heritage—or why Outworld’s Emperor Shang Tsung has sent his best warrior, Sub-Zero, an otherworldly Cryomancer, to hunt Cole down. Fearing for his family’s safety, Cole goes in search of Sonya Blade at the direction of Jax, a Special Forces Major who bears the same strange dragon marking Cole was born with. Soon, he finds himself at the temple of Lord Raiden, an Elder God and the protector of Earthrealm, who grants sanctuary to those who bear the mark. Here, Cole trains with experienced warriors Liu Kang, Kung Lao and rogue mercenary Kano, as he prepares to stand with Earth’s greatest champions against the enemies of Outworld in a high-stakes battle for the universe. But will Cole be pushed hard enough to unlock his arcana—the immense power from within his soul—in time to save not only his family, but to stop Outworld once and for all?”
The international cast includes Lewis Tan (“Deadpool 2,” Netflix’s “Wu Assassins”) as Cole Young; Jessica McNamee (“The Meg”) as Sonya Blade; Josh Lawson (“Bombshell”) as Kano; Tadanobu Asano (“Midway”) as Lord Raiden; Mehcad Brooks (TV’s “Supergirl”) as Jackson “Jax” Bridges; Ludi Lin (“Aquaman”) as Liu Kang; with Chin Han (“Skyscraper”) as Shang Tsung; Joe Taslim (“Star Trek Beyond”) as Bi-Han and Sub-Zero; and Hiroyuki Sanada (“Ringu”) as Hanzo Hasashi and Scorpion. Also featured are Max Huang as Kung Lao; Sisi Stringer as Mileena; Matilda Kimber as Emily Young; and Laura Brent as Allison Young.
