History YMMV / MortalKombat2021

* SoOkayItsAverage: One consensus for the film is that while it wasn't a ''bad'' film, it could have been better. The story is a bit underwhelming, the main character is a movie original instead of an existing character, fan favorite Johnny Cage isn't in it (and is only teased as a SequelHook). The fight choreography is just okay (better in some fights, more underwhelming in others). And in the end, the tournament doesn't even happen, it's set to happen sometime in the future, with the implication that the BigBad will be able to resurrect his minions that the heroes killed before then. Ultimately, the film feels like an extended first act rather than a full story, and the more self-serious tone means it lacks the 1995 movie's campy fun factor.
* SpecialEffectsFailure

* ToughActToFollow: The original ''Film/MortalKombatTheMovie'' is fondly remembered (even with [[LighterAndSofter PG-13]] as its rating and ''Film/MortalKombatAnnihilation'' as a sequel) and so was positioned as the standard that this movie had to live up to. While the heightened violence and more refined visual effects was embraced by the fans, there were numerous individual elements that were criticized for not living up to expectations. Among them include Liu Kang being DemotedToExtra, Raiden lacking much of the charm, wisdom and leadership of Creator/ChristopherLambert's version and Goro being a brutish thug introduced late in the story rather than Shang Tsung's [[TheDragon personal enforcer]].

* SoOkayItsAverage: One consensus for the film is that while it wasn't a ''bad'' film, it could have been better. The story is a bit underwhelming, the main character is a movie original instead of an existing character, fan favorite Johnny Cage isn't in it (and is only teased as a SequelHook). The fight choreography is just okay (better in some fights, more underwhelming in others). And in the end, the tournament doesn't even happen, it's set to happen sometime in the future, with the implication that the BigBad will be able to ressurrect his minions that the heroes killed before then. Ultimately, the film feels like an extended first act rather than a full story.

* MemeticMutation:
** "Why isn't [[Franchise/StreetFighter Chun-Li]] in [franchise]?"[[labelnote:explanation]]Spawned from a [[https://jezebel.com/who-forgot-to-invite-chun-li-to-the-mortal-kombat-1846300631 Jezebel article]] that facetiously joked that Chun-Li was part of the ''Mortal Kombat'' series and had been left out of the film, joking that it "sounds like a pretty big plot hole to me that the ultimate [[Franchise/StreetFighter ''street fight'']] is supposed to be won by a ragtag team helmed by Sonya Blade" Many users on Twitter got outraged at the article, believing it to be serious. An update reading "Chun-Li is not part of the Mortal Kombat megaverse. Wow!" confused people further.[[/labelnote]]
** "What do you mean?"[[labelnote:explanation]]In the trailer, Jax apparently doesn't know what a birthmark is, asking "What do you mean?" and needing the concept that a birthmark is a mark you are born with explained to him by Sonya. In the actual movie, the lines are reversed; Cole says first that he was born with it, then Jax asks and Sonya clarifies it's a birthmark, which is much less stupid.[[/labelnote]]
** Where’s Johnny Cage? [[labelnote:explanation]]For people who ''are'' familiar with the games, fans have griped and questioned the apparent absence of Johnny Cage. [[https://www.inverse.com/entertainment/mortal-kombat-2021-preview-todd-garner-on-cole-young-johnny-cage The filmmakers revealed]] that Johnny Cage isn’t in the movie because of Kano; Kano was already set to be the PluckyComicRelief, and the filmmakers [[PragmaticAdaptation felt that having two egotistical showboats in the same movie would cause them to overshadow each other]]. They instead opted to include Cage [[RefittedForSequel as a lead in the sequel]], and the film's SequelHook explicitly teases him.[[/labelnote]]
** "Cole has literal [[PlotArmor plot armor]]!" [[labelnote:explanation]]Cole is revealed to have the ability to create armor around his torso; his detractors have been saying this and similar variations as a TakeThat towards the character.[[/labelnote]]
** "I have risen from Hell to kill you."[[labelnote:explanation]]Scorpion's line at the start of the finale fight is both [[{{Narm}} incredibly obvious]] and ''[[NarmCharm very badass]]''.[[/labelnote]]

* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7XvA9gOCxQ Techno Syndrome]]", better known to fans as "The Mortal Kombat Theme", makes its glorious return covered by Benjamin Wallfisch, first as an instrumental during the final battle between Sub-Zero and Scorpion, and then in a full-blown, glorious remix during over the credits. It even includes an updated ThemeTuneRollCall.
** While not officially featured in the movie, Kung Lao's actor Max Huang released his own song Flawless Victory based off his character using it as a catch phrase.
* CommonKnowledge: A lot of ''MK'' fans are under the impression that Johnny Cage was not included in the film and replaced with Cole because the creators wanted to avoid having a WhiteMaleLead. Ignoring that Cage has never actually ''been'' the main protagonist of the series, but rather a supporting hero (Liu Kang is the ''de facto'' main hero of the series), the director eventually made it clear that Cage wasn't included only because his larger-than-life persona would overshadow a lot of other characters that were being introduced in this movie (to reinforce this, Cage is planned to be the main character in a spinoff, as well as appearing in the sequels).[[note]]Though admittedly, producer Todd Garner didn't help matters when he said [[https://www.digitalspy.com/movies/a35876121/mortal-kombat-movie-johnny-cage-absence/?utm_campaign=filmtwitterpost&utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social this in this interview]]: "When you think about Mortal Kombat, if you just think about the patina of the movie, it has a very Asian feel to it. And I early on felt uncomfortable having a white male lead kind of lead that charge in the first movie."[[/note]]
* ContinuityLockout: Similarly to ''Film/MortalKombatAnnihilation'', the film frequently introduces characters and references from the games with little to no in-depth explanation. This is fine for established fans of the franchise but newcomers will likely be left confused.

** "What do you mean?"[[labelnote:explanation]]Jax apparently doesn't know what a birthmark is, asking "What do you mean?" and needing the concept that a birthmark is a mark you are born with explained to him. In the actual movie the lines are reverse, saying first that he was born with it, then Jax asks and she clarifies it's a birthmark, which is much less stupid.[[/labelnote]]
** Where’s Johnny Cage? [[labelnote:explanation]]For people who ''are'' familiar with the games, fans have griped and questioned the apparent absence of Johnny Cage. [[https://www.inverse.com/entertainment/mortal-kombat-2021-preview-todd-garner-on-cole-young-johnny-cage The filmmakers revealed]] that Johnny Cage isn’t in the movie because of Kano; Kano's already set to be the PluckyComicRelief in this DarkerAndEdgier adaptation of the series and the filmmakers [[PragmaticAdaptation felt that having two egotistical showboats in the same movie would cause them to overshadow each other]]. They do intend on including Cage [[RefittedForSequel if a sequel for this movie is greenlit]]. Indeed, the film's SequelHook explicitly teases him.[[/labelnote]]

** Scorpion's {{Catchphrase}} "Get over here!" simply makes no sense in the film, since it's the only time he speaks English and he sounds different enough from his normal speaking voice that they may as well have used the stock quote of Ed Boon and it would fit just as well. However, he says it as [[spoiler:he spears Bi-Han and yanks him away from Cole, pulling a BigDamnHeroes moment alongside HesBack, ''and'' a remix of the iconic theme from the 1995 film plays as the camera pans to reveal him behind Bi-Han]]. It makes for a moment so '''badass''' that you won't care how nonsensical it is.

* MoralEventHorizon: Bi-Han crosses it when he sadistically murders Hanzo's family, as well as several of the innocent house servants outside, on the orders of the Lin Kuei. Over 400 years later as Sub-Zero, he learns that Cole [[spoiler:is the descendent of Hanzo's daughter]], so he proceeds to kidnap Emily and Allison, freezes them in ice so that slowly die of hypothermia, and then attempts to kill Cole in kombat as to [[spoiler:permanently wipe out the Shirai Ryu for good]].

* MoralEventHorizon: Bi-Han crosses it when he sadistically murders Hanzo's family, as well as several of the innocent house servants outside, on the orders of the Lin Kuei. Over 400 years later as Sub-Zero, he learns that Cole [[spoiler:is the descendent of Hanzo's daughter]], so he proceeds to kidnap Emily and Allison, freezes them in ice so that slowly die of hypothermia, and then attempts to kill Cole in kombat as to [[spoiler:permamently wipe out the Shirai Ryu for good]].

* AuthorsSavingThrow:
** While [[Film/MortalKombatTheMovie the original film]] was well-received by fans and the first aversion to VideoGameMoviesSuck, it was criticized for being PG-13, cutting out the blood and death that the games, even in their earliest incarnations, were famous for (though it is ''significantly'' more violent than most PG-13 movies regardless). This film, however, is unapologetically hard R, with copious blood and gore, including several beloved classic Fatalities.
** The original film had the characters of Scorpion and Sub-Zero played by white actors instead of Asian ones. It was overlooked at the time (especially since they barely had any lines and were basically just there to fight the heroes), but in the years since, lack of Asian representation in mainstream media, especially those dealing with Asian martial arts, has become a topic of contention. This film sees Scorpion and Sub-Zero played by Asian actors, and adds Kung Lao, also portrayed by an Asian, to the roster. On Raiden's part, he's a god and [[AmbiguouslyBrown has no discernible ethnicity in the games]] -- though he's been depicted in some games to resemble his voice actors, who've almost always been white -- and was played by a white actor in the original movie and an Asian actor in this one. The film also largely avoids InterchangeableAsianCultures by having most of the actors' national backgrounds match the characters they are playing.
** Many fans were upset that Johnny Cage wasn’t in the movie. However, the last scene reveals that [[spoiler:Cole is going to Hollywood in order to recruit him, giving him a SecondEpisodeIntroduction]].
** Scorpion and Sub-Zero were depicted as brainwashed mooks in the original 1995 film whose rivalry was outright ignored and the two had no real bearing to the plot, despite being important to the franchise. In this film, Scorpion is integral to the plot, since it’s his heritage that destined [[spoiler:Cole as a chosen warrior for Earthrealm]], plus, his rivalry with Sub-Zero is actually depicted instead of just offhandedly mentioned.
** The Scorpion vs. Sub-Zero fight is widely considered the only good thing about ''Film/MortalKombatAnnihilation''. For this film, [[spoiler:more or less the entire plot builds up to Scorpion and Sub-Zero fighting in the climax.]]
** In a more minor instance, Scorpion's iconic "Get over here!" in the trailer was seen as a bad take on the line, with nowhere near the power of Ed Boon's take. In the finished film, the voice was either altered or another take was used, and the new delivery is seen as much better (albeit if it's better than Ed Boon's is another story).
%%Don't put Base Breaking Character or Broken Base entries until six months after the release.

** Where’s Johnny Cage? [[labelnote:explanation]]For people who ''are'' familiar with the games, fans have griped and questioned the apparent absence of Johnny Cage. [[https://www.inverse.com/entertainment/mortal-kombat-2021-preview-todd-garner-on-cole-young-johnny-cage The filmmakers revealed]] that Johnny Cage isn’t in the movie because of Kano; Kano's already set to be the ComicRelief in this DarkerAndEdgier adaptation of the series and the filmmakers [[PragmaticAdaptation felt that having two egotistical showboats in the same movie would cause them to overshadow each other]]. They do intend on including Cage [[RefittedForSequel if a sequel for this movie is greenlit]]. Indeed, the film's SequelHook explicitly teases him.[[/labelnote]]

** Sonya's energy rings and Kano's laser eye are the result of their [[{{Magitek}} magical "arcana"]], rather than military weapons and cybernetics, while Jax's cybernetic arms are created by Raiden and activating his arcana powers them up. While this sort of explanation works for characters like Liu Kang and Kung Lao, some feel that this is an unnecessary change that makes their powers seem ''less'' special, because everyone has some sort of magical gimmick instead of a variety of magic, military hardware, cybernetics, etc. Additionally, Sonya, Jax, and Cole, activate their arcana just when they need them to work, making the idea seem like a DeusExMachina.

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter: Unfortunately to be expected of a franchise with LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters that need to be violently killed off.

* CommonKnowledge:
** A lot of ''MK'' fans are under the impression that Johnny Cage was not included in the film and replaced with Cole because the creators wanted to avoid having a WhiteMaleLead. Ignoring that Cage has never actually ''been'' the main protagonist of the series, but rather a supporting hero (Liu Kang is the ''de facto'' main hero of the series), the director eventually made it clear that Cage wasn't included only because his larger-than-life persona would overshadow a lot of other characters that were being introduced in this movie (to reinforce this, Cage is planned to be the main character in a spinoff, as well as appearing in the sequels).
*** Though admittedly, producer Todd Garner didn't help matters when he said [[https://www.digitalspy.com/movies/a35876121/mortal-kombat-movie-johnny-cage-absence/?utm_campaign=filmtwitterpost&utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social this in this interview]]:
--> '''Garner''': "And secondarily, when you think about Mortal Kombat, if you just think about the patina of the movie, it has a very Asian feel to it. And I early on felt uncomfortable having a white male lead kind of lead that charge in the first movie."

* [[EnsembleDarkhorse/MortalKombat Ensemble Darkhorse]]

** A lot of ''MK'' fans are under the impression that Johnny Cage was not included in the film and replaced with Cole because the creators wanted to avoid having a WhiteMaleLead. Ignoring that Cage has never actually ''been'' the main protagonist of the series, but rather a {{Tritagonist}} (Liu Kang is the ''de facto'' main hero of the series), the director eventually made it clear that Cage wasn't included only because his larger-than-life persona would overshadow a lot of other characters that were being introduced in this movie (to reinforce this, Cage is planned to be the main character in a spinoff, as well as appearing in the sequels).

* CommonKnowledge: A lot of ''MK'' fans are under the impression that Johnny Cage was not included in the film and replaced with Cole because the creators wanted to avoid having a WhiteMaleLead. Ignoring that Cage has never actually ''been'' the main protagonist of the series, but rather a {{Tritagonist}} (Liu Kang is the ''de facto'' main hero of the series), the director eventually made it clear that Cage wasn't included only because his larger-than-life persona would overshadow a lot of other characters that were being introduced in this movie (to reinforce this, Cage is planned to be the main character in a spinoff, as well as appearing in the sequels).

* ObviousJudas: Any longtime fan of the Mortal Kombat series knew right off the bat that [[spoiler:Kano]] was going to betray the group of kombatants Raiden summoned, ''especially'' since [[spoiler:Kano is the leader of the Black Dragons, making him Kabal’s superior in the games.]] Viewers who've never played the games? Well they could work it out based on how he's an evil arsehole who's only in it for the money.

* VanillaProtagonist: It's generally agreed that Cole Young simply isn't interesting enough to justify being the main character, and that the canon ''Mortal Kombat'' characters all easily overshadow him. Although Lewis Tan does his best with the bland material given to the character, critics generally agree he was unable to elevate the material and was the weakest link by far among the protagonists. It also doesn't help that, in a movie based on a video game that's mostly 1-vs-1 fights, Cole is unable to defeat any opponent without outside help, even after getting his magic armor that seems ''particularly'' overpowered given the nature of the movie. In fact, he's actually the only one of the Earthrealm Champions to actually ''need'' help in order to win. Already many people are hoping Cole is either killed off or otherwise written out in a potential sequel. Thankfully for Cole, despite his problems as stated before, his actor gave a decent performance that the audience considered him to be at least just 'okay' enough to avoid [[ReplacementScrappy the fate of the last guy who tried to bill himself as the new MK Protagonist]] ([[VideoGame/MortalKombatDeception Shujinko]]). It also helps that his wife Allison and his daughter Emily are [[EnsembleDarkhorse well-liked]].

* WhatAnIdiot: Shang Tsung is sending assassins aligned with Outworld to kill Earthrealm contestants before the Tournament begins so that Earthrealm would have to forfeit, a gambit he has being doing for ''centuries''.\\
'''You'd Expect''': Raiden would put a stop to it ''immediately''. It's his job to moderate the rules of the Mortal Kombat Tournament -- a tournament put in-place by the Elder Gods to keep realms from invading each other without discretion -- on Earthrealm's behalf. It is even mentioned the one realm killing another realm's fighters is a blatant breach of the rules. Plus the fact that these assassins are also killing random civilians -- like when Sub-Zero killed Scorpion's wife and son -- could fall under "invasion".\\
'''You'd Also Expect''': That he would see right through Shang Tsung's "conflict outside Mortal Kombat is not forbidden" excuse as the BS that it is -- since Sub-Zero and Reptile were sent to kill the heroes by Shang Tsung deliberately because they were trying to cheat -- and use him invading his temple as an excuse to take out Shang Tsung, or at least take him to be judged by the Elder Gods for his breach on the rules of the tournament.\\
'''Instead''': He does nothing but sit there and pout about the quality of his fighters as Shang Tsung literally invades his home, taunts him to his face, gives his minions permission to ransack the place and tries killing all of his fighters in their own dojo.

* NewerThanTheyThink: Much of the promotional material for the film talks about how the traditionally Japanese character Raiden is finally played by a Japanese actor. Except Raiden's never been specifically identified as Japanese. Raiden has just as much Chinese mixed in, and after the [[Film/MortalKombatTheMovie first movie]], he essentially became the head of Liu Kang's Chinese monastery in the games. Not to mention, Raiden has yet to be portrayed by an Asian in any Mortal Kombat media until this movie. His most famous portrayals are by white men (Creator/ChristopherLambert in the first movie, Creator/ClancyBrown in ''WesternAnimation/MortalKombatDefendersOfTheRealm'', Creator/RichardEpcar in the games from ''VideoGame/MortalKombatVsDCUniverse'' onwards), but his original actor in the first few games was ''Hispanic'' Carlos Pesina.

* ToughActToFollow: The original ''Film/MortalKombatTheMovie'' is fondly remembered (even with ''Film/MortalKombatAnnihilation'' as a sequel) and so was positioned as the standard that this movie had to live up to. While the heightened violence and more refined visual effects was embraced by the fans, there were numerous individual elements that were criticized for not living up to expectations. Among them include Liu Kang being DemotedToExtra, Raiden lacking much of the charm, wisdom and leadership of Creator/ChristopherLambert's version and Goro being a brutish thug introduced late in the story rather than Shang Tsung's [[TheDragon personal enforcer]].