History YMMV / MortalKombat2021

*** Similarly, 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.]]

* EpilepticTrees: Fan theories circulated around AudienceSurrogate Cole Young as soon as he was introduced, with the most popular believing him to be [[Characters/MortalKombatKuaiLiang Kuai Liang]], the second Sub-Zero. Other theories include him being a relative of Scorpion, a Johnny Cage CaptainErsatz, or Cage himself (either Johnny Cage is a stage name or the trailer dialogue and pre-release details are referring to Cage by the name of Cole for some reason). Another theory is that he's no one important and will be killed off at some point to make room for the game cast. Out of all these theories, the correct one turned out to be [[spoiler: that he's a descendant of Scorpion.]]

** Hanzo Hasashi and his family are devoted to each other.
*** This carries on with Cole and his family...
*** ...[[spoiler: setting up the two as linked by blood. When Cole summons Scorpion, it's an ancestor-descendant team-up! ]]

-->'''Emily:''' It's a birthmark.\\

-->'''Kung Lao:''' Flawless. Victory.
-->'''Kano:''' Kano wins!

* 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]]).

* 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. Even ignoring that the character's name is not Japanese[[note]]If it were, he'd be going by Raijin, and the "Rai" part would be pronounced the same as "Rye," not "Ray."[[/note]], Raiden himself 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.

*** Reptile ([[AmbiguousSituation if that even is him]]), an EnsembleDarkhorse and TheChewToy of the franchise, is [[spoiler:killed off fairly early (less than thirty minutes into the film) in his first fight against the heroes, leaving out much of his extensive background and sympathetic qualities in exchange for simply being a mindless StarterVillain]].

** "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 as a TakeThat at the character.[[/labelnote]]

* FriendlyFandoms: With ''Film/GodzillaVsKong''. Both movies distributed by Warner Bros within a few weeks of each other, sharing space in theaters and HBO Max so fans of one where bound to notice the other. Being two American productions heavily influenced by Japanese media certainly helped, and considering both involve a ton of fighting meant the appeal of one readily crossed over to the other. Doubles as HilariousInHindsight given the Monsterverse having a running gag of finisher moves favorably compared to 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, 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.

* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: "Techno Syndrome," better known to fans as "The Mortal Kombat Theme", makes it's 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 and glorious remix during over the credits. It even includes an updated ThemeTuneRollCall.

** 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 (if it's better than Ed Boon's is another story).
%%Don't put Base Breaking Charatcter or Broken Base entries until six months after the release.

** Both Liu Kang and Kung Lao are near unanimously loved for their excellent costume design, strong casting choices and impressive choreography. Kung Lao in particular is seen as performing the best fatality in the movie. There was naturally a bit of an uproar when he [[spoiler: was killed]].
** Allison, Cole's wife, earned a lot of points by helping her husband, grabbing an ax and slamming it into Goro's side while he's trying to kill Cole.

** "I have risen from Hell to kill you" [[labelnote:explanation]]Scorpion's line at the start of the finale fight is both incredibly obvious and ''very badass''[[/labelnote]]

* 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. Even ignoring that the character's name is not Japanese[[note]]If it were, he'd be going by Raijin, and the "Rai" part would be pronounced the same as "Rye," not "Ray."[[/note]], Raiden himself 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 played by the ''Hispanic'' Carlos Pesina.

** 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]].

* ObviousJudas: Any longtime fan of the Mortal Kombat series knew right off the bat [[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.

* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: "Techno Syndrome," better known to fans a "The Mortal Kombat Theme", makes it's 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 and glorious remix during over the credits. It even includes an updated ThemeTuneRollCall.

* ObviousJudas: Any longtime fan of the Mortal Kombat series knew right off the bat [[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? Not so much.

** For fans of the Sub-Zero brothers, the AdaptationalVillainy for Bi-Han did not go over well. As Bi-Han before his death and transformation into Noob Saibot was an anti-hero who fought for Earthrealm's side in order to to assassinate Shang Tsung, while here he is instead the dragon to Shang Tsung instead of the iconic Goro. This is further not helped by [[SpotlightStealingSquad Scorpion]] undergoing AdaptationalHeroism to the point of switching sides from his original game counterpart and [[spoiler:getting further relevance as Cole is revealed to be a descendant of his daughter.]] Their only silver lining is that Sub-Zero [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools makes a great use of the trope]] for [[EvilIsCool the movie's stronger points.]]

** For fans of the Sub-Zero brothers, the AdaptationalVillainy for Bi-Han did not go over well. As Bi-Han before his death and transformation into Noob Saibot was an anti-hero who fought for Earthrealm's side in order to to assassinate Shang Tsung, while here he is instead the dragon to Shang Tsung instead of the iconic Goro. This is further not helped by [[SpotlightStealingSquad Scorpion]] undergoing AdaptationalHeroism to the point of switching sides from his original game counterpart and [[spoiler:getting further relevance as Cole is revealed to be a descendant of his daughter.]] Their only silver lining is that Sub-Zero [[EvilIsCool makes a great use]] of that AdaptationalVillainy for the movie's stronger points.

** For fans of the Sub-Zero brothers, the AdaptationalVillainy for Bi-Han did not go over well. As Bi-Han before his death and transformation into Noob Saibot was an anti-hero who fought for Earthrealm's side in order to to assassinate Shang Tsung, while here he is instead the dragon to Shang Tsung instead of the iconic Goro. This is further not helped by [[SpotlightStealingSquad Scorpion]] undergoing AdaptationalHeroism to the point of switching sides from his original game counterpart and [[spoiler:getting further relevance as Cole is revealed to be a descendant of his daughter.]]

* 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, he was considered 'okay' enough to avoid [[ReplacementScrappy the fate of the last guy who tried to bill himself as the new MK Protagonist]] ([[VideoGame/MortalKombatDeception Shujinko]]).

* 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, he was considered 'okay' enough to avoid the fate of the last guy who tried to bill himself as the new MK Protagonist ([[VideoGame/MortalKombatDeception Shujinko]]).

* 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.

* 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. In fact, he's actually the only one of the Earthrealm Champions to actually ''need'' the help in order to win. Already many people are hoping Cole is either killed off or otherwise written out in a potential sequel.

* HesJustHiding: Considering [[DeathIsCheap the franchise the movie is part of]], it's no surprise that a lot of fans don't expect several of the character deaths to stick. [[spoiler:Kano, as just one example, is notably missing his distinctive cybernetic eyeplate throughout the movie, and just happens to be dispatched with an EyeScream in the exact spot where that plate normally goes. Who ''doesn't'' suspect he'll be turning up again in with his signature look a future installment]]?

** Once Sub-Zero is defeated and spirited away, Scorpion gives Cole and his family a final speech that's intended to be heartwarming... except he says it in Chinese and Cole has shown no indication he understands any language other than English.

* 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]]

* 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. Already many people are hoping Cole is either killed off or otherwise written out in a potential sequel.