If this is the next MK (movie) put a pillow over its paraplegic face and wait for the thrashing to cease.
The upcoming video game looks great, despite the ?it?ll be 2D.No wait 3D. 2.725D cuz it?s more imersiv n awsum?. 5 and 6 were fuckin? great 3D fighting games, so they?ve already done it, no need for virginal fear of that first dreaded contact, and I?m pretty sure they?ll deliver on their choice. Now for the ?movie trailer?.
Kudos to the director and the actors for putting so much effort in their pitch. But it?s still worth shit. Because purist are (and will be) outraged. Of course, a true fan?s (or a million fans?, for that matter) opinion is probably worth shit to WB, they make movies to sell them, yadda yadda, but the MK mythos is going to the pig trough.
The MK universe is one of campy, kitschy, over-the-top action. It?s supposed to be about gratuitous violence inflicted by ridiculous characters (and environments) upon each other.
Baraka is a ?monster? from another world, an alien if you will, doing his thing in Shao Khan?s evil empire. Reptile is another ?alien? from another world etc.
Scorpion is undead.
Of course, you can extrapolate on those ideas, and try and think that Baraka was actually a metaphor for a masochistical sociopath, and Reptile had Harlequin Ichtiosis on his penis, and hence he couldn't get a date in highschool, and that Hell is a maximum security prison where sex offenders wear red latex suits and sport tridents, but? you could also re-invent Sonic the Hedgehog as a Space Marine sporting a blue Spartan outfit. Hell, seeing the recruitment process in some BIG GAME COMPANIES this just might be a nightmare come true?
What most directors dealing with a pre-existing license need to realize is that they work with something dear to millions and that they firstly need to address the fucking fans (miserable filth that they are) before they deal with their own aspirations.
Rebooting the MK movie franchise should go hand in hand with the games. Reinvent all you want, but keep it on a leash.
You love Baraka (well, I do to, and I also generally like physicians), then give him more depth without pulling him out of his universe like an aborted fetus. He could be a revolutionary, doing Shao Khan?s bidding only to be able to overthrow him, or a child abuse victim turned dictator because of his trauma, or a socially repressed sexual deviant born in a conservatory Outworld, or an exaggerated body-piercer, or whatever, but not a fucking ?generic metropolitan area? MD who can?t cope with the stress of malpractice.
You like Reptile and cannibalism? Cool? He?s the last dude from some Outworld region. Maybe he actually needs to eat sentient beings for sustenance?? Maybe his races? metabolism is so fucked up that they can only sustain by eating meat belonging to species? capable of self-awareness? that much more dramatic no?
Scorpion is Satan?s ***** in Earth?s hell right? And maybe undeath doesn?t strip away one?s ability to have emotions? And maybe Hanzo misses his wife and son and gets tired of Beelzebub?s bullshit? I don?t know? something both relatable AND somewhat on the same vector as the original direction?
You know, great stories (be they movies, music, literature or even games) have a main common ?feature?: believability. And this is directly linked with peoples? ability to be empathic.
We usually empathize with what we?re familiar with, what we can understand. Anybody can follow Mario going through 8 hells to save his Peach (or Lemon, or Plum, or whatever fruit gets his imagination going in a sexual direction) from the scaly, horny  asshole harassing her. Just an example.
We can empathize with Kratos wanting to tell his daddy what he thinks of the Olympian shindig with a ridiculously huge sword, or being pissed off at the ?gods? who regard him as a ?cog? in their system.
We can even empathize with Desmond ?Altaïr? ?Ezio? What-s-his-totally-forgettable-face during his politically-unsettling adventures 'cuz he believes otherwise.
But I doubt many of us fans can empathize with the ?re-imagined? MK crew.
I?m not one to discourage creative thinking or enriching an existent franchise. Bring all the depth you want, but be aware of the original creative direction of this property. You don?t improve the fucking Coliseum by slapping on a retractable roof. Perhaps you start and re-paint the original colors, you replace the heads on worn-faced statues, you re-define each column?s grooves, but in the end it?s still a Coliseum, not the Maracanã.
If Lucas Arts will ever be tempted to try and be a game company again and try something besides selling Star Wars toilet paper, maybe they?ll try to and reboot Monkey Island, but I?m sure it?ll be a pirate adventure game, not Guybrush Threepwood starring in Heavy Rain the Movie.
The upcoming video game looks great, despite the ?it?ll be 2D.No wait 3D. 2.725D cuz it?s more imersiv n awsum?. 5 and 6 were fuckin? great 3D fighting games, so they?ve already done it, no need for virginal fear of that first dreaded contact, and I?m pretty sure they?ll deliver on their choice. Now for the ?movie trailer?.
Kudos to the director and the actors for putting so much effort in their pitch. But it?s still worth shit. Because purist are (and will be) outraged. Of course, a true fan?s (or a million fans?, for that matter) opinion is probably worth shit to WB, they make movies to sell them, yadda yadda, but the MK mythos is going to the pig trough.
The MK universe is one of campy, kitschy, over-the-top action. It?s supposed to be about gratuitous violence inflicted by ridiculous characters (and environments) upon each other.
Baraka is a ?monster? from another world, an alien if you will, doing his thing in Shao Khan?s evil empire. Reptile is another ?alien? from another world etc.
Scorpion is undead.
Of course, you can extrapolate on those ideas, and try and think that Baraka was actually a metaphor for a masochistical sociopath, and Reptile had Harlequin Ichtiosis on his penis, and hence he couldn't get a date in highschool, and that Hell is a maximum security prison where sex offenders wear red latex suits and sport tridents, but? you could also re-invent Sonic the Hedgehog as a Space Marine sporting a blue Spartan outfit. Hell, seeing the recruitment process in some BIG GAME COMPANIES this just might be a nightmare come true?
What most directors dealing with a pre-existing license need to realize is that they work with something dear to millions and that they firstly need to address the fucking fans (miserable filth that they are) before they deal with their own aspirations.
Rebooting the MK movie franchise should go hand in hand with the games. Reinvent all you want, but keep it on a leash.
You love Baraka (well, I do to, and I also generally like physicians), then give him more depth without pulling him out of his universe like an aborted fetus. He could be a revolutionary, doing Shao Khan?s bidding only to be able to overthrow him, or a child abuse victim turned dictator because of his trauma, or a socially repressed sexual deviant born in a conservatory Outworld, or an exaggerated body-piercer, or whatever, but not a fucking ?generic metropolitan area? MD who can?t cope with the stress of malpractice.
You like Reptile and cannibalism? Cool? He?s the last dude from some Outworld region. Maybe he actually needs to eat sentient beings for sustenance?? Maybe his races? metabolism is so fucked up that they can only sustain by eating meat belonging to species? capable of self-awareness? that much more dramatic no?
Scorpion is Satan?s ***** in Earth?s hell right? And maybe undeath doesn?t strip away one?s ability to have emotions? And maybe Hanzo misses his wife and son and gets tired of Beelzebub?s bullshit? I don?t know? something both relatable AND somewhat on the same vector as the original direction?
You know, great stories (be they movies, music, literature or even games) have a main common ?feature?: believability. And this is directly linked with peoples? ability to be empathic.
We usually empathize with what we?re familiar with, what we can understand. Anybody can follow Mario going through 8 hells to save his Peach (or Lemon, or Plum, or whatever fruit gets his imagination going in a sexual direction) from the scaly, horny  asshole harassing her. Just an example.
We can empathize with Kratos wanting to tell his daddy what he thinks of the Olympian shindig with a ridiculously huge sword, or being pissed off at the ?gods? who regard him as a ?cog? in their system.
We can even empathize with Desmond ?Altaïr? ?Ezio? What-s-his-totally-forgettable-face during his politically-unsettling adventures 'cuz he believes otherwise.
But I doubt many of us fans can empathize with the ?re-imagined? MK crew.
I?m not one to discourage creative thinking or enriching an existent franchise. Bring all the depth you want, but be aware of the original creative direction of this property. You don?t improve the fucking Coliseum by slapping on a retractable roof. Perhaps you start and re-paint the original colors, you replace the heads on worn-faced statues, you re-define each column?s grooves, but in the end it?s still a Coliseum, not the Maracanã.
If Lucas Arts will ever be tempted to try and be a game company again and try something besides selling Star Wars toilet paper, maybe they?ll try to and reboot Monkey Island, but I?m sure it?ll be a pirate adventure game, not Guybrush Threepwood starring in Heavy Rain the Movie.
As an artistic creator myself, I love hearing about how he thought things through. So far, I endorse his dream. I'm hoping everything goes well, and filming begins soonish. I'm thinking... now. 
