Mortal Kombat 4K UHD (2021)

[KilljoyEX]

Originally Posted by Buckster666

Sorry but that is clearly racist, had he said Jax wasn't going to be in the film as he felt weird having a black male as the lead, then the internet would be on fire from the twitter mob demanding his head on a spike.

Thanks for bringing this issue up. I’ll watch it since I get HBO Max free but I will not be spending money directly to purchase. Odd what they did with Mileena and uncalled for. IMO they should match the video game. The only one that was more tan seemed to be Jade but MK movie put someone asian. There’s something called equity now, not equality, in which you’re not selected based on merit. I don’t usually care about the makeup of the cast as long as they’re good but this is a fan favorite and they should cater to the game. MK the game already did the disaster of shrinking the curves of the female characters.

[KilljoyEX]

Originally Posted by Dunemoon

So, you don't care about diversity?

Who cares about diversity? It’s a movie based on a game. Make it look like the game.

[Gacivory]

Originally Posted by KilljoyEX

Who cares about diversity? It’s a movie based on a game. Make it look like the game.

2D animation and two people standing across from each other the whole time?

[cheez avenger]

Originally Posted by KilljoyEX

Who cares about diversity? It’s a movie based on a game. Make it look like the game.

Uh, the game had a diverse set of characters.

[bergman864]

Originally Posted by Buckster666

https://www.inverse.com/entertainmen...ng-johnny-cage

Here is the original interview, nothing is taken out of context. He clearly says that the created a new character of Cole Young to serve as the audiences eyes into the world of Mortal Kombat, as he felt weird having a white male as the lead.

Sorry but that is clearly racist, had he said Jax wasn't going to be in the film as he felt weird having a black male as the lead, then the internet would be on fire from the twitter mob demanding his head on a spike.

It's the same bit that's been quoted in the previous article. Nothing has been added. That's stripping his comments of context. This article is basically the same as the previous one without the political bent.

I guess we'll never find out where this quote actually came from.

[bergman864]

Originally Posted by Hellboy

If that was the first thing that he came out and stated then cool, totally reasonable explanation. Unfortunately that’s not the case. He stated his primary reason for leaving him out was his apprehension around having a white lead which = omission based on race which = racism by its very definition. Imagine if he’d said the same thing about ANY other ethnicity. The film would automatically be canceled/boycotted.

To make matters worse anyone who is familiar with MK knows Johnny Cage isn’t the main character, so why would he need to be the lead in this film? MK has always been an ensemble narrative by it’s very nature with it’s mythology rooted in video games. For argument’s sake let’s say the viewer needs one fighter to experience these events through (a theory I disagree with but obviously this director feels is necessary) then that character should’ve been Liu Kang as he’s the closest thing MK has to a lead.

I actually agree with this. That's why I find this portion of a quote so baffling. It doesn't say anything else about what Johnny Cage would've done in the story. It feels like it's been chopped up to fit a perspective. I'm still hoping someone will find Garner's unedited comments.

[KilljoyEX]

Originally Posted by cheez avenger

Uh, the game had a diverse set of characters.

Obviously, what’s your point?

[KilljoyEX]

Originally Posted by Dunemoon

I reckon subtlety and yourself are not well acquainted with each other

Not cute or funny.

[KilljoyEX]

Originally Posted by Gacivory

2D animation and two people standing across from each other the whole time?

I can see you’re very good at inferring literally and idiotically, but not practically. Nice try though.

[Lt_Cobretti]

i hate this thread already

[blakninja]

Of course, while the film includes original, 1992 Mortal Kombat game characters like Kano, Liu Kang,Raiden, Scorpion, Sub-Zero, and Sonya Blade, one original game character is conspicuous by their absence. Said Garner, “Johnny Cage is obviously the elephant in the room, and there’s a number of reasons why Johnny Cage is problematic in this movie, this particular movie, out of the gate. One, he’s a very big personality and so he needs his own space. It’s very hard to just throw him in a movie with Kano [another big personality in the film].”

Garner said taking Johnny Cage out was “easy” because it also provided easy material for a potential sequel, explaining, “I want to make the sequel and now I’ve got Johnny Cage, who hasn’t been used in the first one, so I have a big stick and carrot that maybe they’ll let me have.”

On top of that, Garner noted, “When you think about Mortal Kombat, it has a very Asian feel to it, and I felt uncomfortable having a white male lead kind of lead that charge in the first movie. It just felt Hollywoodish to me, which is weird because Johnny’s an actor, which also was weird and probably my bias. It just feels weird if I’m trying to do something different and diverse and true… It felt a little disingenuous to me and super easy to bring him in in a big bombastic, fun way in the second [film], and he deserves that as a character. I love these characters so we thought hard about it.”

[Buckster666]

Originally Posted by Jompa

Every film doesn't need to have a white actor. I'm also white. I saw yesterday "My Lucky Stars" and no white actors in the film. Only Chinese people. One of my favourite films.

No one is saying that a film has to have white actors in them, but to say you are not having white actors in your film, because they are white is racism.

[Buckster666]

Originally Posted by blakninja

Of course, while the film includes original, 1992 Mortal Kombat game characters like Kano, Liu Kang,Raiden, Scorpion, Sub-Zero, and Sonya Blade, one original game character is conspicuous by their absence. Said Garner, “Johnny Cage is obviously the elephant in the room, and there’s a number of reasons why Johnny Cage is problematic in this movie, this particular movie, out of the gate. One, he’s a very big personality and so he needs his own space. It’s very hard to just throw him in a movie with Kano [another big personality in the film].”

Garner said taking Johnny Cage out was “easy” because it also provided easy material for a potential sequel, explaining, “I want to make the sequel and now I’ve got Johnny Cage, who hasn’t been used in the first one, so I have a big stick and carrot that maybe they’ll let me have.”

On top of that, Garner noted, “When you think about Mortal Kombat, it has a very Asian feel to it, and I felt uncomfortable having a white male lead kind of lead that charge in the first movie. It just felt Hollywoodish to me, which is weird because Johnny’s an actor, which also was weird and probably my bias. It just feels weird if I’m trying to do something different and diverse and true… It felt a little disingenuous to me and super easy to bring him in in a big bombastic, fun way in the second [film], and he deserves that as a character. I love these characters so we thought hard about it.”

Thank you for finding the full interview, however it is doesn't change the fact that one of reason JC isn't in the film, is because Garner didn't want to have a white male lead in the film.

He has attempted to walk back his comments and do damage control on Twitter, but for me, it's a hard pass on supporting this movie

[Lt_Cobretti]

While it does kinda suck that it doesn't include the full roster of the original game, never was anyone owed that. I'd say lets wait and see how the movie unfolds as it is before we make too many aspersions about the filmmakers.

Having said that, here's an aspersion about the filmmakers: They may just not feel or be capable enough to pull the character off and don't want to admit it (who would?)

[hellmotel]

They're bringing more OG characters than I would have guessed. We're decades into the series so really it's probably a niche group of people who feel like "it needed to be like the first game" or whatever. In general I think it would be a shame to focus only on characters from MK1.

Cage is a fan favorite so I suppose that's why they felt compelled to comment, but I can totally understand why he'd be left out for now. "White Actor" is part of his character, being a caricature of 80s white male action stars. I think in a way they're acknowledging this while also respecting that they can't change the character to shoehorn him in. The fact is they didn't want him as the lead in this, and probably didn't know what to do with him for now, so they left him for the sequel.

He also brings yet another branch of story with his inclusion while Jax already fits into Sonya's storyline, and Cole by design fits anywhere (still not a fan of this in general but what can you do).

My main concern is that there wouldn't be a sequel for him to eventually appear in. But I suppose if the movie sucks hard then it won't matter much

[Law212]

"white male actions star"
Why is everything about race these days? Can white and black people not relate to eachother because of skin colour?

how about just "action star"? When Blade came out, I was fanboying over the movie and Wesley Snipes. Hes a big reason i started to learn Jeet kun Do and other martial arts. I didnt see him as my favourite black action hero, he was my favourite action hero. (well stallone was always my number 1, but for a time Wesley took over)

Never before in my lifetime has classifying people by race been a thing and separating people into small groups and classes been a thing until the past 5 to 10 years.

(Also , I dont see how johnny represents action heroes of the 80s. I dont recall action heroes being so goofy. van Dam? Steven Segal I cant think of any. Maybe Dennis Rodman when he tried his hand at being an action star....

[hellmotel]

Originally Posted by Law212

"white male actions star"
Why is everything about race these days? Can white and black people not relate to eachother because of skin colour?

how about just "action star"? When Blade came out, I was fanboying over the movie and Wesley Snipes. Hes a big reason i started to learn Jeet kun Do and other martial arts. I didnt see him as my favourite black action hero, he was my favourite action hero. (well stallone was always my number 1, but for a time Wesley took over)

Never before in my lifetime has classifying people by race been a thing and separating people into small groups and classes been a thing until the past 5 to 10 years.

(Also , I dont see how johnny represents action heroes of the 80s. I dont recall action heroes being so goofy. van Dam? Steven Segal I cant think of any. Maybe Dennis Rodman when he tried his hand at being an action star....

Specifically van Damme, similarly Liu Kang is inspired by Bruce Lee, etc

You don't recall 80s actors being goofy? Isn't that what makes Johnny Cage so fun to begin with?

With some characters I do think it's less about race and more about what they represented within film culture, which in turn MK was drawing from as inspiration.

When it comes to characters like Mileena, I don't know who really cares about the skin color of the character. Like is she even human?

[Juan127]

Little do people know that if you remove skin from everyone were all exactly the same and identical. Imagine setting up a bunch of bodies on a stage with no skin and having the audience guess which one is white black yellow brown. It amazes me how stupid we humans are because people arent born racist they are taught to be racist either by society or by up bringings. Such a sad and pathetic society we live in. And on that note...
"KILL WHITEY!!!"
- Chris Farley

[mikevieira]

It looks a bit mediocre to me. Will prob catch this on streaming when it is free.

[Nori]

Not a fan that he held "being white" against Johnny Cage. He probably shouldn't have done the interview cause it's only hurt the movie now. The initial trailer was so cool, and said all that needed to be said for now.