A Mortal Kombat reboot has been consistently teased repeatedly but, now, the reboot feels even more like reality. This past week saw the first images from the film get dropped, leading to tremendous fanfare online. From what we've seen and based on what's been said, it seems the movie will improve on the 1995 film and veer a lot closer to the source material that made the original video game so iconic. One of the biggest criticisms the original film faced when it was released was its PG-13 rating, which didn't allow it to be as gritty as the classic video games. Now, director Simon Quoid has explained why the Mortal Kombat reboot is definitely not rated PG-13.
The enthusiastic reactions to the first Mortal Kombat stills were to be expected, especially afterr the teasing from producers and the film's stars. Director Simon McQuoid, a longtime fan of the franchise, recently spoke about how he wanted to respect the source material, which includes keeping the level of violence. With this, he already knows the movie is not going to have a PG-13 rating like its 1995 predecessor:
It's definitely not gonna get a PG-13 rating… Out of context this quote might seem incendiary, it's not: The rules around ratings aren't what a lot of people think they are. It's amount of blood, it's amount of red, it's interpretation of how you go about it. We had a lot of discussions about getting the balance right so there was gore and there was blood and there were fatalities. And there is gore, blood, and fatalities.
As the images would suggest, the Mortal Kombat reboot will give fans all the action and cool moves they've come to expect from the celebrated video game franchise. The original film featured many of the game’s signature moves and characters but without the hallmark blood and gore. So Simon McQuoid's statements to Entertainment Weekly should ease fans' concerns.
The Mortal Kombat reboot should be just the thing to jumpstart a film franchise that has been dormant for more than two decades. When the original Mortal Kombat was released in 1995, it opened to a mixed reception from critics for its PG-13 rating, simple script and less-than-stellar acting. The film ended up grossing over $122 million worldwide and led to a sequel, Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, which was released in 1997. The sequel recast a number of roles from the original film and was ultimately less of a success at the box office.
Simon McQuoid helmed the Mortal Kombat reboot from a screenplay by Greg Russo and Dave Callaham. The brings many of the gaming franchise’s signature characters to the big screen, including Sub-Zero, Scorpion, Jax Briggs, and Raiden, played by Joe Taslim, Hiroyuki Sanada, Mehcad Brooks and Tadanobu Asano, respectively.
Before the Mortal Kombat reboot arrives, you can check out the 1995 original film on YouTube, Prime Video and Vudu. Mortal Kombat will arrive in theaters and on HBO Max on April 16.
