Remember that ridiculously cool short film that hit the web last summer and turned the Mortal Kombat universe into something respectable and awesome again? At the time, it wasn’t entirely clear whether Mortal Kombat: Rebirth, directed by Kevin Tancharoen, would lead to any other projects in the same vein. MK fans clamored for more, hoping beyond hope that the short would lead to a feature-length film that could do the game fiction proud.
Well, our prayers have been answered, sort of, as Warner Premiere has announced plans to help bring Tancharoen’s unique vision of Mortal Kombat to life as a series of digital shorts to be released this spring. Details are somewhat scarce, and casting hasn’t been announced yet, but we do know the series will explore the origins and histories of fighters like Scorpion, Johnny Cage and Liu Kang.
And based on Tancharoen’s previous video, above, these may be the best live action video game adaptations we’ve ever seen (fingers crossed). We’re all aware that most such projects fail miserably – the last Mortal Kombat movie was a joke, and with a few exceptions, like Resident Evil and Prince of Persia, other gaming movies have followed suit. So what does it take to make a truly great gaming film?
Whatever it is, Tancharoen seems to have it locked down. Maybe it’s because he’s a true fan of the franchise – this is speculation, but based on the incredible number of little details in Rebirth, it seems he has a comprehensive grasp of the game’s characters and universe.
He also didn’t pull any punches. Some of the scenes in the film are totally brutal, like when Reptile eats a dude’s head, or when Johnny Cage (spoilers – watch the damn thing, seriously!) straight up gets decapitated. It won’t help the argument that video games aren’t nothing more than hyper-violent murderfests, but it will sure make an awesome series of short films if that level of gritty realism can be maintained.
Other video game adaptations set to strike our eyeballs in the foreseeable future include Pac-Man, Missile Command and Asteroids – which ones do you think will make better films? Yeah, our money’s on Tancharoen’s Mortal Kombat: Rebirth.
