A new Mortal Kombat film for 2013?

Given the popularity of Mortal Kombat: Rebirth, an action short created to encite the moguls at Warner Brothers to reopen the portal to Netherworld, could we be looking at the chance of a new Mortal Kombat??

In a world where every film character has a rich backstory and continuity is prized in even the flimsiest of film premises, it’s good to know that someone out there is fighting Mortal Kombat’s corner.

Even though the chances of seeing the look on Prince Goro’s face when acrobatically punched in the nuts by Johnny Cage are regrettably slim – I’m still holding out for a double resurrection (which may or may not be a reference to Goro’s nuts) – it’s still nice to see the possible return of the franchise.

There’s definite cause for optimism. Seeing as it’s been in development for thirteen years and is slated for release in 2013, it must be assumed that director Kevin Tancharoen – who decided that the first thing he’d do in the new millennium is to work on a new MK film- must have the stones to pull it off….unlike others. (Last Goro reference, honest).

In all seriousness though, the sheer volume of traffic to just YouTube’s version of the uploaded trailer means that it’s worth keeping an eye on this project in development.
In keeping with the tradition to keep nothing in the MK world consistent but Liu Kang’s mullet, the proposed offering seems to take a darker path than its cinematic predecessors. The trailer currently circulating is a substantial seven minutes long, quite a length for a film that isn’t set to hit the silver screen for another three years, and contains more than enough to keep the fans happy.

Given that those that follow the Mortal Kombat games (and I take a risk in assuming that their numbers rate in the plural) must have drawn parallels with the failed Duke Nukem Forever development period of twelve years, this sneak peek at the potential Mortal Kombat release must come as something of a substantially early Christmas present.

The trailer, released in early June by Tancharoen, focuses on the investigation of Detective Jackson (Jax) Briggs. While his pneumatic chrome arms are a hydraulic question mark during the clip, his association with Sonya Blade is more concrete, with her making a brief appearance. In an unprecedented move toward anchoring the franchise a little more firmly in a real world setting, Briggs’ investigation seems to emboss the various Mortal Kombat fighters with an unexpected seal of reality.

Jax gives the backstory to many of the fighters introduced in the trailer as if reading the criminal record and psychological evaluation of a serial killer; indeed the choice of police format – a departure from Briggs’ previous military background – reinforces the assumption that this is the case. (Pun absolutely intended).

Although the exaggerated abilities and sheer ridiculousness that define the series remain intact, this new story structure - in combination with more than a hint at a remake rather than another sequel - definitely suggests radical change. And finally, it’s worth remembering that even the second Mortal Kombat, widely discredited as a failure, still made twenty million dollars, Mr Warner Brothers. Oh, and that the Tancharoen trailer has had two million hits in two days…….