Post by johnnycage10 on Nov 23, 2005 13:45:44 GMT -5
It was something that Q mentioned about the MK games, about how he liked them initially, but then MK5 killed the mood for him. I couldn't agree more there. I loved the first four MK games, and I still do after more than a decade. In fact, the only reason I bought a Genesis was to play MK 1-3.
In my subjective opinion, MK4 is still the best fighting game ever made.
Then, after several spectacular errors (ie, garbage) by Midway (cough, MKSF, cough), the MK title made a popular rebound with MK5. But I understand what Q said, in that MK5 just didn't feel like an MK game. The game engine was totally different, such as the basics and the signature moves, none of the old backgrounds were there, and all the characters looked different, except for their names being the same. Still, though, at least MK5 brought some respect back to the title, even if I myself didn't enjoy it.
But, I also want to mention MK6, or MK Deception. Granted that MK6 uses a similar game engine to MK5's clunky one, but the engine now is much cleaner and smoother. And what's more, we got a TON of classic backgrounds back, such as the Living Forest, the MK1 pit (!!!!), the MK2 portal stage, and so on. And some of the characters have their signature moves back, such as Rayden's torpedo.
So all in all, Ed Boon really outdid himself with MK6, and kudos to him. And objectively (though not subjectively), MK6 is really the best fighting game anywhere.
Just wanted to pass that info on for anyone who loved the original MK's but thought that the title was too different after 2002's MK5.
So now, on with the movie review
---------------------
It's not easy to get people who don't see the gem that the MK movie is to look past the obvious bandwagon they're on that screams `It's a film based on a video game, so it can't be good'. But if one was to look at this like a work of art, then one may be surprised at how many meanings it has.
For starters, the basics : Great special effects, enough to be eye-candy, but not over the top CGI that is fake. The Reptile statue looked cool, as did Shang Tsung's boat and Scorpion's and Sub-zero's projectile abilities. There's decent dialogue, with lines that had the theatre howling, especially Cage's lines when he looks at the 20+ opponents who were itching to beat him up and claims that they're lucky Rayden stopped the fight. And the fight scenes were top-notch, arguably the best in ANY movie, and without the invisible wire stuntwork that, while is fun to watch in controlled doses, gets incredibly boring when everyone can fly. Here's a piece of news - Francois Petit (Sub-zero) literally running on a wall and then jumping behind his opponent was real with no wires. How many films can say that?
To give credit to Paul Anderson, he made a movie that fans of this game could enjoy, like Johnny's split punch and Liu's bicycle kick, but also one that people who never heard of MK could still enjoy. That's a delicate, carefully put together result, and one that was lacking from his future video game film, Resident Evil, which had all RE game fans wondering what it had to do with the game they loved.
I wish the film had given its characters more dialogue to interact with each other before the fighting started, as these actors were a lot of fun to watch. But that's really the only drawback that this great movie had.
Now, to analyse the fights. We have Sonya versus Kano, where she basically fights him in an even battle till the till she gets the upper hand by placing a death grip on his neck. Instead of the typical Must Be Better Than My Opponent By Sparing Him cliché, we have a heroine who kills him on the spot even though he wasn't a threat to her at that specific time. Reason for that was a good one. Kano was her equal, and she had no guarantee that he wouldn't get lucky and get the upper hand on her once released, so she had to take advantage of that scene and finish him. There's a need to deliver the killing blow when the protagonist is afraid of the antagonist's abilities.
Then there's (IMO) the biggest fight of the film, that being Johnny Cage against Goro. Here was the reigning champion who's been wiping the floor with the best that Earth has to offer for nine generations. His mere appearance was probably enough to send fear and panic into the mind of many humans who saw him for the first time when he stepped into the ring to fight them. That's a crucial advantage, as an opponent who is shocked on the spot won't be able to concentrate on the battle, and Goro counted on that. And even if they weren't shocked, then of course he had no problems using his huge size advantage to quickly pummel his opponents. He had already destroyed most of the humans who arrived on Shang Tsung's boat before Cage decided to challenge him. Things didn't look good for Cage since, if he has to be more talented (via endurance, speed, technique) than his physically larger opponent to make up for the size and strength disadvantage he'll face due to an adversary who is literally twice his size, then how much more talented did this guy have to be in order to overcome Goro's incredible stature with his feet, fists and heart? But Cage knew that Goro wasn't going to be beaten in a fair fight. He'd be knocked down and he'd always get back up, and keep doing that till his attacker was eventually tired, and then move in for the brutal kill. So Cage lured him into changing the battle from the ring to the edge of the cliff by punching him in the nuts, a bait that Goro, in his overconfidence, took. Once at the edge of the cliff, Cage had the opportunity to knock him down, and then over the cliff. Thus, we have a new winner who used his brains to beat the unbeatable gladiator.
Finally, we have Liu versus Shang Tsung, and Tsung thinking he was going to have an easy time besting Liu by playing on his worst fear, which was that he was a failure by letting his brother down. Initially, it seemed to work. But once Liu overcame his worst fear, Tsung wasn't prepared for that, as it had never happened so far. As a result, Tsung becomes confused, throwing blind punches that even an average fighter can block. Liu even went as far as giving Tsung a chance to surrender, something that he refused to do after defeating Reptile (stepping on the lizard-like creature as soon as it emerged from the statue). So that's how confident Liu became as soon as the tables were turned, which, granted isn't a very realistic portrayal of how someone would feel as soon as he/she faced personal fears (as someone with a phobia could face their fear and still be shaky for ages to come, not getting over it within an instant), but still an encouraging one that urges people to face their fears nonetheless.
Overall, in a world that absolutely enjoys putting people down for its own benefit (reasons for that are for another discussion), things like this film are necessary on top of being enjoyable. People are told that they should give up, not fighting for what they believe in. MK, on the other hand, tells its viewers that they should never give up but fight instead, and fight nonstop, as giving up is worst than anything else. Thus, it's compelling as well as entertaining.
In my subjective opinion, MK4 is still the best fighting game ever made.
Then, after several spectacular errors (ie, garbage) by Midway (cough, MKSF, cough), the MK title made a popular rebound with MK5. But I understand what Q said, in that MK5 just didn't feel like an MK game. The game engine was totally different, such as the basics and the signature moves, none of the old backgrounds were there, and all the characters looked different, except for their names being the same. Still, though, at least MK5 brought some respect back to the title, even if I myself didn't enjoy it.
But, I also want to mention MK6, or MK Deception. Granted that MK6 uses a similar game engine to MK5's clunky one, but the engine now is much cleaner and smoother. And what's more, we got a TON of classic backgrounds back, such as the Living Forest, the MK1 pit (!!!!), the MK2 portal stage, and so on. And some of the characters have their signature moves back, such as Rayden's torpedo.
So all in all, Ed Boon really outdid himself with MK6, and kudos to him. And objectively (though not subjectively), MK6 is really the best fighting game anywhere.
Just wanted to pass that info on for anyone who loved the original MK's but thought that the title was too different after 2002's MK5.
So now, on with the movie review
---------------------
It's not easy to get people who don't see the gem that the MK movie is to look past the obvious bandwagon they're on that screams `It's a film based on a video game, so it can't be good'. But if one was to look at this like a work of art, then one may be surprised at how many meanings it has.
For starters, the basics : Great special effects, enough to be eye-candy, but not over the top CGI that is fake. The Reptile statue looked cool, as did Shang Tsung's boat and Scorpion's and Sub-zero's projectile abilities. There's decent dialogue, with lines that had the theatre howling, especially Cage's lines when he looks at the 20+ opponents who were itching to beat him up and claims that they're lucky Rayden stopped the fight. And the fight scenes were top-notch, arguably the best in ANY movie, and without the invisible wire stuntwork that, while is fun to watch in controlled doses, gets incredibly boring when everyone can fly. Here's a piece of news - Francois Petit (Sub-zero) literally running on a wall and then jumping behind his opponent was real with no wires. How many films can say that?
To give credit to Paul Anderson, he made a movie that fans of this game could enjoy, like Johnny's split punch and Liu's bicycle kick, but also one that people who never heard of MK could still enjoy. That's a delicate, carefully put together result, and one that was lacking from his future video game film, Resident Evil, which had all RE game fans wondering what it had to do with the game they loved.
I wish the film had given its characters more dialogue to interact with each other before the fighting started, as these actors were a lot of fun to watch. But that's really the only drawback that this great movie had.
Now, to analyse the fights. We have Sonya versus Kano, where she basically fights him in an even battle till the till she gets the upper hand by placing a death grip on his neck. Instead of the typical Must Be Better Than My Opponent By Sparing Him cliché, we have a heroine who kills him on the spot even though he wasn't a threat to her at that specific time. Reason for that was a good one. Kano was her equal, and she had no guarantee that he wouldn't get lucky and get the upper hand on her once released, so she had to take advantage of that scene and finish him. There's a need to deliver the killing blow when the protagonist is afraid of the antagonist's abilities.
Then there's (IMO) the biggest fight of the film, that being Johnny Cage against Goro. Here was the reigning champion who's been wiping the floor with the best that Earth has to offer for nine generations. His mere appearance was probably enough to send fear and panic into the mind of many humans who saw him for the first time when he stepped into the ring to fight them. That's a crucial advantage, as an opponent who is shocked on the spot won't be able to concentrate on the battle, and Goro counted on that. And even if they weren't shocked, then of course he had no problems using his huge size advantage to quickly pummel his opponents. He had already destroyed most of the humans who arrived on Shang Tsung's boat before Cage decided to challenge him. Things didn't look good for Cage since, if he has to be more talented (via endurance, speed, technique) than his physically larger opponent to make up for the size and strength disadvantage he'll face due to an adversary who is literally twice his size, then how much more talented did this guy have to be in order to overcome Goro's incredible stature with his feet, fists and heart? But Cage knew that Goro wasn't going to be beaten in a fair fight. He'd be knocked down and he'd always get back up, and keep doing that till his attacker was eventually tired, and then move in for the brutal kill. So Cage lured him into changing the battle from the ring to the edge of the cliff by punching him in the nuts, a bait that Goro, in his overconfidence, took. Once at the edge of the cliff, Cage had the opportunity to knock him down, and then over the cliff. Thus, we have a new winner who used his brains to beat the unbeatable gladiator.
Finally, we have Liu versus Shang Tsung, and Tsung thinking he was going to have an easy time besting Liu by playing on his worst fear, which was that he was a failure by letting his brother down. Initially, it seemed to work. But once Liu overcame his worst fear, Tsung wasn't prepared for that, as it had never happened so far. As a result, Tsung becomes confused, throwing blind punches that even an average fighter can block. Liu even went as far as giving Tsung a chance to surrender, something that he refused to do after defeating Reptile (stepping on the lizard-like creature as soon as it emerged from the statue). So that's how confident Liu became as soon as the tables were turned, which, granted isn't a very realistic portrayal of how someone would feel as soon as he/she faced personal fears (as someone with a phobia could face their fear and still be shaky for ages to come, not getting over it within an instant), but still an encouraging one that urges people to face their fears nonetheless.
Overall, in a world that absolutely enjoys putting people down for its own benefit (reasons for that are for another discussion), things like this film are necessary on top of being enjoyable. People are told that they should give up, not fighting for what they believe in. MK, on the other hand, tells its viewers that they should never give up but fight instead, and fight nonstop, as giving up is worst than anything else. Thus, it's compelling as well as entertaining.
