https://youtu.be/a9pHkX7c3y8?si=DvT9YlSQDMKE9Pz1

I'm not being crazy, am I? This actually looks kinda awesome!

I was skeptical about Karl Urban as Johnny Cage - underappreciated actor though his is, he seemed an odd fit - but at least as far as the trailer is concerned, I'm sold.

So much so, I thought it about time to watch the 2021 reboot.

TLDR: it's crap.

The script is mostly abysmal, the fights are mostly boring, the cast are mostly phoning it in, and worst of all, the made up lead character - thrown in as an entirely unnecessary audience POV - is as bland as a watered-down korma.

The "mostly" comes from two things: first, the fights between Scorpion and Subzero (when it's just Scorpion and Subzero) are solid, as is the brawl between Sonya and Kano.

Second, is Kano himself: I don't know if he was the only character the writers actually knew how to write or (more likely) Josh Lawson the only actor aware enough of what he was in to just go ham with it all, but whenever he was on screen, the whole film was elevated. Even the other characters, boring as they otherwise were, came to life when interacting with him.

Branagh he ain't, but comparative to the ocean of am-dram tedium around him, this was Lawson's Iago!

And from the trailer, it at least appears as if the filmmakers agree: Kano's back, despite being killed off in the first (I'd say "spoiler alert", but trust me, you don't care), there's no sign of the made up lump of Cole, and focus is squarely on Urban, giving it his best grizzled-cynic, out of his depth, but whooping arse regardless.

I just hope the movie lives up its potential.