MORTAL KOMBAT

Jeri Jacquin

Coming to theatres and HBO MAX from director Simon McQuoid and New Line Cinema is the story of two worlds locked in MORTAL KOMBAT.

Hanzo Hasashi (Hiroyuki Sanada) is enjoying the life with his wife and family until Bi-Han arrives with assassins with one goal - to destroy the Hasashi bloodline. After the fight, Bi-Han does not realize he did not destroy the bloodline as Lord Raiden (Tadanonu Asano) discovers Hasashi's infant daughter.

Now the Outworld is gearing up to win the tenth tournament of Mortal Kombat and with the final win they take the Earthrealm. Led by Shang Tsung (Chin Han), he sends his own fighters led by Bi-Han who now calls himself Sub-Zero (Joe Taslim), to destroy any chance the Earthrealm has of competing.

Cole Young (Lewis Tan) is an MMA fighter who is not doing so well but Is happy with wife Alison (Laura Brent) and daughter Emily (Matilda Kimber). When Major Jax Briggs (Mehcad Brooks) shows up to compare tattoos with Cole, Sub-Zero makes himself known. Making sure his family is safe, Cole goes to find Sonya Blade (Jessica McNamee) to understand what is happening to him and who is trying to kill him.

Sonya tries to explain things to Cole, but she has her own problems with a smart mouthed Kano (Josh Lawson). Sonya beieves they will find answers at Raiden's temple and Kano agrees to take them there. Liu Kang (Ludi Lin) and Kung Lao (Max Huang) are glad to see them all because there is really no time left to train and find their Arcana's before Shang Tsung attacks.

Now, the group must face Sub-Zero, Mileena (Sisi Stringer), Reiko (Nathan Jones), Nitara (Mel Jarnson), Goro (Angus Sampson), and Kabal (Damon Herriman) but it is Cole who will learn where his visions are coming from.

Tran as Cole is a man who once had a memorable fighting career but fallen on hard times. Taking fights as he got them, the arrival of Jax is about to change everything. Protecting his family, he goes as far away as possible to find answers. Tran gives us a character who does not believe in himself and cannot focus on anything but his family.

McNamee as Blade is a woman who wants answers and to be a part of Mortal Kombat. Friends with Jax, she knows what it will take to be a part of the elite and chosen group. Brooks as Jax knows that Cole needs to be a part of the fight and throws himself to Sub-Zero to protect him. Lawson as Kano, a loud foul-mouthed mercenary who cares for no one but himself and clearly cannot be trusted.

Lin as Kang greets the new arrivals to the temple but knows time is not on their side to train for Mortal Kombat. Huang as Lao is smooth and dangerously skilled and tries to help the new recruits find their Arcana.

Taslim as Bi-Han is ruthless and cold hearted literally as his nature changed from the time of Hasashi to the present time. Hang as Tsung is a soccerer who has only one thing in mind, duel world domination.

Shout out to Sanada as Hanzo Hasahi who is such an amazing actor to watch. I believe the first time I saw him was in the film THE LAST SAMURI and continue to follow his work. Here he once again shows his skills both verbally and physically.

New Line Cinema brings amazing films such as THE LORD OF THE RINGS, THE MASK, ELF and the disturbingly epic IT. For more of what they have to offer please visit www.warnerbros.com.

HBO Home Entertainment brings critically acclaimed and groundbreaking programming throughout the world. Releases include the global hit Game of Thrones, True Detective, Girls, The Sopranos, Sex and the City, True Blood, The Wire and Entourage. The company's catalog contains hundreds of titles including Big Little Lies and Band of Brothers. For more of what they have to offer please visit www.hbo.com.

For families: Be aware that the film has intense language and violence.

MORTAL KOMBAT gives all the fans of the genre something to enjoy on a Friday night. For my grown sons, it is reminiscent of their time with friends on a Friday night playing the Mortal Kombat video game into the wee hours of the morning. To this day they still use terms and references from all of it. The only reason I know anything about Mortal Kombat is because of them!

The films story is extremely fast paced and violent to be sure. Anyone who has played the game will not be surprised at what they see but it is important to be aware of it. The costumes and special effects are very cool which adds a level to the telling.

Something tells me there is more to the story waiting to be told as Tsung threatens that he will return with an army!

LIFE Brings Creepy into Space!

Jeri Jacquin

Swirling through space this week from director Daniel Espinosa and Columbia Pictures is a film that teaches us to leave well enough alone and enjoy LIFE!

On a space station high above Earth are six astronauts waiting for a special delivery to prove there is life on Mars. Rory Adams (Ryan Reynolds), Ekaterina Golovkina (Olga Dihovichnaya), Hugh Derry (Ariyon Bakare), Sho Murakami (Hiroyuki Sanada) and David Jordan (Jake Gyllenhaal) are led by Miranda North (Rebecca Ferguson) are the astronauts on board.

When Hugh begins experiments on the samples there is almost an immediate as life grows. Sharing the news with the world, a local school wins the honor of naming the single-cell organism Calvin.

As quickly as Calvin grows, they crew panics when it becomes clear that something is wrong with the life form. Reviving it is the beginning of what becomes a race for survival between the humans on board and the life form that is growing and becoming smarter.

They must keep the creature from getting to Earth at all costs – even if the cost is their lives!

Gyllenhaal as David is a man clearly meant to live in space. Not in a hurry to return to Earth, he keeps his head when everything begins to go wrong. Gyllenhaal has this unique ability to look calm even when his character is anything but. I enjoyed ever moment of his performance but then again I have been pretty thrilled with his work these past years.

Reynolds as Rory brings a sense of sarcasm and quick lines to this character. Of course it isn’t a stretch for Reynolds to do that as he has made a fantastic career out of doing just that. But when it’s time to be intense, he can bring it with a fierceness that you won’t soon forget.

Sanada as Sho is on board while his wife is waiting to have their child. He cares about every member of the crew and yet wonders if he will ever see home again. I am actually pretty thrilled that Sanada is in the film, he is an actor that deserves a lot of attention.

Bakare as Hugh is totally infatuated with Calvin but then again that’s it is his job to be. Finding life in the space station a freeing experience, he becomes a little obsessed with the creature. Dihovichnaya as Ekaterina is smart and fast when it comes to understanding how the creature begins to think.

Ferguson as Miranda is the woman-in-charge and that means there are decisions to be made. Of course at the same time righteous fear takes over the space stations and there are moments where I question what the heck she is thinking but that’s what brings the mystery.

Other cast include Elizabeth Vargas as 20/20 Anchor, Camiel Warren-Taylor as Dominique and Naoko Mori as Kazumi.

TUBS OF POPCORN: I give LIFE four tubs of popcorn out of five. Of course the film has bits that remind me of other space-alien films and there are parts that are fairly predictable. That being said, none of that deterred me from having a great time.

There are jumps, jaw drops, moments of ‘awwwwwwwdamn’, tension and it all happens in a small space - relatively speaking. The film is very in your face but that makes sense since there isn’t anything else to distract from the story and nothing for the actors to hide behind. Instead it’s straight on performance and fans of this genre of film are going to have a great time.

Director Espinosa has actually made several films that I enjoy with EASY MONEY in 2010 and Tom Hardy in CHILD 44 in 2015. He has worked with Reynolds before along with Denzel Washington in the 2012 film SAFE HOUSE. So he is batting 4-4 with me!

In the end – be careful what you search for!