Super quick first impression is that Mortal Kombat 2021 is a blast and a half. It serves as a great, energetic blast in the franchise. Case in point, a few minutes before the final credits began rolling I was amped to just dive into the actual tournament itself and keep the fighting flowing.
My biggest concern going in was the introduction of a new, vanilla-ish character as a way into the convoluted and absurd lore that is the MK world. Honestly, I truly didn't mind the addition of Cole to the story at all. How he ties into this version of the overall MK story was well done and it being the center of the film worked surprisingly well for me. Part of me still thinks there's a great MK movie that can focus on Liu Kang as the lead but what we received here instead was very well done. The film did lose me a little in how ham fisted and hokey the whole Cole is just a punching bag who loves his family so he isn't ready to fight until OH NO he super loves his family and is now ultra ready!
The fighting choreography was fantastic, the locales were stylish and extravagant, the brutality was absolutely necessary to do the games justice and most of the fighters were brought to life brilliantly (especially Kano, who is going to damn near be the star of this and I can already believe they're re-writing a potential sequel to bring him back, Liu Kang, Kung Lao, Kabal and Goro).
My biggest complaints are that the film does have to move a little too briskly at some points to get through the massive amount of story and some moments and characters feel a little to rushed but it's hard to complain when they're executed so damn well.
Overall, it'd get a 3.5 / 5 from me. Not exactly a weighty thinker but a delightful blast of excess gore that does its source material pretty damn proudly. I really, really hope it does well enough to justify a sequel outing.