David R. Walker

Posts Tagged ‘Tati Gabrielle’

Mortal Kombat II

Director: Simon McQuoid

Cast: Karl Urban, Martyn Ford, Tati Gabrielle, Jessica MacNamee, Mehcad Brooks, Hiroyuki Sanada, Josh Lawson, Damon Herriman, Ludi Lin, Max Haung, Lewis Tan

Running Time: 1 hour 56 minutes

Film Rating: 6.5 out of 10

Australian director Simon McQuoid returns as director to the sequel of the 2021 film Mortal Kombat with the new film simply titled Mortal Kombat II but this time he employs lots of laughs and sufficient martial arts, blood and gore to make this film entertaining although downright crazy at times.

Thankfully for the casting of New Zealand actor Karl Urban (Thor: Ragnarok, Star Trek: Beyond, Riddick) as the washed up 1990’s martial arts star Johnny Cage complete with black sunglasses and attitude that makes this film enjoyable. Karl Urban, channelling some of his bad ass character from the hit TV show The Boys currently streaming on Amazon Prime, he makes this film believable and hilarious combined with Josh Lawson as the one eyed Kano.

Mortal Kombat II is a combination of Australian humour and dazzling martial arts complete with a mostly Asian cast including Ludi Lin (Aquaman) who reprises his role as Liu Kang and Golden Globe winning Japanese actor Hiroyuki Sanada (Bullet Train) who reappears as the vengeful Scorpion aka Hanzo Hasashi.

Female power is represented in the form of Jessica MacNamee who returns as Sonja Blade and Adeline Rudolph as Kitana complete with killer fans, who lives by the mantra that everything is a weapon.

Jeremy Slater’s screenplay for Mortal Kombat II needed some more context and backstory as the multiple characters in this martial arts action fantasy jump between worlds which distorts an already confusing narrative. Fortunately Slater saves the script with some really funny one-liners uttered by Karl Urban and Josh Lawson in the raw Australian humour which is so hilarious.

Mortal Kombat II is loads of fun and definitely a fun popcorn film but it is not as good as the first film due to a confusing narrative and a plethora of characters that just appear to be cardboard cut outs hoping to inspire fans to dress up as their cosplay alter egos at the next Comic Con.

This fantasy martial arts action film is filled with fascinating visual effects coupled with enough gore to make the fights worthy of bloodlust but then pivots into a surreal scene stealing moment featuring Johnny Cage fighting a group of strange Mad Max like characters in a bid to win them over to the human side of Mortal Kombat. Weird and bizarre.

This sequel will make its production budget back and will be a big hit with gamers and those fans of the first film and the 1995 original. Mortal Kombat II should do well at the box office in the Asian markets and of course in Australia & New Zealand thanks to the antipodean cast.

Mortal Kombat II gets a film rating of 6.5 out of 10 and is big on humour, special effects and action but weak on a comprehensive storyline which makes the characters unbelievable and hollow. Recommended for those that love the niche genre of fantasy martial arts.

Uncharted

Director: Ruben Fleischer

Cast: Tom Holland, Mark Wahlberg, Antonio Banderas, Sophia Ali, Tati Gabrielle, Steven Waddington

Film Rating: 7 out of 10

Running Time: 1 hour 56 minutes

Gangster Squad and Venom director Ruben Fleischer delivers a slick and glossy adventure film Uncharted set in New York City, Barcelona and the Philippines featuring the man of the moment British star Tom Holland as Nathan Drake opposite Oscar nominee Mark Wahlberg (The Departed, The Fighter) as Victor Sullivan.

Based upon the Playstation action adventure video game, Uncharted tracks the adventures of the treasure hunter Nathan Drake as he searches for his long last brother whose last words are “Things are lost but not gone”. Nathan gets ensnarled into an international search for the Spanish explorer Magellan’s gold which is rumoured to be somewhere in the Philippines archipelago.

Drake teams up with trickster Victor Sullivan as they track down an infamous gold and ruby encrusted ancient cross from a swish auction house in New York City to Barcelona as the duo come across an array of equally dodgy characters including the wealthy Spaniard Santiago Moncada wonderfully played by Oscar nominee Antonio Banderas (Pain and Glory) the mysterious Braddock played by Tati Gabrielle and the gruff Scotsman played by Steven Waddington (The Last of the Mohicans, The Imitation Game).

While the first half of Uncharted takes a while to get going, the onscreen chemistry between Tom Holland and Mark Wahlberg is mesmerizing particularly as it is mostly the extremely buff and energetic Tom Holland fresh from his hugely successful blockbuster Spiderman: No Way Home that performs most of the outrageous stunts from dangling from light fitting in Manhattan to sky diving out of aeroplanes with sports cars over the Philippines.

The second half of Uncharted is pure entertainment much like a real action adventure story and is worth seeing. While the script of Uncharted is not superb, it’s also not meant to be as this is a film based on a video game. The main idea is to have the live action characters embodied on screen by two extremely likeable actors who should attract a large audience.

Clearly Tom Holland and Mark Wahlberg had loads of fun making this film and ensuring that audiences leave the cinema with a smile on their face as the closing credits role on. And be sure to stay beyond the ending for a hint that Uncharted will be the start of a franchise.

Look out for a captivating Sophia Ali as Chloe Frazer as the love interest of Nathan Drake.

Uncharted is basically an Indiana Jones for the Instagram generation and which better actor to put in lead role than the gorgeous Tom Holland who proves he can hold his own in a big budget action film which doesn’t involve spandex or CGI.

Fabulously entertaining and packed with action and adventure, Uncharted gets a film rating of 7 out of 10. Recommended viewing.