A video-game series as iconic as Mortal Kombat deserves a great movie. The ’90s served up two campy entries that were ultra-cheesy instead of ultraviolent. While it’s not enough to put the video-game movie curse to bed for good, in embracing the franchise’s savage nature, director Simon McQuoid’s 2021 update is a step in the right direction.

It helps that Mortal Kombat 2021 starts off by putting its best foot forward. McQuoid smartly opens the movie in the 17th century to establish why Hanzo Hasashi, aka Scorpion (Hiroyuki Sanada), is out for revenge against Bi-Han, aka Sub-Zero (Joe Taslim). Full of beauty as well as fury, there is more emotional weight in this sequence than at any other point in the movie. The subsequent basic yet accessible-for-the-uninitiated present-day storyline sees Cole Young (Lewis Tan) recruited by fellow Earthrealm fighters Jax (Mehcad Brooks) and Sonya Blade (Jessica McNamee) for the upcoming Mortal Kombat tournament.

That we don’t actually get to the tournament here is a ballsy move, but McQuoid never forgets that the fights are the film’s main attraction. Though at times it suffers from over-editing, the generous action is mostly satisfying, aided by the fact that all the actors are doing the vast majority of their own stunts. Fans of the franchise will be glad to know the movie earns its American R rating too – when the fatalities come, they are brutal and bloody.

Another bold decision that doesn’t pay off nearly as well is to have Tan – a charismatic actor in his first lead role – play an entirely new character rather than fan-favourite Johnny Cage, a cocky, wisecracking Hollywood movie star. If nothing else, Cage would have made an inherently more fun protagonist than Tan’s Young, who is saddled with a bland Chosen One narrative we’ve seen so many times before. Still, it’s just plain nice to see Tan, Sanada and other Asian actors lead an American film where race has nothing to do with the story.

All in all, Mortal Kombat 2021 is not quite a flawless victory, but a solid win all the same. Any future follow-ups would do well to give us an actual Mortal Kombat tournament to enjoy.