First Mortal Kombat live-action short is as classy and serious as the games aren't. Also great

Directed by Kevin Tancharoen, the man behind the rather excellent reimagined, real-worldMortal Kombat short "Rebirth", part one is a grimy, punchy re-telling of one of Sonya and Jax's early run-ins with a pre-metal-face Kano and the Black Dragon group. There's also a couple of nice foreshadowing references, and the promise of much more reworked MK lore to come in the next nine parts. It's worth a watch however you feel about the game series.

Impressed so far? Intrigued as to how Tancharoen is going to reimagine the series' more fantastical elements in this tone? Secretly hoping he just makes a long, episodic version of his Rebirth film? I am, but how about you?

April 12th, 2011

David Houghton
Long-time GR+ writer Dave has been gaming with immense dedication ever since he failed dismally at some '80s arcade racer on a childhood day at the seaside (due to being too small to reach the controls without help). These days he's an enigmatic blend of beard-stroking narrative discussion and hard-hitting Psycho Crushers.
Latest in Mortal Kombat
Mortal Kombat 2 3DO
After 32 years, Mortal Kombat 2 has finally been ported to the one hyper-expensive '90s console that could actually do it justice
Mortal Kombat 1 Floyd
Mortal Kombat 1 makes good on a 30-year tradition of trolling fans by introducing a confusing, labyrinthine quest to fight pink Floyd, a new ninja
Close up of Arcade1up Mortal Kombat cabinet next to Prime Day Deals badge with navy backdrop
I'm dangerously close to replacing my coffee table with a Mortal Kombat arcade machine thanks to Prime Day
Mortal Kombat 1 fatalities T-1000
All Mortal Kombat 1 Fatalities and how to perform them
Megan Thee Stallion Mortal Kombat 11
Check out the very first sketch of Mortal Kombat's iconic dragon emblem
Mortal Kombat 11
Johnny Cage is teasing a new Mortal Kombat project
Latest in News
A screenshot from MindsEye showing a character leaning out of a car, shooting another car with a gun.
GTA veteran says the games industry needs to "get smarter" about what people actually want: "There are so many games, and I think we're starting to feel the effects"
Posing with a rifle in the Fallout 76 Ghoul update
Fallout 76's art director "had to fight really hard" so Bethesda would make the MMO's map bigger than Skyrim's
Minecraft movie image of Jack Black as steve
Don't expect Minecraft to go free-to-play anytime soon, as Mojang says "It doesn't really work with the way we built it"
Yasuke looking over the water to a shrine during sunset in Assassin's Creed Shadows
Assassin's Creed Shadows has an entire island stuffed with adorable kittens you need to check out, and it's based on an actual Japanese cat paradise
phase zero key art showing zombies in a hallway
Former Witcher 3 and Dying Light devs reveal their Resident Evil homage, complete with PS1-style fixed cameras
Shadow of Mordor's Nemesis System was only created because WB Games wanted something to combat Batman Arkham Asylum's second-hand sales, exec says