Movies based on video games have a notoriously spotty history. They’re often riddled with pacing problems, groan-inducing pseudo-stories, questionable special effects, and scenery-chewing performances.
But, sometimes, if you make yourself available to the cosmos, you stumble upon a gem.
The Kumawood production of Mortal Kombat may be the best adaptation of the series, but my opinion is limited to a couple minutes of footage. The Ghana-based filmmakers rethink Mortal Kombat as the story of Kitana, a princess whose homelands are invaded.
The clip, spotted by Kotaku, was shared on OMGVoice, a Facebook group focused the pop culture of Africa. The OMGVoice site notes that Kumawood productions tend to be low budget and comedy-centric.
The video pulls a lot from the original games, from costume design and sound effects to mimicking the side-scrolling style of the fighting franchise.
But what it captures that other Mortal Kombat adaptations lack is the glee of play.
Where the classic films were grim and tacky B-movies, there appears, in this footage, a sincere love not just of the source material, but how people experienced Mortal Kombat as a video game.
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