I still remember the first time I properly got into Mortal Kombat. Like many people from my generation, I had obviously seen the characters before. Scorpion yelling “Get over here!”, Sub-Zero freezing people into ice cubes, Raiden looking like a thunder god who somehow still manages to disappear whenever the plot needs him most. Mortal Kombat was always around. But it wasn’t until the 2011 Mortal Kombat reboot game that I truly became invested in the franchise. That game was special because it balanced everything perfectly. It had the gore, the ridiculousness, the iconic rivalries, but it also had a surprisingly engaging story that tied together the first three games in a way even casual players could follow. It made characters like Liu Kang, Kung Lao, Kitana, Raiden, and Johnny Cage actually feel important beyond just being arcade fighters. That’s probably why the 2021 Mortal Kombat movie disappointed me so much.…