Entertainment of Sunday, 18 December 2016

Source: theverge.com

Video: Kumawood's 'Mortal Kombat' looks spectacularly fun

The video uses costume and sound effects from the original play videoThe video uses costume and sound effects from the original

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.