The Story of 'MORTAL KOMBAT' Director When Choosing to Satisfy Fans or Attract New Viewers

Kapanlagi.com - Director Simon McQuoid chose to work on MORTAL KOMBAT with a realistic approach. Although he understands that the Mortal Kombat story is so fantastic with an unusual setting and eccentric and iconic characters, both in appearance and characteristics. Therefore, Simon's first challenge in working on MORTAL KOMBAT is to realize that vision in the visual of the film. 

As seen in the trailer, MORTAL KOMBAT presents landscapes like deserts and hills. The characters also have unique costumes like in the game. Not to mention their captivating fight scenes polished with luxurious visual effects. 

"I try to make it as realistic and convincing as possible. I don't want it to be too imaginary because of the use of green screen visual effects. The audience won't be able to get into the story. Although they are not aware. My main goal is to make the audience believe that the Mortal Kombat world is real. Everything has to look as real as possible," he said in an interview with KapanLagi.com, Tuesday (16/3).

The average scene in this film was recorded on actual locations. Simon and the MORTAL KOMBAT cast flew to Australia to experience what it feels like to fight in a landscape that closely resembles the locations in the story.

"There are some scenes that cannot be realized without visual effects. But as much as possible, I use my observation to make everything look real," he added. 

1. Between Fans and New Audiences

Not only did Simon have to deal with a lack of shooting locations that lacked greenscreen, he also had to think hard to fulfill the expectations of fans and attract new viewers. He explained that every day during filming, he constantly thought about these two things. 

"You know, directing a film is like making decisions in many stages. Often, I have to choose between including scenes that only fans would understand, or scenes that would help new viewers understand Mortal Kombat. I do this every day with my crew. How can we attract new viewers without changing too much for the fans?" he explained. 

The result of his thoughts and his skillful hands in making the film can be seen in the cinematic trailer. The comments section was flooded with positive responses from fans of the video game. 

"Simply put, I respect the original material and enhance its scale. So that it looks more cinematic. So the fans will see the film as a bigger version of the video game they played. So the film will be a combination of things that are not too exclusive and things that will occasionally satisfy the fans," he confidently said. 

Simon was able to smoothly work on MORTAL KOMBAT because he was no stranger to adapting video game material into a video. He understands the importance of maintaining the authenticity of aspects in the source material to be realized in his adaptation. 

"When I was young, I played games, so I could really feel how much I immersed myself in the video game. That's why I really want to satisfy the fans through this film. That's what I've been facing every day for the past few years in making this film, haha," he laughed in relief. 

MORTAL KOMBAT will be released in theaters on April 16. For Indonesian viewers, get ready to see Joe Taslim's action as Sub-Zero in this fantasy action film. 

(kpl/dka)