I don't mean WTF in a good way like you were scared out of your wits or something wild happened, but more like... WTF... why? What were they thinking? This just feels so jarring forced and weird. Whose idea was this?
No Scorpion
No Bi-Han
Sub-Zero, but Kuai Liang looking radically different than the traditional MK ninjas and a huge departure from his MK2 appearance
No Raiden
No Johnny Cage
No Reptile
No Kitana
No Mileena
No Baraka
I know they "fixed it" with UMK3 shortly after and expanded even more with Trilogy, but this just feels like such a ballsy move.
14 base roster plus Cyber Smoke unlockable for 15.
Out of those 15 only 8 or 9 were known to players (Shang Tsung, Jax, Kano, Liu Kang, Liu Kang, Sonya, Sub-Zero, and Kung Lao were known. Smoke kinda, just not in this form).
7 complete unknowns.
Plus, since Reptile was a secret fight in the original MK and playable in MK2, it would've been reasonable for fans of MK2 to expect Jade and Noob Saibot to be playable in addition to Smoke.
Absolutely peak Raiden design
As usual, I share my personal favorite, but Kuai gets a 4-way tie for me.
Deception (Shred-Zero), MK 2011, Shaolin Monks, and X.
Gun to head and pick just one... Shred-Zero.
I know we're probably in the minority, but I loved that it made him wildly different in appearance than Scorpion and other ninjas, and he just plain looked so fucking badass.
Doesn't hurt I grew up with Ninja Turtles.
Hell, I'm currently collecting the new Shredder comics...
Based on my earlier Scorpions post, a fan asked for a Reptile version.
My pleasure!
Writer:
Art by:
Cover:
Colorist:
Don't get me wrong--he's my favorite since 1992--but there are other fighters.
I'm part of the problem...
I don't know how to express this aside from abject disappointment bordering on outrage.
Hercule Poirot, 33 novels, 51 short stories, and 2 plays.
THIS is how it ends?
REALLY?
The beginning hooked me immediately and I enjoyed almost everything that followed.
But that last act... what... the...
That said, now that I'm finished, here's my take on the novels.
THE BEST: Murder of Roger Akroyd and Death on the Nile were my favorites. I can't choose one over the other so they tie for first place. Two of the best books I've ever read.
THE MOST OVERRATED: Murder on the Orient Express. I may get crucified for this, but, aside from an all-timer ending, an ending which renders the other 90% of the book rather pointless, it felt more like I'd been more duped than entertained.
GREAT: Five Little Pigs, ABC Murders, Cards on the Table, The Hollow, Sad Cypress, Peril at End House, Dumb Witness, Lord Edgeware Dies, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, Three Act Tragedy, Death in the Clouds, The Murder on the Links, Peril at End House,
GOOD: After the Funeral, The Labours of Hercules, Dead Man’s Folly, Evil Under the Sun, One, Two, Buckle My Shoe, Hallowe’en Party, Black Coffee, Elephants Can Remember, Hickory Dickory Dock, The Mystery of the Blue Train, Poirot Investigates, Murder in the Mews, The Clocks, Cat Among the Pigeons, Mrs. McGinty’s Dead, Appointment With Death
BORING: Murder in Mesopotamia
DISAPPOINTING: Curtain
HATED THE ENDING: Hercule Poirot’s Christmas, Dead Man’s Folly, Third Girl
HATED THE EPILOGUE: Taken at the Flood
HOW IS THIS A HERCULE POIROT NOVEL?: The Big Four
Only half of these I actual ninja from the games.
Bruce Lee
Jackie Chan
Jet Li
Donnie Yen
Bruce Lee feels untouchable as the guy who put martial arts cinema on the global map. Undeniably belongs carved into that mountain.
Jackie Chan revolutionized action choreography and stunt work. Creative genius.
Jet Li brought world-class wushu skills and starred in some of the greatest martial arts films ever made becoming a household name.
Donnie Yen became the modern standard-bearer and helped keep the genre relevant for a new generation. The Ip Man movies alone should put him on this mountain.
Are these four the Mount Rushmore of martial arts movies, or does someone get bumped?
If you're replacing one of them, who comes off and who goes on? Tony Jaa? Sammo Hung? Chuck Norris? Gordon Liu? Michelle Yeoh? Someone else?
Just don't say Steven Seagal or I'll know you're unserious.
Wild ride. A classic from the '40s I'd somehow never seen.
Every time I thought the plot was becoming predictable, it swerved in a different direction. I never could've guessed how it would end. It's a masterclass in foreshadowing. Every promise the film makes gets paid off.
This might be a controversial opinion, but I've never been a huge Humphrey Bogart fan. I know he's one of the all-time greats, but parts of his performance can come across as a little hammy to modern audiences. He plays the role well, don't get me wrong, but it's just not my cup of tea. Walter Huston and Tim Holt were the standouts for me.
It's also wild to think Bogart was ever considered a sex symbol. The man looked like he'd lost a fight with a shovel, but whatever.
This is also one of those movies where you suddenly realize you've been seeing parodies, references, and homages to it your entire life without knowing where they came from.
If you're interested in older filmmaking, black-and-white films, or movies from the 1940s, you could do a lot worse.
This probably would've been a 10/10 if I'd seen it in 1948. As it stands, I'd give it a solid 8/10. A laughably bad skirmish scene and some rough, of-its-time audio hold it back a bit. Still, it's consistently entertaining, moves at a brisk pace, features great characters, and remains surprisingly unpredictable nearly 80 years later.
I know some of you would be way too young to remember, but, back in the day, they made a Street Fighter video game based on the Street Fighter movie based on the Street Fighter video game.
No, really. https://youtu.be/4tn8gQxsScw?si=wGA-AhtThAnQk0d_
Between the first two MK movies (2021 & 2026), they easily have the roster for a video game.
The story mode is right there.
DLC? Klassic kostumes/skins, stages, kharacters from the the 1995 and 1997 movies, etc.
Probably never happen, but what if it did? Would you be into it?
