Star of upcoming Mortal Kombat adaptation Joe Taslim has given fans what is surely the biggest indication yet that the movie is going to be a brutal affair.
Chatting to the folks over at ScreenRant in a recent interview, Taslim, who plays malevolent cryomancer Sub-Zero in the film, reveals how his scenes were more physically demanding than those of The Raid. For those not aware of the latter, it follows Sergeant Jaka’s (Taslim) attempts to infiltrate a derelict apartment block with the aim of taking crime lord Tama Riyadi into custody. His entire 20-man squad utterly defeated in the initial raid, Jaka is left to climb several stories on his own and forced to eliminate Riyadi’s entire retinue of guards almost single-handedly in hand-to-hand combat.
Acclaimed for its intense action set pieces and masterful choreography, Taslim’s admittance that playing Sub-Zero ended up being a tougher experience speaks volumes to the dedication that director Simon McQuoid and the entire crew have for ensuring fans aren’t disappointed by the live-action reboot.
As for the specific reasons for these hardships, Taslim cites the unwieldy nature of his costume as a major contributor. In conversation with the aforementioned site, he said:
I gotta say, Mortal Kombat is physically harder. Because I have 10 or maybe 12 kilos attached to my body, and then I just need to move fast in terms of doing it. I think Mortal Kombat is harder because I have almost like a kid on my back, and I have to run around and move around. But I think the energy is the same.
It’s a revelation that makes the end result even more impressive, then, but doubly so for co-star Hiroyuki Sanada. Despite being 60 years old, the well-established Japanese actor also had to wear a heavy costume as Hanzo Hasashi/Scorpion, and it goes without saying that we can’t wait to see how the pair will bring both respective characters to life when Mortal Kombat opens in theaters and hits HBO Max on April 23rd.
