There was an awful lot of dry exposition in the recent Mortal Kombat reboot, with plenty of characters delivering long and winding monologues that painstakingly explained the ins and outs of the mythology in great, and some would even say unnecessary, detail.
The martial arts fantasy actioner didn’t come laced with much humor, either, with the notable exception of Josh Lawson’s Kano. The actor was clearly the only person who got the memo that the core concept is inherently ridiculous, and he appeared to be the sole member of the cast allowed to have any fun with their performance while everyone else treated things with the utmost seriousness.
Fans may be calling Mortal Kombat the best video game adaptation ever made, but the critical consensus was more than a little mixed, although most folks seemed to be in agreement that Kano was one of the highlights of the film. In a new interview, though, Lawson admitted that he was surprised to be singled out as the standout, even going so far as to reveal that the reviews might be the strongest notices he’s ever received in his career.
“Look, I can say with a hand on my heart they’re probably the best reviews I’ve ever received in my career for Mortal Kombat, which I can promise you, it was not what I was expecting. Not that I thought I was bad in it, I just didn’t think anyone would notice. I’m very, very pleased that people responded to Kano. I’ll be honest, most of the time I’m used to terrible reviews of my career for the most part. So to get some positive reviews has been a lovely change. It’s been nice to feel like the work was appreciated.”
After Mortal Kombat found major success at both the box office and on HBO Max, you’d imagine a few more doors would have been opened for Lawson in Hollywood. He was a left-field choice for Kano having largely worked in comedy, but he proved to be a dab hand at the action sequences, and even better when it came to dropping a foul-mouthed one-liner or two.
Given the way Simon McQuoid’s feature directorial debut ended, there’s every chance he’ll be brought back for the inevitable sequel as well, which is great news for those who felt he was eliminated from the Mortal Kombat equation a little early.
