Karl Urban cast as Johnny Cage
https://www.polygon.com/23712476/mortal-kombat-2-movie-cast-johnny-cage-karl-urban
I like his work as actor but I don't see him as Johnny Cage at all.
Agreed. Great actor, but I can't see him doing a split.
sharePlus he's not American.
shareHe is great, but he's also not a martial artist.
It's just so tiring when they hire actors to play martial artists and then have to either hide all their fight scenes behind shaky cam and quick edits (i.e., Bourne Identity) or just outright get a bunch of stunt doubles to do all the work for them.
I really like Karl, but man this is one of the absolute worst casting decisions they could have come up with.
So Tom Cruise is a bad action hero in the Mission Impossible franchise then?
shareOf course not. Tom Cruise does all of his own stunts, and studied martial arts for his role; just look at the one Mission Impossible with the bathroom fight; that was actually him.
shareHe was not a martial artist before that. Even look at mission impossible 2. So thanks for proving my point. An actor can take martial arts classes and if choreographed well can still look decent. Karl Urban was great as the action hero lead in the film Dredd and he is marevelous in the Boys.
shareHave to disagree. While anyone can lift their leg and kick around, doesn't mean that it would look good on screen. Even JCVD once said that he recorded himself doing kicks and stuff, and rewatched it over and over just to make it look perfect.
Also, Cage has to do a split (his iconic move) on screen that looks real. Can't see Karl Urban doing that without special effects or a stunt guy.
It doesn't matter how good the martial artist is if the director can't direct or know how to shoot the fight scene. Also if the choreography is bad that is a big factor also. Case in point both Scott Adkins and Jason Statham are both solid martial artists. Their fight in the expendables was laughably bad. It was because the lighting was awful and it was awfully choreographed. I've seen Scott Adkins in action the guy is an absolute beast! He was actually my first pick for Cage. Anyways compare those two fighting to the bathroom fight in mission impossible with Cavill and Cruise. Obviously Adkins and Statham are far more accomplished martial artists than Cruise or Cavill yet their fight in comparison to that scene looked way better than the expendables fight scene.
Another example is Joe Taslim the sub zero actor in the 2021 mk film. Watch the raid, the night comes for us or even the tv show warrior on HBO max. He is an incredible martial artist. Sadly it didn't really show in the previous mk film. It was not necessarily awful but pales in comparison to what the guy is capable of. In short I am not saying you are completely off a seasoned trained martial artist will always people to perform fights or stunts better than an actor learning moves. However an actor can achieve looking fairly good if it's well filmed or choreographed. My mission impossible fight scene in the bathroom proves that.
> It doesn't matter how good the martial artist is if the director can't direct or know how to shoot the fight scene.
Just look at the old Bruce Lee movies; the camera work, zoom in etc. is outdated but Bruce Lee's fight scenes, his kicks and all still look good after all these years.
Just rewatched the bathroom fight scene on youtube; Tom Cruise is not doing any martial arts in that scene? (the Asian guy's obviously a martial artist).
As much as I like the first Matrix movie and Keanu Reeves, it still shows that he's not a martial artist in real life. The scene at the end where he turns to the agents with his leg raised is a good example; it seems forced.
A good example would be Phillip Rhee in Best of the Best; now that guy makes fight scenes look good, esp. the end fight.
The camera work on the old Bruce Lee films is not bad. Outdated and bad are two different things. There are films which have dated cgi but that does not mean the cgi was bad for the time it was made. You want bad camera work watch the Expendables fight between Adkins and Statham. You want badly edited fight scenes watch Columbiana. John Wick, Atomic Blonde, Daredevil tv show, the raid, the raid 2, The Night comes for Us all have beautiful camera work. Bruce Lee's movies do not have bad camera work it is just dated.
The Matrix proves my point even further. Keanu Reeves looked good in those fight scenes. Was he Jet Li, Jackie Chan, Donnie Yen etc? No but he looked rather good during those action sequences. It did not stop the Matrix from being considered one of the best scifi films of all time. As long as the actor looks good they do not have to be some crazy stuntman.
Keanu also had a lot of CGI to help him during those Matrix fights, where as Colin Chou did not, and the difference in their martial arts abilities were very prominently showcased in The Matrix 2.
That highlights msegmx' point about the difference between a martial arts and a movie actor: even with bad lighting, camera work, or editing, their moves and technique still shines through.
A good example is Keanu rotating his raised leg back behind him -- compare that to when Jean Claude has done it and you can clearly see the difference in who has better flexibility, muscle control, and extension.
CGI and stunt work won't make Karl Urban believable as Johnny Cage, because we're going to be comparing him to Linden Ashby, who basically knocked it out of the park as Johnny Cage in the original Paul W.S. Anderson film, and Ashby also did his own stunts as well, and it paid off immensely, as those fights still hold up to this day.
No one is denying that a trained martial artist looks better than an actor. I am not disputing that. However good choreography and camera work can make an actor look decent in an action scene. The Matrix is considered one of the best scifi films ever made. If you have bad directing camera work, choreography or editing it can make a trained martial artist not look that great. My point was proven by showcasing Statham vs Adkins in that garbage Expendables movie. Both Statham and Adkins have had way better fights in other films. Any fight scene with Statham in the Transporter absolutely destroys the one in expendables. For Scott Adkins watch Ninja Shadow of Tear.
Adkins was actually my first pick to play Johnny Cage. Bottom line you can't deny that you can ruin a good action star if you do not have the fundamentals in place. Where as you can make an actor look good if you do have the fundamentals in place.
Yes, Adkins would have made for a good Johnny Cage, because he can act, and he has the flexibility and skills to back it up -- but the producers of these new Mortal Kombat films are trash, so even with his acting and skillset there's still a high likelihood that the fight scenes would come out as trash even with Adkins in the role.
The problem here, is that we already know the Mortal Kombat producers are trash, and we also already know that Karl Urban isn't a martial artist. So what we end up with is a lose-lose scenario, where Urban isn't really Johnny Cage, can't fight like Johnny Cage, and will end up with a lot of bad CGI, and poor editing to hide that fact, with equally bad choreography.
Sadly, it's just a lose-lose situation.
For once you made sense. It would not matter who was cast in this movie because even if you have a good martial artist if you do not know what to do with them. It all means nothing. The expendables proves this point beautifully. Those films are garbage. You want action movies that know how to film action? The Raid, The Raid 2, The Night comes for us. The tv show Warrior, The John Wick series, Atomic Blonde, The Daredevil tv show, Mad Max Fury Road etc.
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