He had the best lines, His portrayal was the one closest to the game, he looked most American, and got the hottest girl in the End. He was so well casted in such difficult, demanding, and critic casting. He pulled it Perfect. Any other Asian Could’ve played Liu Kang. The only other one who was casted perfect was Raiden but they didn’t give him enough Material to Lead. But He was perfect.
shareShang Tsung was a flawless cast.
shareYeah, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa wasn't just perfect he WAS Shang Tsung.
It's weird but all before the movie it was hard to get a feel for Tsung's character from the games alone, but Tagawa gave him that villainous depth he needed for people to love to hate him as a villain.
He was far more imposing and physically capable than that new guy they got for the role. In the Mortal Kombat reboot film, for the longest I didn't even know that was supposed to be Shang Tsung because he had such a small personified stature. He didn't seem particularly threatening nor anywhere near as imposing as Tagawa.
Almost all his lines were improv. Linden should have been paid twice for acting and rewriting the script.
shareI enjoyed Linden Ashby's portrayal of Johnny Cage. He had some of the more memorable, humorous lines. The movie would have felt incredibly flat without his performance but I think he worked perfectly as the deuteragonist. Ironically Johnny Cage likely would have been promoted to central protagonist had Jean Claude Van Damme signed on to the role when it was offered. It would have been the same crap that happened with the Street Fighter movie that he chose to do instead.
I completely disagree about "any Asian" being able to paly Liu Kang. Robin Shou's great martial arts stunt performance really shines throughout the movie and holds quality of the the fight scenes together. He performed virtually all of his own stunts and fight choreography so we we get a lot of clear lingering shots with of the action without a bunch of excessive quick cuts and tricky cameras angles to hide stunt doubles like what we got with the Johnny Cage vs Scorpion fight, as much as I still enjoyed that scene. Also, for someone who was more of a stunt performer than an actor, I thought he did a much better job than most would have as the lead.
Shou is a great martial artist, but Ashby carried the movie with his acting. And even if it was more edited, the Cage v Scorpion fight was the best in the movie.
shareI disagree with this trash post. At least the part about liu kang. Robin shou could have became a major action star after this movie....but then annihilation happened. He still could of gotten a chance but it didn't happen for whatever reason.
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