Mortal Kombat 2’sfirstproper trailer dropped last week, and to say that reactions are mixed would be an understatement. I think the film looks pretty cool, but there have been several concerns regarding casting since the trailer was released. Some of them are warranted,such as Karl Urban playing Johnny Cage, while others don’t really have a leg to stand on just yet.
One of the more bizarre reactions to the trailer is the drama surrounding Jade, portrayed by Tati Gabrielle. She’s starred in a bunch of other well-known TV shows and games, most recently Nora in HBO’s The Last of Us and the star of Naughty Dog’s upcoming game Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophecy. Just like in those projects, Gabrielle is sporting a shaved head in Mortal Kombat 2, and for some baffling reason,this has angered a lot of people.
Mortal Kombat 2’s Jade Portrayal Defended By Director Who’s Actually Seen The Movie
Despite having a grand total of around five seconds of screen time in the movie’s trailer, and not speaking a single word, Gabrielle’s shaved head is somehow proof to some that she’s not going to do the character justice.
Well, there is one person that has seemingly seen the film in its entirety,and that’s fellow filmmaker Timo Tjahjanto. Over the past few days, Tjahjanto has been sharing his thoughts on the movie (thanks Yahoo), and a couple of days ago, spoke out against the backlash that Gabrielle has been getting regarding her depiction of Jade.
Tjahjanto goes on to call Gabrielle a “beautiful woman and did a good job in the film”, while also saying that “people doth protest too much without having seen things”. He doesn’t know exactly why Mortal Kombat 2 went with the shave head look for Jade, but says it never distracted him, and that her version of Jade is a “great combo on screen” with Kitana.
If Tjahjanto’s word isn’t enough for you, then maybe you should just take his advice and wait for the actual movie to release to form your own opinion. Just because an established character has a different look than usual doesn’t automatically mean that the movie is going to be a trainwreck. It looks like there’s plenty of love for the games too, so let’s maybe not form an opinion from five seconds of a 2 minute long trailer.
