Finish him! New Mortal Kombat movie brings fantasy violence to screens

LOS ANGELES - The "Mortal Kombat" movie reboot from Warner Bros, which debuts Friday in theaters and on the HBO Max streaming service, aims to better depict the extreme gore of the video game franchise than two toned-down cinematic spinoffs of the 1990s.

The video game has pushed the limits of violence and gore since it arrived in arcades in 1992 and was a main factor behind the establishment of a rating system for violence in video games by the industry. "It would be crazy to ignore that violence is a fundamental part of the video game," Josh Lawson, who plays brawler Kano in the film, said in an interview with Reuters Television.