Welcome to another episode of Death Don’t Do Fiction, the AIPT Movies podcast! The podcast about the enduring legacy of our favorite movies! It’s June, so that means it’s time for our “Junesis” series! Where we cover movies based on/revolving around video games! In this week’s episode, Alex, Tim, and guest Gordon Jones discuss the reboot that most people watched simply because they couldn’t leave the house, 2021’s Mortal Kombat!
Kano! Kabal! Australian sand pits! Lethal headgear! Fatal freezings! A human hoverboard! Cyber monks! Silly little cybernetic arms! Questionable birthmarks! Poor assassination follow-through! Chekhov’s garden gnome! Forced explanations for special powers! A charmingly handmade graphic novel! Arm violence! A sudden, unexplained rivalry! Cool costumes despite a lack of whimsy! A cast that includes Lewis Tan as a brand new character no one really likes, Jessica McNamee, Nathan Jones, Ludi Lin, Josh Lawson stealing the show, and action movie icons Joe Taslim and Hiroyuki Sanada! An adaptation that at the very least finally brings fatalities to the big screen, while being mostly respectful to the source material and throwing in some easter eggs for the fans!
In addition, the gang shares their spoiler-free thoughts on Andy Serkis’s Animal Farm, They Will Kill You, 2004’s The Punisher, 2025’s I Know What You Did Last Summer, the first three Thor movies, The new martial arts classic The Furious, Steven Spielberg’s Disclosure Day, the Korean Netflix series Squid Game, and Alex talks about director and special effects legend Steve Wang’s influence on the action movie genre!
You can find Death Don’t Do Fiction on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. As always, if you enjoy the podcast, be sure to leave us a positive rating, subscribe to the show, and tell your friends!
The Death Don’t Do Fiction podcast brings you the latest in movie news, reviews, and more! Hosted by supposed “industry vets,” Alex Harris and Tim Gardiner, the show gives you a peek behind the scenes from two filmmakers with oddly nonexistent filmographies. You can find Alex on Twitter, Bluesky, or Letterboxd @actionharris. This episode’s guest, Gordon Jones, can be found on instagram @heyitzjonesy. Tim can’t be found on social media because he doesn’t exist. If you have any questions or suggestions for the Death Don’t Do Fiction crew, they can be reached at [email protected], or you can find them on Twitter or Instagram @aiptmoviespod.
