The 2021 Mortal Kombat movie was relatively divisive, but many seemed to come a consensus that Josh Lawson’s Kano stole the show. In an upcoming interview for Long Story Short, the comedy he wrote and directed that’s slated to come out on July 2, he told ComingSoon that he not only appreciated the kind words, but also that he wasn’t expecting the best reviews of his career to come from his portrayal as the foul-mouthed Black Dragon leader.
When prompted about the praise, Lawson made it clear how surprised he was.
“Look, I can say with a hand on my heart they’re probably the best reviews I’ve ever received in my career [laughs] for Mortal Kombat, which I can promise you, it was not what I as expecting,” Lawson said. “Not that I thought I was bad in it, I just didn’t think anyone would notice. I’m very, very pleased that people responded to Kano.”
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Lawson also poked fun at himself in an honest way, openly saying that sometimes the films he’s in aren’t critical darlings. Thus, the positive reception to Kano was a “lovely change.”
“I’ll be honest, most of the time I’m used to terrible reviews of my career for the most part,” Lawson admitted. “So to get some positive reviews has been a lovely change. It’s been nice to feel like the work was appreciated.”
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Fans showed that appreciation all over the internet and some even sent it directly to Lawson. The game’s subreddit has more than a few posts about the film’s Kano, with the most popular thread having over 4,900 upvotes. Some of the accolades came at the cost of the movie, as more disappointed viewers saw him as one of the few good parts of it.
