Watch the first 7 minutes of 'Mortal Kombat' before it streams on April 23

Mechad Brooks as Jax in "Mortal Kombat."
Mechad Brooks as Jax in "Mortal Kombat." (Image credit: Warner Bros.)

The latest iteration of Mortal Kombat hits theaters and HBO Max on Friday, April 23. But you can watch the first seven minutes of the new film today on YouTube. (And only on YouTube. Because of the nature of the film — violence — embeds are turned off.) Seven minutes and 41 seconds, to be exact.

The film opens with Hanzo Hasashi (Hiroyuki Sanada) with his family. He's tending to the land. He's getting water from the well. And then the tattoo on his arm lights up, Harry Potter style.

Then we hear the sounds of swords and blood spattering on the walls. That's ... not good. It's Bi-Han (Joe Taslim), who can create ice out of his hands. It's Sub-Zero.

A baby is hidden in under the floorboards as the bad guys arrive, in search of Hanzo.

Hanzo hears the screams and drops the water, rushing back to his now very dead — and very frozen — family, which is the sort of way you'd expect this revenge flick to begin.

Hanzo then takes out his rage on the lesser bad guys left behind, and we get a taste of the skills that ultimately are known to Scorpion.

And, yeah. It's pretty badass.

Phil Nickinson

Phil spent his 20s in the newsroom of the Pensacola (Fla.) News Journal, his 30s on the road for AndroidCentral.com and Mobile Nations and is the Dad part of Modern Dad.