Have you noticed the latest trend on defending bad movies?

 The movie is an origin story and setting up for the sequel. We've seen it with the DCEU and now Mortal Kombat. You CAN SET UP sequels, but the problem lies in bad plot points, huge plot holes, and other signs of bad writing that is being brushed off with the "this is settong up for the sequel" excuse.

Let's talk Superman. In MoS, Clark learns from Jonathan Kent that he must hide his powers from everyone and let people die if needed. Something that goes against EVERYTHING SUPERMAN IS SUPPOSED TO STAND FOR. People defended this with "this is an prigon story setting up for the sequel where Superman will grow into the Superman we all know".

Sequel came and he was still an angry, brooding stranger looking down on humanity that dies fighting Shrek. "He will grow into the Superman we know and love on the sequel"... in comes JL, the Snydercut, and what do we have? 

He comes back from the dead as a rage monster then comes back as the angry, broody Superman, but more willing to work with a team...  with ZERO character growth into the Superman we know and love... with no sequel since the DCEU is dead thanks to Zack Snyder and his stupidity. Three movies where we didn't get the Superman we know and love and the "promise of him growing into that role" never happened. In the planned Snyder sequels he was supposed to be Anti-Life Equation-ed into a Dictator Supes like on Injustice... Still not "growing into the Superman we know and love..."

 Say what you will about the "Josstice League", but at least it had signs of Superman growing into the Superman we know and love... but MuStAcHe...

Same thing happens in Mortal Kombat. Any criticism is deflected with:

ThIs Is BeFoRe ThE tOuRnAmEnT... 

It happening before the tpurnament doesn't cover the bad writing. The whole magic brand aspect goving them their powers isn't fixed with the "ThIs Is BeFoRe ThE tOuRnAmEnT..." excuse.

Whst would Jax's powers be if he hadn't lost his arms? Since Sonya killed both Kano and Mileena, does she have 2 brands now? What about Liu Kang? Or Kung Lao? Did Shang Tsung inherit all of Kung Lao's brands? What about Cole, did he get Goro's also? Wait... How can Scorpion have superpowers if Cole has his brand? Will the eventual revenants still have powers without brands? 

How can there even be a Tournament since the reigning champ is dead? Is Cole now the champion after that illegal Barn Brawl? Even if the movie was "BeFoRe ThE tOuRnAmEnT..." it doesn't make a lick of sense!

Having some loose ends to tie on a sequel IS NOT A BAD THING. The problem is justifying nonsense as a "loose end" when in reality it's bad writing.

Clark Kent having an internal conflict on fitting in this world is not a bad thing. Now having the Kents teach Clark to be SELFISH to the point of letting people die. That's not setting up growth for a sequel. That's bad writing.

Or Martha Kent telling Clark that he doesn't owe the world anything... sure she sends mixed signals by also telling him to be a hero, but the repeated message in Snyder's vision is you have powers, don't use them to help others, just save your ass. 

How does any of that fit with the idea of being a beacon of hope. A Shepherd to lead humanity into greatness? Should we talk about Zack Snyder's "love for Frank Miller's Batman"?

The movie adaptation ofFrank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns shows Batman being AGAINST GUNS! But in ZSJL, there was a teensy bit of character growth for Batman, but Whedon did it better. In ZSJL, Batman's sole reason to create the League is to stop Darkseid. He does have a bit of guilt for being partially responsible for Superman's death, but that's it. In the Whedon version it's all that but instead of Darkseid, it's Steppenwolf AND because 20+ years of crime fighting in Gotham are starting to catch up to him. This is not a suicidal Batman who is teying to die because he feels bad for letting Superman die (despite reviving him). It's a return to what Batman is supposed to be. The strategist. The guy who has plans for many eventualities. Him assembling the League makes sense, because the Kryptonian invasion showed that there's more than Earth out there and that the Earth needs defenders. Because Batman is a plain old normal human, he KNOWS he's not enough to stop whatever is out there. 

While Snyder was more interested in making Batman look Badass, Whedon was focusing on showcasing Batman's normal human status as a "weakness", that "rounds up Batman's  character". It makes sense that in a "more realistic and grounded" version of the DC Universe, Batman isn't going toe to toe and punching his way out of Worldbreaking level threats. A Batman that recognizes his mortality and weakness against the League, would be more inclined to develop the Contingency Protocols.

Sadly, both versions of JL failed DCEU Batman by not having a proper arc for him to grow from his Murder any Superhuman who could destroy the planet to create a team of heroes to defend the Earth from large threats both Terran or Alien... here I must blame Warner for rushing things. 

But to bring things back to my point... all the teasing and sequel baiting led nowhere, because now there is no DCEU and every time Zack Snyder opens his trap, he further kills any chances for the DCEU.

You can't deconstruct characters or subvert expectations when you're building a world. And another problem is that we have Directors, Producers, and other executives more interested in "leaving their mark" than doing the property Justice:

On the two examples I'm using, we have a Zack Snyder trying to leave His Randian obejectivist vision on the DCEU, despite the DC heroes not being objectivists. Trying to force a grimdark view of the characters, when most of the DC heroes tend to be light-hearted and optimistic, despite the dark situations they're put in. Superman is literally nicknamed The Big Blue Boy Scout, and SHAZAM the Big Red Cheese... Superdogs, Bat-Mites, Plastic Men, and Booster Golds are the opposite of what Snyder's selling.

On Mortal Kombat we have a studio mandated character that acts as some sort of wish fulfillment fantasy that robs screentime from actual MK characters and the story loses focus.

Focusing on "Before the Tournament" was a bad idea. I've already ranted on how MK could be fixed, so I won't go there.