Mortal Kombat Movie Review
egnomac This is Egnomac here again for another movie review and for this post I will be reviewing the video game based movie Mortal Kombat released in 1995 based of the video game of the same name directed by Paul W.S. Anderson and distributed by New Line Cinema.Just like in the game the movie's plot revolves around a tournament that happens once every generation called Mortal Kombat as three heroes a shaolin monk Lui Kang, actor Johnny Cage and military officer Sonya Blade find themselves taking part in said tournament to prevent the evil sorcerer Shang Tsung and his forces from winning their 10th tournament allowing them to invade and conquer Earthrealm as they need to win 10 straight tournaments to do so. Along with the aid of the god of thunder Raiden (spelled Rayden in the movie) who look to insure that our heroes are prepared for this very dangerous tournament that will decide the fate of the world, each of the main characters have their reasons for fighting in the tournament Lui Kang looks to avenge the death of his brother Chan who was killed by Shang Tsung, Johnny Cage looks to prove to everyone that he's the real deal and not a fake and Sonya enters solely to find Kano the man who killed her partner. Other Mortal Kombat characters from the games also make an appearance including Kano who gets Sonya to follow him so that she would be in the tournament by the request of Shang Tsung who really wants her there, Sub-Zero and Scorpion also appear but under Shang Tsung's control insetad of them being heated rivals like in the game, Kitana also appears as she looks to aid Lui Kang and the others in helping stop Shang Tsung, Reptile also makes a few brief appearances as a CGI looking lizard thing who later takes the form of a human in his fight with Lui Kang and of course we have Shang Tsung himself the main villain and Goro the sub boss of the first game.
So is this movie any good well yes and no on one hand its a pretty decent adaption the story is pretty decent, some of the fight scenes are pretty good especially the fight scenes between Johhny Cage and Scorpion, the fight with Lui Kan and Reptile and Kang hitting a bicycle kick on Reptile and the final fight between Lui Kang and Shang Tsung that ends with Lui Kang knocking Shang off the edge onto a bed of spikes and also got a love references to the games on the other the acting isn't really the best and some of the other fight scenes in the movie are pretty lackluster like the fight between Kano and Sonya which is over pretty quickly, the match between Sub-Zero and Lui Kang was pretty short but at least Lui Kang throwing a bucket of water as Sub-Zero surrounded himself in a field of ice which turns freezes and impales him against the wall which later freezes him. Goro does look pretty intimidating especially later in the movie as he plows through several opponents like they were nothing then destroys one of the fighters as he finishes him off Shang Tsung steals his soul, however his death during his fight with Johnny Cage is a bit of a letdown however it was pretty funny when Cage pulls out his signature low blow attack on Goro and his reaction is hilarious however when they get to the end of the fight Goro just falls off the cliff to his death.
Some of the dialogue can be a bit ridiculous and hard to take serious sometime but the movie does make us feel for the characters especially Lui Kang who looks to avenge his brother Chen and one speech by Rayden is really inspiring as the heroes literally see Goro finish of one of the fighters and they wonder how they can possibly defeat someone like Goro and Rayden basically tells them they can defeat any foe they face no matter how bizarre their powers may seem and that only one thing can defeat them and that's their worst fears. He goes on pointing out each of the heroes worst fears with Johnny Cage fearing that he is a fake and that he'll rush into any fight just to prove he's not and that he'll fight bravely but foolishly and will be beaten, Sonya is afraid to admit that even she needs help and afraid to trust in others and for Lui Kang he is afraid of his own destiny as he fled from it once when he went to America and has felt nothing but guilt for the death of his brother as Rayden goes on saying that "Every mortal is responsible for their own destiny". As we get to the climax of the movie after Goro's death Shang Tsung kidnaps Sonya in order to challenge her to win the tournament and be able to invade Earthrealm as he transports her and him to his palace as Kang and Cage follow them into Outworld where Rayden is unable to follow them. Kang and Cage arrive as Kang challenges Shang Tsung to a final showdown and Tsung throws everything he can to assure victory even transforming himself into Chan to fool Kang but Kang isn't buying it as he and Shang fight to the death as the floor at the bottom of where they were fighting on has spikes rise up and Kang manages to knock Tsung off the edge to his death releasing all of the souls he has claimed over the years including Lui's brother Chan who appears to have a very touching moment with Lui before leaving, with Earthrealm safe as Lui and the others celebrate their victory its cut short as Shao Khan the emperor of Outworld appears to challenge the heroes again as he says "You weak pathetic fools, I've come for your souls" as Rayden then adds "I don't think so" as the heroes prepare for battle as the movie ends.
For a video game movie adaption its pretty decent and fans of the game will certainly enjoy it and the movie's Mortal Kombat theme song is really awesome but if your a casual movie goer Mortal Kombat may not satisfy you the acting isn't the best and some of the fight scenes are okay, the movie hasn't aged as well as it was released in the 90's but it can be seen as a guilty pleasure for most if you like the Mortal Kombat games then you more likely enjoy the movie.