PixlBit

Amazing, a fighting game movie that's about. . . fighting! 

The Mortal Kombat game was released in 1992 for SNES and Genesis and found huge success. This game became famous for its blood, gore, and fatalities (killing off your opponent in over-the-top gruesome ways). The creators must have thought, "Wow, this game is really popular. We should make a movie." 

So they did. The movie was released in 1995 and was directed by Paul W. S. Anderson. The studio behind the film was Threshold Entertainment and it was distributed by New Line Cinema. The movie really tried to appeal to the fans, even using the original MK theme and having a guy yell out "MORTAL KOMBAAAAAAAT" at the end. Epic. 

Thankfully, the story in the movie is just like the story in the game. There is an inter-dimensional tournament, and if the Outworld (bad guys) can win ten times in a row, they can take over earth (okay, who made up these rules?). They have already won nine times (of course). Fighters come from all over the world to compete in the tournament. Yes, this movie is actually about fighting, unlike some fighting game movies, which are more about saving hostages or something (ahem, Street Fighter). 

There are three main characters in the movie: Liu Kang (Robin Shou), who enters the tournament in order to avenge his brother's death; Johnny Cage (Linden Ashby), a Hollywood superstar who enters the tournament to prove he is a great fighter; and Sonya Blade (Bridgette Wislon), an agent of the law who is after a mercenary. These three actors did a great job; at first, they don't get along with each other at all, but throughout the film, they learn to trust one another and work together. 

                 Shang Tsung                                                    "Get over here!"

The evil villain Shang Tsung is played by Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, and he is definitely the best actor in this movie. Tsung is a powerful sorcerer, and he will steal the souls of fighters who have been defeated. "Your soul is mine!" This guy really put himself into the character. Tsung is one of the best VG movie villains I have ever seen. 

The four-armed Mortal Kombat champion Goro also appears in the movie as a CGI creation (either that or an anamatronic robot thing, I couldn't find out which). I'm sure he looked very awesome in 1995, but today he doesn't look quite as good. His movements are a little stiff, so he might have been a robot. There is some CGI in the movie though, such as when Scorpion shoots out a snake-like harpoon from his hand, or a lizard statue coming to life (which looked terrible). 

Yes, Scorpion, Sub-Zero, and Reptile are all in this movie, and they give us some of the best fighting scenes in the film. Scorpion fights Johnny Cage and uses his snake-like harpoon to try and hit him, using his famous line "Get over here!" Sub-Zero fights Lui Kang, one of my favorite fight scenes. And Reptile also fights Lui Kang. The action has to be the best part of the movie, being closer to the level of a Jackie Chan movie, and much better than the fighting of the Street Fighter movie. The fighting was not cheesy, but legit. 

So the MK movie is a great movie, right? No, not quite. It's one of the better VG movies, but it still has problems. There are times when the acting is abysmal, and some of the fight scenes drag on too long. The plot, while adhering to the story of the game, is a simple good-versus-evil plot. Some of the dialogue is also campy. I also failed to mention Raiden (Christopher Lambert), God of Thunder, who helps the warriros and gives them advice. Well, Raiden doesn't add much to the story; there's even one part when he says to the three main characters, "Sorry, there's nothing I can do. You're on your own." Lambert's portrayal of Raiden also comes off as an unemotional and uncaring person. 

Final Thoughts

While the movie is not perfect, it is still a good movie. The fighting is excellent, the acting (for the most part) is good, and it's just a fun mindless movie. If you're a MK fan, you will love this movie. On the other hand, if you're not a MK fan (like me), you might not enjoy it too much. However, I enjoyed it as a pretty decend action film. If nothing else, you have to see Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa play one of the most wicked awesome villains ever! I give MK 3.5 out of 5 stars. It's a fighting game movie that's all about fighting, and that's a good thing.