When I was a kid, I loved playing Mortal Kombat.
I won’t lie, the idea of ripping someone’s head off or seeing a gallon of blood fly off into the scenery after a punch to face was where it was at (I was 10). Shortly after there were comics and eventually the first live action movie. So when it came out I rushed to cinemas to watch it.
Coming back to it 20 years later it’s still a lot of fun!
To sum things up there is a tournament held every 25 years or so, between the realm of earth and the realm of Outworld. For the Outworld to take over earth they have to win 10 straight victories in this tournament called Mortal Kombat. So far Outworld have won 9 consecutive tournaments – so this time they’re playing for keeps!
We’re introduced to 3 of Earth’s top fighters – Liu Kang (Robin Shou), Johnny Cage (Linden Ashby) and Sonya Blade (Bridgette Wilson-Sampras – originally supposed to Cameron Diaz!) who fight under the God of Thunder – Rayden(Christopher Lambert).
Meanwhile Shang Tsung (Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa), who runs the tournament tries to manipulate the tournament in order to win and achieve victory for Outworld. He has several other fighters under him (from the video games) like Sub Zero, Scorpion, Kano (from Earth) and Prince Goro.
So our 3 fighters end up heading over to Shang Tsung’s island where they are told the rules and must do their very best to win and save Earth from being destroyed and taken over by the tyrant and Emperor of Outworld – Shao Kahn.
A Fun Video Game Adaption
This movie is about as straight referenced from the original video game and story line as any, minus a few details to keep from things getting over complicated. You’ve got the tournament, the mysticism and even a slightly rickety attempt at a supernatural character like Goro (four arms, smashes people).
Our 3 main characters are still the most human and relatable and official word is that Liu Kang is the hero of the series (at least back in the 90’s) so they’ve kept things on track there. One disappointment is the missing fan fave rivalry between Sub Zero and Scorpion who are simply, as Shang Tsung states ‘the deadliest of enemies but slaves under my power’.
I guess they had a lot to squeeze in so certain elements are skipped for the sake of the main story.
Popular moves and fatalies were included in the film. Scorpion unveils his fire breathing skull and harpoon while Sub Zero is out freezing people to death (although his original fataly was simply to rip someones head off, spine attached) but they’ve kept things very close.
Has it worked?
The movie is fun, and plays out as straight forward as any action or martial arts movie. The cast work well together and Johnny Cage keeps things pretty well humored.
We get a natural but very quick introduction into the world of Mortal Kombat, and a bit of a backstroy on each character, which gives them all strong motives they eventually have to learn to place aside for the greater good – except Sonya, she just kills Kano and becomes a Damsel in Distress. Christopher Lambert plays Rayden and serves as a character that introduces the world to our heroes (and thus, the audience).
It’s very easy to follow, we want to see the main charactes win the tournament – but there’s a lot of manipulation as Shang Tsung makes a deal to see Johnny Cage fight Goro on a condition which allows him to pick who fights in the final match – sliding the odds in his favor. Overall, nicely done and well balanced.
Martial Arts and Action
There’s a great energy and pace to the fights in this film, as well as nice little moves that are referenced from the video game without being too ridiculous.
Robin Shou’s fights were without a doubt the best performed. Being the only actor of the main cast with decent action background (he was in Tiger Cage II with Donnie Yen!), Robin performed a series of impressive fighting movements and maintained a powerful onscreen presence in his fights. While stunt doubles and ‘less fancy’ moves were used for Johnny Cage and Sonya.
The stunt men behind Scorpion and Sub Zero also bring powerful presence and acrobatic performance to their characters, giving you the impression they were definitively a cut above the rest.
Overall the action is constant and a lot of fun, with a great balance of game movements and martial arts kicks and acrobatics.
One piece of trivia: Brandon Lee was originally cast as Johnny Cage but died before filming began. Had he survived for the role I think this film would have been on a whole other level as Brandon Lee’s onscreen fighting presence was fantastic, instead an actor (Linden Ashby) played Johnyn and a Stunt Double was used in his place during fights.
The Verdict?
Loved it, still love it. The Special Effects are a bit dated but this movie is still a favourite from my childhood that I can watch as an adult. Check it out!
On Blu Ray –
Region Free (Plays in any country)
Mortal Kombat [Blu-ray]
On DVD –
Region 1 (US & Canada)
Mortal Kombat / Mortal Kombat: Annihilation (Double Feature)
Region 2 (UK, Europe, etc)
Mortal Kombat [DVD]
