Hot take but Mortal Kombat was better than Mortal Kombat
AT FIRST, I WAS LIKE: Wow, what a fun time! I remember watching this late at night after a long day at work and it totally worked for me. None of the characters were particularly interesting, but there was something so charming despite that. The soundtrack to Mortal Kombat is iconic and as an admirer of metal, I really appreciated how they incorporated it into the movie; you can hear it during Cage’s fight with Scorpion. It’s not high brow cinema, but as a cult film, it hits the spot especially when you’re up at 2 in the morning.
BUT NOW, I’M JUST LIKE: My rewatch of Mortal Kombat was the equivalent to having the club lights coming on at the end of the night; that hot girl I was grinding on turned out to look more like Maui as opposed Nicole Scherzinger. A lot of the performances are about as bad as a trash can sitting out during a hot summer day and the action sequences aren’t as smooth as I remembered. Perhaps after watching so many action films following Mortal Kombat, I’ve been exposed to better choreography, but American films before The Matrix seem to have terrible hand-to-hand combat sequences. I still think a lot of the set design looks very rad and I loved Goro! I’ll take practical effects over cheap CGI any day of the week.
IN THE END, I’M JUST LIKE: Curves and imperfections aside, I still think Mortal Kombat is a good time! I’ve read too many reviews hating on the script, but I think it works for the most part. It effectively sets up our three leads and their motivations as well as the stakes of Mortal Kombat, even if the stakes don’t hold much weight. For a movie based on a videogame about punching people, I think that’s all you need. In regards to acting, I can’t defend that, but Liu Kang isn’t too bad and Johnny Cage has his moments; I just wish they gave more for Sonya and Kitana to do. I’ve seen the new Mortal Kombat and it’s not nearly as fun as this one. If you like extra cheese on your pizza, order the 1995 Mortal Kombat.
The Cinebuff 