2 out of 5

Director: Paul W.S. Anderson

Alas, this doesn’t stand the test of time. I wasn’t a huge fan of the game when the movie came out, but for some reason, the flick grabbed me and I loved it. Unfortunately, it’s aged into a pretty cheesy movie that still has some charm, but moves a lot slower than it should. Mortal Kombat is about a few superstar fighters getting mixed up in an otherworldly brawl to keep an evil guy from conquering Earth. The evil guy has a lot of things planned out, and a lot of minions, but thankfully there’s this lightning god whose gonna help the fighters out to learn some lessons about themselves so they can kick some spooky behind. Now I’m not being kind to what is actually one of the coolest parts about this movie – the way it took a fighting game and fleshed out its plot. This was what impressed me when I watched it way back when, and it’s still true today. Christopher Lambert is goofy fun as the lightning god, and Robin Shou and Linden Ashby are quirky and believable in their roles. It’s that damn Bridgette Wilson who seems out of place, both as a fighter and as the tough girl. All of her scenes fall flat. The action (which was awesome when I was younger) doesn’t wow me as much anymore, but the set design and costumes in this movie were impressive. They put a lot of work into sets that could have been simple temples or factories in a cheaper movie. Don’t get me wrong – Mortal Kombat is fun, and doesn’t take itself seriously. The practical effects are cool (Goro!), and while the computer effects are outdated, they were done well for the time. It’s just sort of slow, and some scenes are sort of unnecessary, and it’s pretty friendly seeming, and thus not very grabbing. A good memory-lane movie, but more of a stepping stone for Paul Anderson in getting his directorial chops for his later films.

Blu-ray notes: Includes the embarrassing animated prequel cash-in ‘The Journey Begins‘.  There’s not much of a bump in quality from my DVD.  Rereading the above review (which was written oh so many moons ago, and compressed for Netflix character limitations, back when they allowed reviews), I’d probably be a bit kinder toward the flick if viewed as a B-movie, as opposed to the underrated action flick my memories had built it up as, but otherwise the pros and cons I highlighted still apply.