A video game movie that is still enjoyable to watch even
though my teenage years have ended nearly a decade ago, am I that old
already? I didn’t play the video game
much on any console but from what I did I do believe a good enough adaptation was
created to the movie screen. In my
circle of friends at least, this movie reigned as the measuring tool for years
against other video games trying to make it to Hollywood. As I watched this movie in my teenage time on
earth I loved all of the fight sequences and the music that accompanied it. But I’m not commenting from the past, for the
present begs to offer its insight.
Isn’t
it neat how we often watch movies we put up on a pedestal so high in our youth
now seem ever so slightly different? I
suppose we want to remember the best parts of it and try to subconsciously hide
the rest. I’ll say this; Mortal Kombat
is one of those rare movies for me that hold’s so much value. After watching it countless times I might
add. It’s not entirely about the movie
itself but all the great memories of watching it with friends growing up. We went so far as to name ourselves for some
of the characters, I was Rayden ha-ha! A
distinct factor in the movie I didn’t recall as much before now stands out like
a sore thumb, the cheesiness factor. Now
was the movie cheesy? Yes, but cheesy
doesn’t always mean something negative, in this case it was actually rather
fun. Robin Shou, who plays Liu Kang,
delivers some of the best corniest lines I’ve ever seen in a movie to this
day. I’m not making fun of this guy
though it really makes the movie that much more awesome. He also displays some interesting fighting
techniques during battle on the comical side.
Linden Ashby, who plays Johnny Cage, is much more of a hilarious
character than I remember. His comedic
timing is superb! Let me round out the
starring trio with Bridgette Wilson, who plays Sonya Blade, who obviously is in
the movie to be eye candy. It’s cute she
gets into her role and actually has some fight scenes but it’s clear she wouldn’t
be able to harm a fly. I’ve wasted
enough time right? Nope, I’ll babble
more.
The
mountain climbing atmosphere on the island was a good link to the ladder you
climb in the video game which represents a mountain, fitting. I read reviews and many comments that this
movie had no plot. I’ll disagree fairly
easily to that. For starters it’s rare
to have no plot in a movie; it’s similar to stating the book I just read had no
words. Do I defend this movie due to my
obvious liking of it? Sure why not? Aside I like to prove points with facts for
the naysayers and haters. The beginning
of the movie had a recruitment phase which coaxed the fighters to journey to a
destination to compete in a tournament to potentially stop an evil emperor from
invading earth and making it a wasteland.
Right there is a plot without really having to go any further. During the story the heroes find out about
the truth of the tournament aside Liu Kang who knows about it but denies it is
happening anyway. Let’s be honest Liu
wants blood, he’s here for vengeance!
Shang Tsung (Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa) killed his brother. They begin to fight and win victories for
earth’s survival while drawing closer to the man Shang Tsung in order to win
the tournament and stop the forthcoming invasion.
Along
the way you do see experience the lower caliber acting but the fight scenes are
quite refreshing and have an engaging, exciting soundtrack. I can completely understand why many people
would tire of the spotty acting. I just
keep in mind if you’re watching this movie for the acting than you might want
to reconsider why you’re watching it. Creating
character and emotions from video game ideas is an interesting undertaking. And remember in most fighting based movies
the dialogue and character development are the first to suffer. I believe enough of the video game characters
appeared to make it a legit fun spectacle of what the Mortal Kombat world could
be. It does seem it would be much darker
but if it’s too evil and sinisterly bad how many teenage boys would be able to
view it? It had to be a toned down
version of all the blood from the video game or it couldn’t make it to cinema
successfully. It was neat to see a
dialogue that didn’t consist of profanity as a means to fill in lines either.
The fight
scenes I liked most were Scorpion versus Johnny Cage, Liu Kang versus Reptile,
Johnny Cage versus Goro and Shang Tsung versus Liu Kang. I’ll start with the Johnny Cage and Scorpion
battle. It was creepy to see the spear
rope that shot out of Scorpion’s hand and chase after his opponent. I liked how the battle hit on each of the
characters special attacks or moves from the game. You got to see Cage’s shadow kick just as
Scorpion did his teleport move to transport them to a battleground it appeared Scorpion
preferred. Scorpion really kicked Cage’s
behind but the hero must win after all.
The finale of the fight featured Scorpion ripping his face off to reveal
his skeletal head. He breathed fire as
well until his untimely demise in which he exploded for some reason. I love it though, I don’t know why he went
boom but it was awesome! You get to see
Cage’s signature fatality as well as he leaves an autographed picture of
himself in the wake of Scorpions death.
Let’s
go with Liu Kang and Reptile now. I
really loved Reptile’s character; it was actually a reptilian creature that was
CGI. It was a cloaking little sneak that
at one point did spray Kang in the face showcasing its move from the game. Liu Kang gets blasted through a very thick
brick wall to start the fight. How could
you stand up from that? Hero strength
that’s how! I love this movie’s use of
what I like to call “hero” abilities. It’s
a straight forward fight that seems a lot more in sync than the other
fights. Liu gets his butt handed to him
but heroes it up and bicycle kicks Reptile into submission. I like the end when Reptile tries a slow
pathetic escape and Liu just squishes him with his foot while yelling the most obscure
expression I can remember in my life.
Moving
onto Johnny Cage and Goro, a four armed towering giant freak. Cage challenges Goro through his pimp Shang
Tsung. Its funny when you say it like
that isn’t it? Ha-ha! It’s true though, watch this movie! Rayden gets ticked when he arrives to see the
deal set and get some lip from Cage that it’s their fight to choose. Goro up to this point has terrorized fairly
weak opposition with his seemingly horrid breath; I always liked to assume Goro
has some bad breath. The fight sets
stage inside an incredibly small arena, like the size of your bathroom. Goro crushes Cage’s sunglasses and Shang
Tsung demands a quick execution. The
classic, “I’ll crush him in one blow.” Line is excellent. Cage instantly does the split kick attack
from the game and nails Goro in the private sector. Goro hunches over and Cage’s master plan is
underway. He is chased up to a cliff
where Cage makes short work of him and sends him over the side. A note you may want to jot down is, don’t
crush Johnny Cage’s $500 dollar sunglasses.
As the
story concludes Shang Tsung must battle Liu Kang for the tournament and
bragging rights as to who is the best Asian fighter in the movie. Shang Tsung is an evil dude; he has the souls
of thousands of fighters at his command.
It just takes him about five minutes to summon them while you watch and
wonder what he’s doing. Seriously Liu,
why didn’t you attack him while he was seemingly defenseless? Liu makes short work of the ancient fighters
and chases Shang Tsung up to a second level while huge metal spikes slowly rise
on the lower level. Now that’s a
fatality waiting to happen. You get an
awesome moment as Shang Tsung tries to morph into Liu’s brother to trick him
off the ledge but Liu after much consideration decides it’s not the right thing
to do. The battle is simple and hero
strong as Liu fireballs him off onto the spikes below. Shang Tsung is defeated and earth is to be
saved until the emperor in a rage breaks the rules and invades anyway.
You can
say there is no plot but you really just don’t like the movie most likely,
which is absolutely fine. It’s not a
deep meaningful story but rather exactly what it’s supposed to be, a video game
crossover. The plot isn’t strong but it’s
there. The special effects were awesome
and still hold well even today. I know
the lines nearly by heart, which does incline me to be biased but that’s what
it’s all about. I can also point out
what makes the movie succeed and fail.
The cheesy dialogue is comical but entertaining and the fight scenes can
appear to be choreographed to a fault but the movie still works. I’ll admit that it is so bad that it’s
actually good enough to satisfy me. I
have a deep past with this movie.
Sometimes outside factors really bring a movie to a special level.
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