MORTAL KOMBAT! De ne ne ne ne ne nee ne ne ne.
Yeah…you know what I mean! Mortal Kombat is more than a fondly remembered video game adaptation; it’s also Paul W.S Anderson’s best film.
ECONOMICAL! Shout that in your best MK voice and you’ve summed up this film, and I mean it positively. With only two games in existence that this point, there’s only so much to draw from, and it doesn’t muck around. Within ten minutes each protagonist has been introduced along with what’s driving them. They’re soon interacting with Christopher Lambert’s outrageously amusing God of Thunder Raiden. Seriously, how could one guy be so out of place but simultaneously perfect? Then there’s the boss, in more than one sense. Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa as Shang Tsung is some top-tier casting. Apparently he dressed for the audition and performed atop a chair. Legend!
There’s a healthy dose of Outworld and some history of the tournament and older characters. But you know what we all want. We want to see the ninjas! Scorpion and Sub-Zero’s rivalry is quickly mentioned and then ignored, with both slaves of Shang Tsung. It’s a change that doesn’t bog down the story and works decently here. We get to see their main moves, and we even get to see Reptile!
It’s great to see the main cast doing so much of the fighting themselves. We get to see a lot of different styles, with Shou being the standout. Ashby is perfectly cast as Cage; his adlibbing feels natural and on point for the Hollywood action star trying to prove himself. But Tagawa brings it all together. Who else could pull off saying “your soul is mine” or “you…will…die!”.
I feel myself greying as I write this, but Mortal Kombat is now thirty years old. We have a newer film now, but it doesn’t live up the fun and nonsense set by this one. Trevor Goddard’s Aussie Kano forms the basis of the character to this day, whilst the main heroes, plus Tagawa, recently returned in MK11.
Mortal Kombat isn’t going to win any Oscars. But it’s very entertaining, so who cares. The performances from the main cast are engaging, the CGI is very of it’s time (which is fine), and there are some great fights. It knows full well what its goal is, and once you add in that absolute banger of a soundtrack, you’ve got a winner.
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