MORTAL KOMBAT THE MOVIE (1995)

If you saw our review of the original gaming classic (review here), you would know that this franchise of almost 30 years is still going strong and started with a basic, simple premise that has evolved into the powerhouse it is today. With many popular titles, it was only a matter of time before Hollywood came calling and tried to transcend the movie world from the video game world. MORTAL KOMBAT (the movie), came onto the scenes around the release of MK 3 for the arcade. 25 years later, it’s still regarded as one of the most (if not the most) successful video game-movie adaptations…and with good reason. While the tone is jokey, it maintains a serious enough narrative that it knows when to pull back and not go overboard (Double Dragon should take note). The cast is stellar…and the fact that Veronica Vaughn could impress as Sonya Blade makes it all better. We got a terrific Shang Tsung and Kano (so much that their look influenced later games), and even Johnny Cage and Liu Kang make it work. Christopher Lambert was almost born to play Rayden…it’ll be hard to see anyone else wear the hat. If one aspect divides audiences, it’s the fact that the signature blood/violence from the game didn’t make it to the movie. The fights are pretty clean...with only glimpses of some signature movies and fatalities. Back in the mid-90s though, this was prob a smart way to approach the mainstream audiences and the remake will no doubt up this factor when it’s released later this year. For it’s time though, (and even now) the story of common fighters being sent to another world to fight a tournament with other-worldly fighters is still hugely entertaining. Check it out again…just make sure to have your sound system at full blast to take in the legendary soundtrack.

SLASH SCENE: Johnny Cage vs Scorpion fight

SLASH SCORE: 4.5/5