Mini Film Review – Mortal Kombat: Annihilation

Yesterday I watched Mortal Kombat: Annihilation; and it was alright! Directed by John R. Leonetti, and starring Robin Shou, Talisa Soto, and James Remar; Mortal Kombat: Annihilation is a martial arts fantasy film based on the video game series of the same name, and acts as a direct sequel to the 1995 Mortal Kombat film. Following on directly from the events of the previous film; Annihilation sees Shao Kahn (Brian Thompson) breaking the rules of the tournament, and begin his invasion of Earthrealm. Movies based on video games, are both many in number, and all most all of them, are bad. But; Mortal Kombat did prove that it was possible to make at least one good one. So this in turn must make this one, one of the most disappointing films in cinema history; because in comparison to the first one; it is rather pants! Not necessarily outright bad; just very poor. The plot is a bit of a mess; as it just sort of gets on with the job, rather than create any real build-up or refresher. It was like someone on first day of production just yelled; “Right, let’s crack on lads!”. The CGI department was given a higher budget this time around; and yet was still able to create visuals worse than the previous film. It’s not all bad though to be fair. The smaller scaled objects are visually pretty effective; whereas the larger scale ones, are absolutely atrocious. But these issues are nothing compared with the very idea of recasting three of the film’s main roles. Sonya (Sandra Hess), Jax (Lynn ‘Red’ Williams), and Raiden (James Remar), are all played by different actors; which just makes both films; rather hard to watch in quick succession!

But despite these glaring issues; it does have its merits. The fight sequences are still both very well-choreographed, and largely entertaining; plus are backed up by a cool soundtrack. The film also has it’s light touches too; such as the rather epic moment where a legion of soldiers on horseback appear in the background. But the thing that makes this whole film worth it; is the film’s final fight (see above). It’s like when Wonder Woman appeared at the end of Batman V Superman. It creates a scene that sends tingles down your spine. It’s a moment that fans of the video games can enjoy to the full, as Liu Kang and Shao Kahn fight, backed up with the correct theme tune! So; altogether; Yes, it’s not as good as the first film, but it’s still a pretty entertaining movie!