Review of Mortal Kombat (1995) by Thequietgamer — 18 Jul 2015

Cheesy martial arts fun. It's got overacting, plenty of goofy one-liners, and over-the-top action galore. The plot falls short thanks to simplicity and a lack of focus so the movie just comes off as one long fight scene. That's not really a bad thing. Even with the crappy CGI and bad special effects the movie is still a treat to look at thanks to the fact that it looks almost exactly like the videogames it's based on.

Admittedly if this wasn't based off of the Mortal Kombat games it probably wouldn't have been watchable. Had they have gone with original characters and themes the issues the movie has wouldn't have been so forgivable. It really is the faithfulness to the source material that keeps it afloat. The only thing it is missing are the series signature gory finishers. The action is noticeably tame in comparison to the games.

Still, fans of the series should definitely check this out. It might not be the most high-quality film out there, but it's enjoyable and probably the best movie adaption a videogame series like Mortal Kombat could hope for. Even if you are unfamiliar with the games it's based on the action and setting should still keep you entertained provided you like martial arts and don't mind putting up with all of the cheese.

I give "Mortal Kombat" an 8.5/10.