“Mother, you’re alive!” —Kitana
Today’s quick review: Mortal Kombat: Annihilation. Despite his defeat in the Mortal Kombat tournament, Emperor Shao-Kahn (Brian Thompson) of Outworld breaks the rules of the tournament and opens a portal to Earth with the intent to conquer it. Liu Kang (Robin Shou), Rayden (James Remar), and the rest of Earth’s greatest defenders must seek the help of the Elder Gods to defeat Shao Kahn before the Earth falls under his control.
Mortal Kombat: Annihilation is an action movie based on the Mortal Kombat series of video games. The sequel to the first Mortal Kombat movie, Annihilation is a marked step down from its predecessor. Where the original was a cheesy but lovable adaptation of the popular fighting game franchise, Annihilation lacks the good sense and charm that made the first one enjoyable, replacing them instead with bad acting and a nonsensical plot.
The story borders on the incomprehensible. The crux of the plot involves the resurrection of Sindel (Musetta Vander), the long-dead queen of Outworld who Shao-Kahn somehow uses to generate a portal to Earth. Exactly how this is achieved or why it is necessary is never made clear. The rules of the Mortal Kombat tournament should prevent Shao Kahn from invading the Earth, but for poorly explained reasons, Shao Kahn is able to circumvent them.
The heroes’ journey takes the form of three separate subplots centered around Liu Kang, Rayden, and Sonya Blade (Sandra Hess), respectively. Rayden sends Liu Kang on a spirit quest to awaken new power as a warrior, while he himself pays a visit to the Elder Gods’ temple to seek advice. For her part, Sonya goes to seek the help of her old partner Jax (Lynn Williams), a capable fighter in his own right.
While these subplots sound plausible in theory, they quickly fall apart. Liu Kang’s spirit quest has little justification or reward, and the trials he has to complete are token at best. Sonya’s recruitment of Jax serves little plot purpose other than to bring another fighter into the final fight. Rayden continues to be an ineffectual mentor, offering useless advice, blaming the heroes for not following it, and generally not living up to his reputation as a thunder god.
The movie has a bad habit of introducing characters for no good reason, then either folding them into the heroes’ party or shunting them off to the side. Enemies appear from nowhere for a single fight, while allies seem to crawl out of the woodwork, aiding the heroes without ever explaining how they know what is going on. The constant juggling of the cast, the poor writing, and a couple of glaring plot holes rob the story of any drama it might have possessed.
The combat, ostensibly the main draw of the movie, is passable but not impressive. The cast is clearly made up of trained martial artists, but they are given very little to work with. The choreography relies on the same few tricks over and over again, the characters’ unique powers notwithstanding. Ultimately, lack of context does the combat in: the similar combat of the first film worked because it was part of an enjoyable story.
Acting was never the first movie’s strong suit, but the protagonists had good banter and the worst performances were not central to the plot. Annihilation does away with the banter, deprives its best characters of any good lines, and replaces all its actors except Robin Shou as Liu Kang and Talisa Soto as Kitana. The result is a story with no real characters to latch onto, just fighters going through the motions of their respective plotlines.
The production values of the movie are also disappointing. The sets are grey and uninteresting, missing even the basic mystique of the first film. The costumes look artificial at best, while the new crop of villains is a motley collection of bad makeup and weak character design. The movie uses CGI for a few of its key special effects, and the quality of the animation has aged horrendously.
Watch Mortal Kombat: Annihilation only if you have a perverse interest in bad acting, incomprehensible writing, and dated special effects. The film is a smorgasbord of bad decisions that all but eliminates the positive traits of the first film. Skip it if you are looking for a better action movie or a worthwhile adaptation of the games.
3.7 out of 10 on IMDB. I give it a 3.5 for all-around poor execution.