Screenshot: HBO Max
After spending the last two decades re-watching 1997’s so-utterly-bad-it’s-good
Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, fans like me finally got a new live-action movie in the franchise. Just like the previews promised, 2021’s
Mortal Kombat comes with great fight scenes and a lot of faithfulness to the many characters it includes from the source material. But it also delivers a bland lead and an abundance of clichés. The combination of silly action movie tropes and seriously fun fight scenes result in a middle-of-the-road movie that can be entertaining if you know what you’re getting yourself into.
(Spoilers for
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The California Times is committed to reviewing theatrical film releases during the COVID-19 pandemic. Because moviegoing carries risks during this time, we remind readers to follow health and safety guidelines as outlined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and local health officials.
In the 1997 franchise-killing flop “Mortal Kombat: Annihilation,” the thunder god Lord Raiden delivers an ominous warning: “What closes can also open again.” He’s talking about the portals that separate Earthrealm (good!) from Outworld (bad!), though in retrospect it’s tempting to interpret his words as a vaguely optimistic prophecy about the state of moviegoing circa 2021. For better or worse, many of the theaters that closed last year are opening again, and starting this Friday they will be playing (what else?) a brand-new “Mortal Kombat” movie a blood-slicked reminder that, in arcade fighter games and Hollywood blockbusters alike, no fatality is ever truly perm
Print
The Times is committed to reviewing theatrical film releases during the COVID-19 pandemic. Because moviegoing carries risks during this time, we remind readers to follow health and safety guidelines as outlined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and local health officials.
In the 1997 franchise-killing flop “Mortal Kombat: Annihilation,” the thunder god Lord Raiden delivers an ominous warning: “What closes can also open again.” He’s talking about the portals that separate Earthrealm (good!) from Outworld (bad!), though in retrospect it’s tempting to interpret his words as a vaguely optimistic prophecy about the state of moviegoing circa 2021. For better or worse, many of the theaters that closed last year are opening again, and starting this Friday they will be playing (what else?) a brand-new “Mortal Kombat” movie a blood-slicked reminder that, in arcade fighter games and Hollywood blockbusters alike, no fatality is ever truly permanent.