Though not a flawless victory, the 1995 Mortal Kombat movie holds a special place in the hearts of fans. For many, it is still the best video game movie ever made; the cast is still fondly remembered for bringing the characters to life, the music is iconic, and it changed many aspects of future games.
It also features an ending tease that had fans excited for a sequel. In 1997, Mortal Kombat: Annihilation was the sequel and it was one of the biggest flops, rivaling the likes of Batman & Robin the same year. Much like Batman & Robin, there were just as many painful scenes as there were laughable ones.
So-Bad-It’s-Good: The VFX Looked Better On The SNES
This was 1997, the same year as The Lost World: Jurassic Park and Mortal Kombat: Annihilation had a bigger budget than the first movie. So how is it that it manages to have worse effects than a movie two years prior?
All the powers look cheaply done, the CGI makes Reptile in the first one seem award-worthy, and the green-screen is always noticeable when used. The most laughable part is when Liu Kang and Shao Kahn trigger their Animalities and transform into giant kaiju. It’s sad that the games at the time looked superior.
Bad: Choreography Is Lame
The first movie had very well choreographed and filmed fight sequences. Most of the actors were martial artists or received enough training to make the fights seem more real. In the sequel, there are only a select few fights that are decent at best while the rest feel more like glorified dance videos.
The fight between Scorpion and Sub-Zero is the best one. However, even that suffers from being too short. Nothing else quite matches the impact that each fight had in the first one; feeling more akin to a Power Rangers episode.
So-Bad-It’s-Good: Every Villain Is Over The Top
The games are not exactly known for their subtle villains. However, they do balance a fine line that makes them memorably over the top without feeling like a cartoon. Annihilation on the other hand makes every single villain so silly that it’s impossible to feel the least bit threatened by them.
Shao Kahn is always bellowing at the top of his lungs with rather flamboyant speeches. Shinnok often sounds like a bad anime character. Sindel’s dialogue and delivery have become infamous for how bad they are. Even the minions like Sheeva and Motaro manage to make a few laughs with their dialogue.
Bad: Is It Ermac Or Noob Saibot?
Fans of the game always get angry over this one and rightfully so. Throughout the movie, a red ninja appears with his voice sounding like many voices at once. Naturally, most are going to assume that this is Ermac: a specter made from the souls of dead warriors.
However, in the climax when he battles Sonya Blade, the ninja creates a shadowy clone of himself that acts in unison with him. This was Noob Saibot’s ability from the games. So which ninja is it? Ermac or Noob? In the end, it doesn’t matter because he is killed off quicker than most Stormtroopers.
So-Bad-It’s-Good: Reused Footage
The way Shao Kahn kills Rain already warrants a good laugh. Another famous character from the games disposed of like trash when Shao Kahn uses his hammer to send Rain flying into a pit of fire.
In the third act, Liu Kang battles Baraka trying to free Kitana. Liu Kang sends Baraka falling to his death; rather than film Baraka falling into the same fire pit, the same footage of Rain falling into the put is reused and it is so obvious.
Bad: Even More Watered Down
One of the only issues fans had with the 1995 movie was the lack of gore and fatalities. Something that the reboot fixes much to the glee of fans. With the sequel, the PG-13 rating is barely for anything other than a few fight scenes.
Fatalities are still gone, the fights have less brutality in them, and even the tone feels tame. It makes Annihilation seem more like an extended pilot to a really bad Mortal Kombat series. Thankfully, Mortal Kombat Conquest was much better.
So-Bad-It’s-Good: Sleazy Mileena Fight
Who is Mileena? What is Mileena? Why is Mileena? None of these questions are given answers. Instead, Mileena just shows up out of nowhere in the middle of the movie to fight Sonya. No explanation about how she is a clone of Kitana with the DNA of Baraka’s race to give her lust for battle.
Mileena’s iconic teeth never even get a reveal. Mileena just fights with Sonya in a mud pit that gets them all dirty. It’s rather clear that the fight is just for gratuitous sex appeal and it’s so obvious that it makes it seem like an adult parody of Mortal Kombat. Then Mileena just dies without ever meeting Kitana like salt in the wound.
Bad: Did They Just Kill Johnny Cage?
Like most of the cast, Johnny Cage was given a new face. Johnny Cage is such an iconic character who evolved to become the new face of the games. So how does Annihilation handle him? By giving him one line of dialogue before having Shao Kahn snap his neck.
Even Ed Boon, the co-creator of Mortal Kombat admits to disliking Annihilation and this is probably why. It’s not funny or silly, it is just a slap in the face to fans. Johnny Cage is as essential of a character as Sonya and Liu Kang.
So-Bad-It’s-Good: God Family Drama
So apparently, the story of an immortal emperor conquering and merging different universes into his own wasn’t good enough. In Annihilation, Shao Kahn is nothing more than a man with daddy issues serving Shinnok who is his father in this version.
Shinnok, who is nothing like his game counterpart, is also the father of Lord Raiden. This leads to a portion of the third act being about this out of nowhere family soap opera between Raiden, Shao Kahn, and Shinnok. Not only does it go against the lore of the games but in the movie itself, it did not fit.
Bad: Too Many Characters
The 1995 movie had just enough characters to pull off the story of the first tournament. Sure, characters suffered but for the most part, it was just enough to get the movie where it needed to be. The sequel on the other hand tries to throw as many famous characters into the mix without any proper explanations.
Who are the cyber ninjas? Who is Sheeva? What is Motaro? What is that demon creature that comes out of walls? Why does Shao Kahn want Earthrealm? Why is Sindel resurrected? Annihilation never explains and instead just resorts to more action scenes thus dumbing the movie down. Iconic characters like Scorpion and Sub-Zero suffer again because, after their fight, they just vanish from the plot completely.
