The video game industry has had a rough time try to successfully adapt their games to the big screen. Films such as "Super Mario Brothers" and "Street Fighter" were criticized for not resembling the game at all (although I feel that the latter is a dumb fun, guilty pleasure movie). Films like "Assassin's Creed" and "Warcraft" are more faithful to their source material, but do so at the cost of narrative flow and a sense of fun. To this day there is only one movie I can think of that accurately portrayed the story and characters from the game and delivers a decently written and fun story; "Mortal Kombat".
Out of all the video game movies I have seen, no other film captures the inherently fun schlock from the game series as accurately as the 1995 film.
The film portrays almost all of the characters from the game as accurately as possible. Liu Kang (Robin Shou) is a cynical martial arts master who must avenge the death of his brother and save the world by competing in the Mortal Kombat tournament. Shang Tsung (Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa) is a beautifully over-the-top and sadistically evil sorcerer who runs the tournament; they also keep in his ability to steal souls. Johnny Cage (Linden Ashby) is cocky pretty-boy action star from Hollywood who's always fun to watch.
Sonya Blade (Bridgette Wilson) is a no-nonsense special forces agent tracking a criminal when she gets caught up in the tournament. Raiden (Christopher Lambert), while not portrayed by an Asian actor, is still infused with a sense of fun and playfulness. While all of these characters aren't written that deeply, they are written with enough depth and personality to be entertaining.
The film also contains well staged and executed fight scenes. The actual fighting in the film features some good fight choreography and stunt work. The film uses iconic locations from the game, such as the Netherrealm and Shang Tsung's island. The film also uses really good practical effects and animatronics, especially for the character Goro.
The film is shot well enough that it really brings out the beauty of an ancient temple and the craftsmanship of the dungeon-like sets. The costumes, while cheesy, match the cheesiness of the game characters and are pretty accurate. While the plot is simple (go to the island and fight in Shang Tsung's tournament to save the world), the plot doesn't try to get too complicated or try to take this story about ninjas, gods, actors, and monsters trying to fight a soul-stealing wizard to save the world too seriously.
The film, however, does have two massive flaws that affect the overall quality. While I praised the practical effects earlier, there is still a lot of CGI work in this film, and since this is a modestly budgeted action film from the mid-90s it doesn't look good at all (one look at the character Reptile should tell you that). The second flaw is the biggest because it's the flaw that everyone noticed when the film was first released; the lack of blood and gore. The game series first became popular due to its graphic violence and gore filled finishers.
For many, this was "the" reason to play the game and the film just settles on a PG-13 rating. I know why they went with that rating (to get kids to see it and get more ticket sales), but by taking it out of the film, they removed what was to many people the heart and soul of the franchise.
The film is far from perfect on many levels, but I still feel that the film honors the story and characters of the game while still managing to be a silly and fun film. The film doesn't trash the lore of "Mortal Kombat" because a lot of the lore of the game is already beautiful, shlocky trash. The film knows that a lot of this is dumb and just rolls with that fact and makes it funny and entertaining.
The film also makes the wise decision to put money and talent behind the actual fight scenes, which is something you should do if you are making a film based on a game that's all about fighting. The film is no masterpiece, but it is fun enough to be entertaining and faithful to its source material.
It's one of the better video game adaptations that we have, which isn't saying much, and it also deserves to be remembered for giving us one of the catchiest themes of all time. I recommend you give it a watch with some friends on a weekend, and after all is said and done you won't be able to get that theme out of your head.
