Mortal Kombat Week: Mortal Kombat (1995) Review

Not exactly a flawless victory but, a fun time nonetheless.

Back in 1992, kids and teens stormed the arcades with enthusiasm and were armed with Ziploc bags packed with quarters. It was a Friday afternoon and school was out. There was one game that becomes both the main topic of discussion at the lunch table and a rite of passage for friend groups. That game was “Mortal Kombat”: a fighting game with a small roster of characters from various cultural backgrounds and insanely graphic violence. A game that was so violent and so controversial that it led to the creation of the ESRB rating system. “Mortal Kombat” would go on to make its way onto home consoles, spawn sequels, & continue to infuriate parents and politicians respectively.

In the year 1995, New Line Cinema and Threshold Entertainment would go on to release a film adaptation based on the game itself. Starring Robin Shou, Talisa Soto, Bridgette Wilson, Linden Ashby, Christopher Lambert, & Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, The film is also directed by Paul W.S. Anderson who would later go on to direct “Event Horizon”, “AVP: Aliens Vs, Predator”, and, most notably, the “Resident Evil” films.

The film focuses on three characters: Liu Kang (Robin Shou), Johnny Cage(Linden Ashby), and Sonya Blade (Bridgette Wilson). All three board a mysterious ship that takes them en route to the titular tournament with the god of Thunder himself, Raiden (Christopher Lambert), as a guide to our protagonists. Hosting the tournament on his island is the sorcerer and main antagonist Shang Tsung (Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa) who is also responsible for the death of Liu Kang’s brother. After losing 9 consecutive tournaments, Earthrealm is in grave danger of being taken over and ruled by Outworld’s Emperor Shao Kahn. It is up to Liu Kang, Sonya, & Johnny Cage to prevent outworld from achieving their goal of securing 10 consecutive tournament wins and taking over Earthrealm.

The film starts off with three simple introductions of of its main protagonists: Liu Kang going to the Shaolin temple in China, Sonya chasing down Kano at a club in Hong Kong, and Johnny cage filming a movie in LA. The characters are fairly standard: Liu Kang being the typical “chosen one” protagonist, Sonya being the stereotypical tough lady, and…