This excessively campy ‘90s video game adaptation has a lot going for it: a high concept that pushes the story along, wildly over-the-top set design, and a willingness to get weird. Mortal Kombat (intentional misspelling was edgy in 1995) follows several of the game’s central characters as they compete in a martial arts tournament to determinate the fate of the world. The tournament storytelling device keeps things moving briskly (despite ignoring all of the conventional aspects of a tournament) and director Paul W.S. Anderson maintains a gratuitously silly, violent, and often funny tone.
The garish accoutrements – including the aforementioned sets, a mix of surprisingly good and surprisingly bad special effects, and kooky characters – give the film a fun B-movie vibe, which helps overcome how incredible dumb most of it is (every attempt to shoehorn in the game’s famous catchphrases are beyond awful). The sci-fi and horror influences are doubly important because the film eventually falters as an action movie, with hit-or-miss fight scenes that get repetitive after about the 500th roundhouse kick. It’s hard to complain when you’ve got 4-armed goliaths, ninjas throwing snakes like spears, and a haunted pirate ship.
Undoubtedly, the film’s two finest features are the ludicrously catchy theme song (which plays like 7 times) and American actor Christopher Lambert as ancient Asian wizard Rayden. Rayden, whom Lambert plays with an inexplicable accent and the character’s trademark conical hat typically worn by Asian farmers, is everything. His dialogue, line delivery, and ridiculously goofy appearance are everything you want in a B-movie.
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