The New Classics: Revisiting "Mortal Kombat"
If you grew up in the golden age of video games, there’s a high chance “Mortaaaaal Kombaaaaaat” is not just a song lyric, but a battle cry. To its faithful apostles, Midway’s fantasy-fighting classic was a turning point in youth culture that signaled a rebellious new era of early 90’s audacity. The premise: Earth’s mightiest fighters travel to a mystic realm to compete in a Kumite tournament against the fierce, magical forces of Outworld. Kind of like Bloodsport if Chong Li was a mythical creature with four arms and a ponytail.
The game was a landmark success. Naturally, when a movie adaptation materialized three years later, fans salivated at the prospect of seeing our favorite warriors on the big screen engaging in bloody combat for the fate of our realm. When it finally arrived in the Summer of 1995, it was met with financial success, though it polarized critics. Many cited its surprising lack of trademark carnage, character depth, coherent script and general substance whatsoever. Despite the obvious shortcomings, its stratified fanbase aggressively latched onto it with ferocious cult acknowledgement.
Almost three decades and seventeen game titles later, we’ve seen a smorgasbord of Mortal Kombat media resurface ranging from a short-lived show on TNT to an animated film and even a moderately successful web series. All things considered, none have come close to building an anticipation like the one we felt in 1995—until now. With HBO Max rebooting Mortal Kombat for a new generation on April 16th, a long lost hype is suddenly brewing. And with it, rejuvenated appreciation for the delightfully cheesy beat-’em-up that taught us one of life’s most valuable lessons: never mess with a man’s designer sunglasses. So let’s bang the inaugural gong, fire up the techno and dive into a new classic: Paul W.S. Anderson’s beloved mess of an action movie, Mortal Kombat.
Never bring fake Ray Bans around Goro, he can always tell.
What many critics disliked about this movie is coincidentally what also made it an instant classic. Within minutes, Mortal Kombat makes it abundantly clear that it’s not trying to make a run for Best Picture, so to hate it is to simply misconstrue its appeal. Paul W.S. Anderson (aka the one who didn’t direct Boogie Nights) brought a quintessential branding to late-90’s and early-aughts genre movies. His high-octane directing style became era defining, most notably evident in Event Horizon and Resident Evil, two heavy-handed sci-fi horror movies that still have devoted fanbases to this day.
While Anderson is no prophet of the high-art variety, all of his movies are shameless thrill rides. Their entertainment value comes with an unspoken understanding that when “directed by Paul W.S. Anderson” flashes across the screen, you should know you’re not in for a Ridley Scott epic. They’re rich in atmosphere, largely in part to his careful attention to detail in production and set design - this creates a strong sense of visual immersion that permeates his work. Whether it’s a spaceship from Hell or a blood soaked research facility, Anderson’s gutsy effort to build viscerally distinguished worlds is ultimately what separates Mortal Kombat from being just another video game adaptation.
Proof that fight scenes with neon lighting were cool long before John Wick came around.
In Mortal Kombat, we’re transported from ancient Shaolin temples to white sand beaches, through lush green forests and cavernous subterranean depths only to end up in Outworld, a desolate wasteland inhabited by decrepit things and creatures alike. This film recaptures the spark of one of the game’s most significant legacies: a diverse array of fighting arenas that aren’t just backdrop, but well crafted atmospheres that become entrenched in the vast mythology.
Since Mortal Kombat’s theatrical release in 1995, martial arts movies have undergone many a renaissance in the way fight choreography has evolved, as have the filmmakers who adapted to better capture it. All things considered, these fight sequences are enduringly entertaining, even by modern standards. Fusing traditional combat with supernatural elements, Mortal Kombat was, in many ways, a superhero movie before contemporary superhero movies existed.
Reminiscent of the late-80’s when martial arts resurfaced in a major way and icons like Jean-Claude Van Damme could split his way into the halls of eternity, Mortal Kombat was a showcase for flashier fight sequences than the ones we have now. The punches were louder, the editing faster, and the athleticism was literally unbelievable. Prior to 2003’s Ong Bak, action movies weren’t really concerned with being tactile, a direction that was further solidified when The Raid: Redemption emerged in 2012. From the late-80’s to mid-90’s, martial arts movies were all about three things: effect-driven set pieces, rapid editing and copious amounts of baby oil.
That’s enough baby oil to make Dwayne Johnson blush.
Mortal Kombat delivers on all three fronts; choreographed by Robin Shou who also stars as protagonist Liu Kang, the movie pays tribute to the canon that inspired it by embodying every facet of what we loved most about movies from that time. Punches, kicks, backflips, people being frozen and subsequently shattered like glass—you know, the usual. There’s a showmanship to the way these warriors clash, a respectable display of skill and strength but cartoonish enough for viewers to simply enjoy it for what it was: a mindless orgy of bare-knuckled fisticuffs, superpowered sorcery and throbbing techno music. But most importantly, copious amounts of baby oil.
It’s important to distinguish that while a lot of movies considered to be “modern day classics” are beloved by many, there’s a fair case to be made for the long list of people who fundamentally oppose them. This movie currently holds a 46% rotten rating on Rotten Tomatoes which isn’t exactly Street Fighter but that’s another video game adaptation for a different day.
It should go without saying that Mortal Kombat is far from a masterpiece. Whether it’s the painfully dated techno, the comical overacting, the exposition-heavy dialogue or everything about Kano and Sonya’s subplot, the movie wears its flaws proudly on its flowy Shaolin monk sleeve. Despite the audaciousness there will always be a split between those who embrace it and those who don’t. But let’s put it into context: if the second act set piece is built around a four-armed mutant getting punched in the crotch, maybe that indicates a certain level of self-awareness that has to be taken into account when assessing the movie’s foremost intentions.
No one’s trying to claim it’s the Chinatown of action movies—it’s not. But it’s easy for critics to poke at obvious flaws and dismiss any praise as irreverent static from basement-dwelling gamers who are unwilling to accept that it’s just a bad movie. The truth is Mortal Kombat is a lean, mean action flick that deftly delivers B-grade substance with A-level execution. In spite of all its many quirks and flaws, those who love it do so for nothing more than what it is at face value. As the sun rises on a burgeoning crop of new MK fans, we who worshipped its genesis look forward to a reborn future on HBO Max and will forever look back with fondness on what inevitably became the most culturally significant video game adaptation of its time.
No defense for Mortal Kombat: Annihilation though