francysherrerap I love MK games. The first movie was OK but this one!!! They blew it. Save yourself some time and avoid watching it!

Sam Panico Ed Boon, one of the creators of the Mortal Kombat video game, calls this the "worst moment" in the history of the franchise. Coming from someone who loved the original film and has played every one of the games, I agree.Christopher Lambert was seen as one of the highlights of the last film. He's gone, replaced by James Remar (The Warriors). I always dislike whitewashing in movies, but Lambert was so game in his scenes and such an integral part of getting the last film made (Lambert's great attitude calmed director Paul W. S. Anderson as he worked on his first big movie. While the highest salary in the film, he paid his own way to go to Thailand and do all of his own scenes for basically free there, just to ensure the movie looked better. Plus, he paid for the wrap party.).In fact, only Liu Kang (Robin Shou) and Kitana (Talisa Soto) are played by the same actors from the previous film. Robin Cooke, who played Reptile, plays Sub Zero here, with that fighter gaining a much larger role.Did you like Johnny Cage last time? Lots of people did. Bad news - he's killed seconds into this new film to get over new bad guy Shao Khan. He's opened a portal from Outrealm to Earth (hey wait - didn't we just fight a tournament to stop that from happening?) and has brought back his queen (and Kitana's mother) Sindel back from the dead.Sonya Blade (now played by Sandra Hess, who played the cave girl in Encino Man) brings in her partner Jax and they immediately battle Cyrax and Mileena. Then there's Nightwolf (played by Litefoot, the Native American who also portrayed Little Bear in The Indian in the Cupboard), a shaman who will guide Liu Kang and Kitana toward defeating Shao Khan. Another fight against Smoke and Scorpion, with the help of Sub Zero, happens and Kitana gets kidnapped.Raiden meets with the Edger Gods, who don't really give any answers. I have several questions for them. Like, why are we fighting Shao Khan when we won a tournament to stop things like this from happening? And why is there a fight every ten seconds instead of character development like the first film? Or why didn't you bring back the actors we liked in these roles? And why doesn't the "Toasty!" guy show up?Nightwolf makes Liu Kang pass several trials to gain the power of Animality, which allows him to shapeshift into a new form. He must pass the self-esteem and focus trial. The trial of temptation, where Jade tries to get in his karate pants. And there's a third test, but we never get to it! One assumes that he passes it, as we'll see in the finale.Raiden gives up his immortality to fight for Earth, which means that he needs to cut off his hair. Jade is a double agent and while the good guys rescue Kitana, they still face tough odds. Raiden reveals that Shao Khan is his brother and their father, Shinook, is favoring his evil sibling. After a big battle, Raiden is killed at the hands of that very same brother.Another lengthy fight sequence happens, with Motaro, Ermac, Sindel and even Noob Saibot all showing up.Liu Kang then shows what an Animality is by turning into a poorly rendered dragon in a scene that makes this movie seem more dated than the 1995 original. Luckily, the Elder Gods discover the shenanigans afoot and declare another round of Mortal Kombat.Aren't you glad we have Liu Kang on our side? He defeats Shao Kahn and allows Raiden to return as the Earth realm wins again.Director John R. Leonetti would go on to be the cinematographer for The Scorpion King, I Know Who Killed Me, The Conjuring and The Insidious series before directing Annabelle and Wish Upon. He's done great work in those films, but this film feels so much cheaper than the original. It's weird, because that film succeeded because it transcended it's junk food origins while the sequel just piles way too much on.Original directed Paul W.S. Anderson decided to do Event Horizon instead of this film. He hated the results and that's why he's stayed close to the Resident Evil franchise throughout its sequels.It's hard to hate a movie where alien monsters battle ninjas, so if you accept this one as goofy chop socky fun, it's fine. But when compared to the original - and with the rich mythology of the Mortal Kombat video games at its fingertips - this one really suffers. There have been rumors of a franchise reboot for years, including two online series. Here's hoping the next one recaptures the first film's magic.

Screen_Blitz The Mortal Kombat franchise has become a massive hit among gamers around the world, despite the overwhelming controversy surrounding its portrayal of graphic violence. This sparked a film adaptation which was crafted in the hands of Paul W. S. Anderson. Although the original was far from reaching a classic status and fell short of its cinematic potential in terms of writing and visuals, there was at least some level of competence to be endured. This sequel on the other hand, is an abhorrent disaster. Stripping away from the proper ingredients of a competent fantasy epic, this film operates at an significantly low level of proficiency, a level that makes its predecessor look like an Oscar flick. Sustaining a hodgepodge of a thinly written plot, painfully inept visuals, and paper-thin characters, this film is a cinematic inert slog that slips into the cracks of unintentional comedy. Picking up where the last film left off, Shao Kahn (played by Brian Thompson), an evil emperor from a realm known as Outworld has invaded Earth and set it wipe out the human race with his sadistic extermination squad made up of characters only the fans of the video game would be familiar with. With the rules of the Mortal Kombat broken and the fate of humanity at stake, Liu Kang (played by Robin Shou), Sonya (played by Sandra Hess, replacing Bridgette Wilson), Raiden (played by James Remar), Kitana (played by Talisa Soto), and half-human, half-robot Jax (played by Lynn Red Williams) become the last line of defense against Shao Kahn's tyranny.The conductor behind this cinematic misfit is John R. Leonetti who replaces original director Paul W. S. Anderson who went to work on the science-fiction horror thriller 'Event Horizon'. If there is anything that Leonetti successfully accomplishes throughout this picture, it would be staying faithful to the source material. Everything else though, is a simply a disaster. While the story kicks off a passable premise, it is not long before the plot melts into a generic slog. The story advances at a brisk pace with multiple fight sequences punctuating at every turn. This would be account to some excitement if these sequences were actually fun, or even visually appealing. Unfortunately, the action is sloppily decorated with laughable CGI and poor blue/green screen effects that render them thrill-less. And like the original, they shed away from the M-rated graphic violence that the video game franchise is widely known for. The biggest eyesore comes in the final battle sequence in which Robin Shou's Liu Kang morphs into a giant dragon resembling an abysmal paper cutout of Godzilla. As for the acting department, very few of the cast turn in competent performances. With the character pitted with cheesy dialogue that is more likely to provoke unintentional chuckles than emotional impact, it is genuinely difficult to connect with these characters even when the fate of the universe at the stake, unless you have grown a fandom of them from playing the video games. Mortal Kombat: Annihilation is the epitome of a cinematic sequel gone wrong, and is one that should strongly be avoided, unless you are looking for something in the "so bad it's good" category. The film is horribly crafted in terms of narrative and visual compulsion. In a good of advice, you would probably making better use of your time by sticking with the original.

The Grand Master Mortal Kombat was one of the few better video game to movie adaptations which was a success at the box office in 1995, in which it was inevitable that there would be a sequel. Mortal Kombat: Annihilation rolled around and whatever worked in Mortal Kombat failed to work here. Everything about it was bad. The plot, the acting, and the screenplay filled with lame lines. It goes without saying that Mortal Kombat: Annihilation suffered a fatality at the box office, consigning it to one of the worst movies of 1997.Adapting most of the plot of Mortal Kombat 3 which was a huge hit on video consoles worldwide, Mortal Kombat: Annihilation sees the return of Liu Kang (Robin Shou), Sonya Blade (Sandra Hess), Johnny Cage (Chris Conrad) and Raiden (James Remar). Interestingly Bridgette Wilson, Linden Ashby, and Christopher Lambert wisely chose not to return for the sequel. Aided by Kitana (Talisa Soto), the warriors must battle Shao Khan (Brian Thompson) to prevent the takeover of Earth.Taking over the director's chair from Paul W.S. Anderson who wisely moved on is John R. Leonetti who is responsible for this mess of a movie.Mortal Kombat: Annihilation was just atrocious, and an example of one of the worst sequels. Stick with the first movie, in fact stick with the video games.Game over for Mortal Kombat: Annihilation.1/10.