REWATCH: Mortal Kombat: Annihilation [1997]

[Cross-posted on the Bad Movie Night Facebook page.]

"Mortal Kombat: Annihilation" was actually the 16th movie we watched at Bad Movie Night. Watching this movie predated this blog and predated the Facebook group that predated this blog so I have no original post to link back to. I think a lot of us forgot how bad this movie even was until we saw it a second time. The first time we watched it was almost FIVE years ago so I think forgetting about it is pretty forgivable. It's a good thing Adam somehow managed to remember it and offer it up for a rewatch. But make no mistake: this movie is bad and hilarious and even Sarah could barely follow the plot (although her falling asleep halfway through didn't help; she tried). The rewatch was worth it.

The movie starts abruptly with some loud noises and really bad CGI skies that look like a Windows screensaver from 1995. Adam was the only one who seemed to remember anything about the original "Mortal Kombat" movie but it turned out that knowledge of the original will only barely assist you in following this film. Some bad guys are trying to blend their world with our world and this is why the sky is so ridiculous. Also, the film seems to take place in Thailand, Jordan, and France simultenously based on the iconic structures in the film. The big bad is a guy named Shao Khan. His second in command is revealed to be Kitana's mom who is still alive when she was supposed to be dead (in the previous film, I guess). She has the power of high-pitched wailing and one of the best melodramatic line reads in the film ("Mother, you're alive!" "To bad YOU. WILL DIE."). Shao Khan quickly kills Johnny Cage, the Jean-Claude Van Damme expy, and then Sonja Blade, the Cynthia Rothrock expy, mentions it constantly for the rest of the film. The good guys divide up then since they have six days to find a solution to the bad guy problem. Sonja goes to find Jax, her partner with mecha arms. Raiden, a god, goes to chat with higher gods about the situation. Liu Kang, our kinda-protagonist and Bruce Lee expy, goes off with Kitana, loses some fights to random characters who needed to be thrown into the movie since they were in the video game, and Kitana gets kidnapped. 

Liu Kang is told he is not ready to go against Khan. First he must go to the desert to meet a guy named Nightwolf, drop some peyote, and go on a spirit journey. He meets a girl named Jade on the drug trip and there's no way she will not betray him eventually. The good guys all meet up again and find that Raiden has made himself younger looking for some reason. Liu Kang is still "not ready." More hammy lines. More nonsense plot. More fighting. 

Ultimately expressions about Liu Kang not being ready were used five times in the film. But since the good guys win I guess eventually he was ready. When the film was over we watched a play through of the original game. Keith described it as, "Kinda more engaging than the movie."

Spoon Rating: 8