Bad movies based on video games are known to deliver more than just a huge disappointment. Their failure can be damaging to an actor's career not to mention putting a huge dent on the reputation of the video game in question. A successful VG based movie can do wonders in boosting the game's already overwhelming popularity, likewise, a flop would obviously trigger an overall reverse effect, which could potentially destroy the entire franchise.

The first Mortal Kombat was surprisingly, a good movie. Its plot was kept relatively simple, yet it didn't end up being as trashy as others like Double Dragon & Wing Commander. But unlike DD & WC, Mortal Kombat was true to its original concept based on the game, without much of a distortion in contrast to other VG based films. Expectedly, a sequel was later made as a follow-up to the highly acclaimed original but this was where everything started going downhill, perhaps even hitting rock bottom due to the totally sucky nature of the second film.

Mortal Kombat Annihilation picks up right after the first movie where our group of heroes are again thrown into a high stakes conflict to save the world from yet another evil being originating some unknown parallel dimension. Though this guy doesn't have Shang Tsung's Kung Fu, he does appear to possess twice the muscle, which could only mean double the trouble for Liu Kang & company.

Both Robin Shou & Talisa Soto reprise their roles as Liu Kang & Princess Kittana respectively but the other characters weren't so lucky as they were all played by new faces who fail to capture the mood brought about by the original actors. Most disappointing of all was the fact that Christopher Lambert, the guy who played Lord Raiden was replaced by some newbie who didn't even look fit to play the part. He tries hard to emulate Lambert's previous performance but without a strong character presence, sheer effort alone isn't quite enough to keep us fans happy for long. Even worse, they had to give him a bad haircut later in the movie which made him look more like a boot-camp reject than the so-called god of thunder. If the director had wanted to destroy Raiden's character, this would be a great way to do it.

The poor script should be next up on everyone's complaint list. It does a poor job at holding the viewer's interest and at the same time doubling up as a mockery to the first movie. Now comes the biggest mistake of them all. Did they really have kill off Johnny Cage? It's Johnny Cage we're talking about here, not some brainless henchman who can't even pick up a stick. In perhaps the most disappointing ever death scene ever in a VG based movie, he gets his neck snapped like a chicken then tossed aside like a sack of potatoes. Poor Johnny! He never had a chance. Did the producers forget it was Johnny Cage's witty one-liners & cheesy antics that had kept the first film afloat to begin with? This new Johnny Cage wasn't even played by the original Linden Ashby. Can you say cheap? He was in it for about 5 minutes before getting his neck snapped in two by the big, bad Emperor.

Filling in for our dearly departed JC is a muscle bound freak named Jax whose 25 inch steel biceps aren't doing him any good as he still gets his lights punched out by a bunch of Power Ranger wannabes on steroids. Like the new & 'improved' Lord Raiden, he tries hard to impress us viewers by coming up with his own brand of cheesy lines but it isn't even close to Johnny Cage's. They seem bland in comparison, making him look like Ben Stein next to JC.

Two other characters making a return here are Sub-Zero & Scorpion but to my disappointment they were both made far less intimidating compared to the way they were in the first movie. One other thing that did not sit well with me was that they had made Sub-Zero remove his mask, exposing his ugly scarred face, a move which literally killed off the coolness factor in his character. The baddies in the movie range from plain goofy to downright ridiculous. Their cheap plastic armor made them look like Power Rangers on a bad day but even worse was their fighting styles. The choreography was bad, making the most of the fights seem fake & unrealistic.

I could go on and on bashing this movie but you get the general idea, this is one bad film that should be avoided at all cost. Nothing could save it from the zillions of irate MK fans out there, not even Irina Pantaeva. How unlucky of her. Her character gets killed off anyway. What a way to dust off a supermodel. Overall grade: D



Recommended:
No

Viewing Format: VHS
Video Occasion: None of the Above
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children up Ages 8