THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
Mortal Kombat was a mess in 1995. Yet despite the bad reception by fans and critics, the money was too good for studios to ignore the idea of a sequel. Was it good? Fuck no.
PLOT
The 1997 follow up dubbed Annihilation takes place immediately after the first film whereas Shao Kahn chooses to invade Earthrealm after Outworld already failed to win the tournament. When Johnny Cage gets killed in attempt to beat the Emperor, Lord Rayden and the other protagonists flee in order to figure out how to overcome the odds. They only have six days before Earth is completely consumed by Outworld. Liu Kang and Kitana go to find Nightwolf, who will teach him a form of shapeshifting known as 'Animality'. The two hit a roadblock when encountering a cybernetic ninja named 'Smoke' but despite the aid from the new Sub Zero, brother to the one Liu defeated, this did not stop the returning Scorpion to kidnap Kitana. Liu does find Nightwolf and his training of Animality quickly begins. His first step was to control his self esteem and remain focused to what is at stake. The second is to resist temptation, which is a success when turning down advances of a mysterious woman named Jade, who offers her help to stop the invasion. When Sonya reunites with her friend Jax Briggs, she discovers that he is now wearing cybernetic enhancements over his arms. Together, they defend themselves against another cyborg named 'Cyrax'. Along the way, Sonya also encountered Kitana's clone, Mileena, who she defeats as well. Lord Rayden goes to the Elder Gods and asks them how can Shao Kahn be defeated. They reply that while reuniting Kitana with her mind controlled mother Sindel will break her from Kahn's control, it is defeating the Emperor himself that will stop the invasion. The God of Thunder makes his sacrifice by relinquishing his immortality to prove what he's willing to do for Earth. When he reunites with the Sonya and Liu, along with their new allies, they go to Outworld. Kitana is rescued but is unable to free her mother. Jade then reveals her act as a double agent, hoping to slow down the champions of Earthrealm. Because they survived an ambush she caused, Kahn kills her as punishment for failure. After this side bump, Rayden admits to the group that the emperor is his brother, and their father, Elder God Shinnok is in cahoots with him. They do return to Kahn's temple, they all challenge him and his followers. Shinnok tries to avoid anymore conflict by demanding Rayden to submit to him. When the God of Thunder, his mortal life comes to an end when his brother shoots him with a lethal energy blast. Two Elder Gods appear and after they've uncovered Shinnok's violation of the Mortal Kombat rules, they decide for the fate of Earth to be decided in one last battle. Liu successfully defends his planet by beating Kahn with his newfound Animality, whereas the others defeat the Emperor's disciples. As Earthrealm is restored, Shinnok is sent to the Netherrealm and Sindel is free of Kahn's control. The film ends happily as the protagonists reunite with a revived Rayden who has a newfound responsibility as an Elder God.
THOUGHTS
You know I really hoped there would be improvement with this sequel. No matter how tight I crossed my fingers over it, it did not save the quality here. There is no other way to say it folks, this movie sucks. This is exactly why adapting video games into a film will always be a bad idea. It is all over the place and I just stop caring when too many directions are in place. Director John R. Leonetti could've went either way and crashed instead. It really doesn't matter if you think the set pieces look decent, or the fight scenes display solid choreography because it isn't enough to save this mess. Just when you thought the first film had bad visual effects, this one dials it up in the worst way possible. My biggest gripe goes to the cast because none of their characters are properly developed and every other line delivery is pure cringe. If any actor failed the most at giving a decent performance, it's gonna be Brian Thompson. This guy is supposed to display Shao Kahn as the intimidating force anyone would ever see, as in worse than Shang Tsung. But instead, he made him look like a wuss and that is not good. Kahn may be one that the heroes can beat, but he doesn't even look strong when that happens. And all the actors that are the re-casted characters are so obviously re-casted that it stings when noticing because they don't resemble the predecessors at all. Because of how these iconic characters just come and go, it makes it all pointless to appreciate it. And don't get me started how Kabal and Stryker were casually name dropped, yet not show up at all. Again, this movie goes in so many directions that the story makes no damn sense. First off, why is Rayden overpowered by Kahn when he and the power of lightning, while his brother doesn't have his axe? He gets taken so many times that it's embarrassing. I know Kahn is supposed to be tough but it doesn't even look like either is trying. Liu Kang and Kitana watch their leader take the bump but don't move until Johnny dies, and look so stupid not doing shit until the ninjas charge. They even do the same thing when Sub Zero fights Scorpion and it's ridiculous realizing that they do this twice. I really don't see the point of the Velosphere when Rayden could've teleported everyone to the separate locations. I mean talk about a waste of production design. Also, why does Rayden need to get a haircut to appear mortal? He can literally keep the white hair and say he's not a god anymore, there is no makeover necessary. The romance involving Johnny/Sonya & Liu/Kitana were so unearned because in the first film, neither woman showed interest in the men who crushed on them. This is another stupid attempt to raise any tension. I'm already confused on how Sub Zero followed Liu and Kitana but why did he leave? Of all the characters to have cameos, this one bothers me the most because he could've been a good ally and I don't understand why he just bounced. It's already annoying that Jax takes a while in beating Cyrax, considering that he just set up his new bionic armwear. My problem with Jax is how they're not his actual arms. He's supposed to get those arms when losing the original ones in action. So when seeing him beat Motaro with his normal arms hit sky high on stupid. Why doesn't Sonya explain Mortal Kombat to Jax? If they have so much time to walk, she's got time to exposit the first movie to him. Since he is her friend, he deserves more to know than just being told they're taking on bad guys with powers. To get this over with, Mortal Kombat: Annihilation is the elite of not just terrible films based on video games, but also one of the worst movies ever made. I need to pray that I never see this again. If you truly love the Mortal Kombat franchise, do not ever check this out because you'll be wasting 90 minutes of your time. If you made the mistake of doing so, just be in relief that the 2021 reboot is better than this dump.
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