I've seen this move several times. Hell, I own it. The reason I'm reviewing it, though, is twofold. 1. I hadn't seen it in a really long time, and 2. I was due for another review.
If you don't know what Mortal Kombat is, here's a little history: It started out as a video game. It was he first to have cool finishing moves and blood and stuff, so the kids loved it. It spawned about five sequels including MK II, MK 3, Ultimate MK 3, MK Trilogy, and MK 4. In 1995, I believe, the first Mortal Kombat movie came out. I saw it twice in the theater, and I loved it. Looking back, I can't figure out why. That's not to say I don't like it anymore. I do. Well, here's the plot:
There's this evil god named Shao Khan (although his name isn't revealed until the second one) and he has this thing where he goes around conquering different realms. The last one he took over was called Outworld. More on that later. So, Shao Khan decided at some point he wanted Earth. Lord knows why. So, he sends his peon, Shang Tsung, who is an immortal (like everyone else from Outworld) to start the tournament. Now, the reason for this is also twofold. The first is that without a tournament, the movie would be pointless. The second is that the way the realm taking-over process goes is that every generation (it doesn't say what it's a generation of), there is a tournament, and if the bad guys win ten consecutive tournaments, they get earth. So far they've won nine.
Enter the main character. Liu Kang is living in America, and he gets a message from Western Union saying his brother was killed by Shang Tsung, so he goes back home to wherever. Then we meet Sonya Blade. She's a real treat. evidently, some guy named Kano (who has a silver plate over his eye) killed her partner. For someone who insists on working alone, she sure is upset about her partner. Well, she's after Kano, and she finds an informant (well, the guy becomes an informant when she puts a gun to his head.) who tells her where he is. Kano is in league with Shang Tsung. Now we meet Johnny Cage. He's a bad actor, kinda like Jean-Claude Van Damme only wussier. Everyone thinks he's a fake. Anyway, he runs into his former master who tells him about this upcoming tournament where he can prove himself. Turns out the master was really Shang Tsung in disguise.
So, Liu Kang returns home and says his brother's death was his fault, and that he wants to enter the tournament to avenge his brother. Enter Rayden, god of lightning and protector of the Realm of Earth. He tells Liu that revenge can't be his goal or he'll lose.
So, the three main characters get onto this boat to go to the tournament, and they run into two wierd looking ninja guys, Scorpion and Sub-Zero. They preview their special moves and Rayden comes along. End of Act I.
SO, They get to this island in the middle of nowhere, and Liu sees a woman of such extravagant beauty that, well, um, she really wasnt' that great, so never mind. But he likes her. Shang Tsung tells a bad computer graphic to guard her. She's princess Kitana, BTW. So, everyone convenes in a big dining hall where a bunch of ninja guys flip over tables so Sub-Zero can show off. One of the Ninja guys jumps at him, and Sub-Zero freezes him, and he explodes. Yippee. So, our heroes go look for Kano and see him talkig to Goro, a big four-armed puppet. They leave, and there's a big fight set to techno music. There's a lot of techno fights in this movie. So, Liu fights some guy and Shang Tsung takes his soul. Sonya fights Kano and kills him. Johnny fights Scorpion and kills him. Liu fights Kitana, and she tells him how to beat his next opponent, Sub-Zero. Since she's a mysterious person, her clues have to be crypitc. She couldn't just tell him to hurl water at the guy. Nooo. She had to say soething about the element that brings life. So, Liu hurls water at Sub-Zero. The water turns into an unrealistic spike that impales him.
Then Johnny decides to challange Goro. He punches him in the gonads and knocks him off a cliff. Shang Tsung kidnaps Sonya, and Liu and Johnny goafter them. Liu fights the computer graphic who transsubstantiates into human form while some guy in the background says "reptile". He gets squished by Liu, and they go into the big uly computer generated castle. Liu fights Shang Tsung and kills him. You're supposed to forget that he's immortal I guess. Everyone goes back to Liu Kang's home and Shao Khan threatens them a bit.
There is no good reason for me to like this movie, but I've gotta recommend it. I don't know why.