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Mortal Kombat: Annihilation [1998]


One of the worst game to movie adaptations
Review date: 2008-05-14 Rating: 4 out of 10

The first Mortal Kombat film is one of my favourite computer game films and considering this, it is suppressing how much worse this sequel actually is. This film starts off pretty much where the previous film finishes with the forces of Shao-Kahn the Emperor of Outworld, invading Earth in violation of the rules of Mortal Kombat. Raiden and Liu Kang travel the world to gather warriors to defeat Kahn's forces.

This is something of a mess of a film with cast changes, a terrible script, bad CGI and some fight choreography that makes Power Rangers look good. The film is not without merit however with a good attempt to stick to the plot of the game and a plethora of characters and special moves shoehorned in various places. This cannot save the film however, leaving this in the same league as the Street Fighter movie in terms of quality, a great disappointment considering its predecessor.

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Reviews


A LOT WORSE THAN THE FIRST
Review date: 2007-09-08 Rating: 6 out of 10

I must admit that I quite enjoyed the first film. Not the best martial arts flick in the world, but by no means the worst. However, compared to this, its a damn masterpiece!

1) There are WAAAAAY too many characters. In the first, you had the four heroes (Cage, Sonya, Kang, and Raiden), and about five villains (Kahn, Kano, Sub-zero, Scorpion, and Goro). This meant that at least some amount of time could be spent building on characters. Thus, before we see Sub zero,Goro and scorpion fight, we know who they are , and their reputations. This doesnt happen with a single character in MK:A because it is too busy trying to throw as many characters from the games at you as possible that it often doesnt even have time to mention who they are (e.g. Smoke, Cyrax, Rain, Baraka, Mileena).

2) It's had a $30 million budget, yet seems to have spent on completely the wrong things. I would have much rather they had halved their SFX budget and hired a decent fight choreographer. Put it this way: Iron Monkey cost less than $4 (if I remember correctly) for the entire film, and there isnt a single fight in MK:A that comes close to the worst in that film, which leads on to the next point.

3) The direction is TERRIBLE!! Especially during the fights!!! Watch any decent fight sequence, and generally the cuts are kept to a minimum. It both makes the fight easier to follow, and shows off the skill of the participants more. Its rare in this film that any flow between moves occurs without cuts. During one move, there are actually about five cuts!! No cuts would have looked much better!!

4) Its hard to decide which is worse, the script, or the acting.

5) The SFX heavy final battle is perhaps the lamest thing I have ever seen.

There are people who will defend this film saying that "its just fun!", or "Its not meant to be deep and meaningful or anything". Which works for some films. And those films can be fun. Or not deep and meaningful, but still enjoyable. This isnt. Its bad. It hasnt got one redeeming feature that I can think of. Possibly the worst film. Ever.

Mortal Kombat Annihilation VHS Video Review
Review date: 2007-07-19 Rating: 10 out of 10


'Mortal Kombat Annihilation' is th'e sequel to the first installment entitled 'Mortal Kombat'; a film based on the video gam of the same name. A lot of people and groups have slated this film as 'the worst sequel ever'. Of course, I am hesitant to agree; but the movie does have some strong points along with some weaker ones.
The movie starts direcly from where the first film left off. Liu Kang has just defeated Shang Tsung in Mortal Kombat,and therfore with aid from Johhny Cage, Princess Kitana, Sonya Blade and Lord Rayden, has saved the Earthrealm from corruption for one more generation. However, Shao Kahn's forces appear (along with the grand boss himself), with Queen Sindel in toe. She is the former queen of Edenia, who Shao Kahn has ressurected so she can be reborn on Earth (he has erased her memories) and therefore he would be allowed to take Earthrealm for himself, withut the restraints of the rules of Mortal Kombat laid down by the Elder gods. A batlle commences, in which Shao Kahn himself kills Johhny Cage in cold blood. The remaining 'chosen warriors' retreat and attempt to build an army against Shao Kahn. Sonya goes in search of her partner Jax Briggs, Liu and Kitana trail off to find more help elsewhere. On their travels they are pursued by Kahn's extermination squads, and Kitana gets kidnapped by Scorpion (after possibly one of the best Sub-Zero vs Scorpion fights ever!). Liu goes in search of Nightwolf in order to gain the power of the 'animality' to defeat Shao Kahn once and for all. He encounters Jade, and a now powerless Rayden journeys with the warriors to outworld in order to reunite Kitana with her mother, which they believe will close the portals merging the realms. This turns out to be a trick however, laid down by Kahn himself. Liu rescues KItana, after defeating Sheeva and Baraka single-handed. Then the warriors seemingly defeat Sindel, who tells all about Kahn's dastardly plan and takes off with her trademark scream. After a few more fight sequences, and the apparent death of Rayden, the ultimate battle commences for the safety of Earthrealm. Jax goes up against Motaro, Sonya goes up against Ermac, Kitana fights Sindel and Liu Kang takes on Shao Kahn. After the chosen warriors defeat their adversaries and Liu has conquered Kahn after finding his inner 'animality', the portals close, Earthrealm is restored and queen Sindel is reborn again, as Kitana's mother and queen of Edenia once more. The elder gods resuurect Rayden and make him an elder god, to replace his father's Shinnok's ruling, as it is only fitting.
There are a lot of inconsistencies in this movie that aren't canon within the Mortal Kombat universe. For one, Shao Kahn and Rayden are not brothers (my goddess what were they thinking when they cam up with that!) and Shinnok is not their father. They are completely different people and entities. Also, Noob Saibot is not part of Ermac, he is actually the younger Sub-Zero, who appeared in the first tournament, and who has become a warith upon entering the Netherrealm because of his evil endeavours.
A lot of the actors from the first film are not in the seuel which was very disappointing. Nevertheless, the new actors are still well adept at delivering their characters to the audience, especially the actress who plays Sonya Blade in my opinion. Some characters did not appear, including Sektor and Kintaro to name a few, and a lot of the on-screen characters are never really explained to members of the audience who haven't played the Mortal Kombat games. I sometimes think they tried too hard to put all of the characters from ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, and in the process sacrificed a good movie plot. However, I am still quite satisfied with the movie and you won't be too disappointed by the far-fetched notions embedded within, at least I hope you won't. A poor sequel, but on it's own, quite an enjoyable movie for the mediocre Mortal Kombat fan.

worst sequel ever
Review date: 2004-11-27 Rating: 2 out of 10

i have read alot of reviews on here and im very suprised to see that people actually liked this film? why?
most of the actors from the original arent even in this film and have now been replaced by nobodies who really cant act.
The special effects are terrible and are actually very funny when watching them now.
The film is overloaded with way to many irrelevant characters and dont play a big enough role in the film (nightwolf appears for all of 5 seconds)
while the first film has very memorable fight sequences, this however has none, instead i find myself on the floor laughing my head off at how poor this film really is.
the storyline is incredibly weak and apart from the original actors who stuck the sequel out, the acting is incredibly bad.
If your a mortal kombat fan then i suggest you forget all about this film, it really is the worst sequel ever.

Mortal Kombat Annihilation Revealed
Review date: 2004-09-02 Rating: 8 out of 10

To a true Mortal Kombat Fan, this movie is amazing as it includes a load of characters from the computer games such as Jade, Sindel, Mileena, Rain, Baraka, Sheeva, Motaro, Shao Kahn, Jax, Ermac and Cyrax who weren't in the first movie. There are loads of special moves incorporated in the movie, taken from the game, which makes it great. The storyline is abit simple, some scenes were repeated (Rains/Baraka death) and there is some historical inaccuracy, thus decreasing the popularity of the game. But if you like mortal kombat the game, film and TV shows you will find this sequel fits in perfectly with the collection.

P.S. Watch out for the 3rd Mortal Kombat Movie which is up and coming. It will follow the plot from Mortal Kombat Deadly Alliance. Most of the characters will be played by the original characters in the first movie. This movie has great expectations!

Product Details/Specifications


Actor(s):
Brian Thompson
Robin Shou
James Remar
Sandra Hess
Talisa Soto

Creators:
Robin Shou (Primary Contributor)
Talisa Soto (Primary Contributor)
Alison Savitch (Producer)
Brent V. Friedman (Writer)
Bryce Zabel (Writer)
Ed Boon (Writer)
John Tobias (Writer)
Joshua Wexler (Writer)
Lawrence Kasanoff (Writer)

Director(s):

EAN: 3512391503352
Binding: DVD
Format: Full Screen, PAL,
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Region code: 2
Running time: 91 minutes
Theatrical release date: 1997-11-21
Language: French (Subtitled)
Language: Dutch (Subtitled)

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