Films based on video games have a rich - albeit unflattering - history of being superficially enjoyable narrative disasters. The new Mortal Kombat reboot scores a “flawless victory” in being just that.

In Mortal Kombat, Cole Young (Lewis Tan), is a former MMA star unaware as to why he has a mysterious dragon birth mark. When superhuman (and fan favorite character) Sub-Zero arrives to hunt down the champions of Earthrealm, Cole must find the Temple of Lord Raiden. In discovering the reason for his birthmark, Cole has no choice but to train hard in hopes of finding his arcana - a mythical power from within in his own soul. With it, he and the other champions of Earth Jax, Sonya Blade, and Liu Kang must stop the warriors of outworld from the enslaving the globe.

Fans of the series will immediately recognize all of the primary fighters. Unfortuanately, the film does little to introduce or explain these characters to newcomers to the series. The actors, while more representative and culturally appropriate than the original 90’s adaptation give, spotty performances at best. Mortal Kombat rights many wrongs from the previous adaptations; most notably the films R rating. In this mature space, the film is able to use some very graphic violence to enhance the characters “finish him” moves. Another positive is the films pacing - too fast for real narrative build up - but fast enough to be good for future viewings.

Despite being largely tailored to the fans of the series and lacking any serious acting chops, Mortal Kombat unlocks enough of its own arcana to wow audiences - even if only for brief moments.

Acting and Casting - 0 | Visual Effects and Editing - 2 | Story and Message - 0 | Entertainment Value - 2 | Music Score and Soundtrack - 1 | Reviewer's Preference - 1 | What does this mean?