The movie was light-hearted, it had a sense of humor. It didn't take itself too seriously; it understood that it was based on a videogame about colourful ninjas fighting ancient sorcerers and monks that threw their hats at people. That doesn't mean it looked down on the source material; to me it seemed to revel in it. The film quickly left the mundane modern world behind and had our heroes battle in exotic and fantastical environments, against exotic and fantastical foes. It was just, you know, fun.
The characters were entertaining and likeable. It's quite unusual for the primary protagonist of a hollywood movie to not be an American, but Robin Shou absolutely justified the decision to write Liu Kang as the lead. I would say he was perfect in the role, bringing the physicality that the role demanded but also a charisma that made him feel natural in the role of the hero. Linden Ashby was extremely entertaining as Johnny Cage, managing to play an arrogant self-absorbed character who you still liked - even before he realised there was more at stake than his reputation, growing into a more balanced and releatable character. Christopher Lambert was a very odd choice for Raiden - a character from traditional Japanese mythology - but he was very funny and arguably fit the tone of the movie. Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa was great as Shang Tsung; he practically oozed villany with that confident sneer. Bridgette Wilson-Sampras brought an intensity to Sonya Blade that really made you believe she was a tough-as-nails warrior, and she was a great foil for Ashby's Cage, though I will relucantly admit it was clear she couldn't carry the fight scenes as well as the rest of the cast.
Speaking of fight scenes, you would hope that a movie based on a fighting game would get that aspect right, and fortunately I feel Mortal Kombat did. The actors and stuntment were skilled, the choreography was good, and the camera work showed it off to good effect. It might not have been at the level of some Hong Kong flicks, but I don't think there was much in American cinema at the time that was at the same level. But what really pushed some of the fights over the edge was the pulse-pounding music; it was exciting and energetic and really drew you in to the fights. Honestly, the soundtrack was so well suited to the film. What's more the environments, costumes, and special effects were all pretty decent for the time, and did a good job of setting the film apart from other martial arts movies we'd seen. The practical creature work for Goro was especially impressive; honestly we thought it was actually pretty amazing back then.
The plot was true to the mythos of the early Mortal Kombat games, with warriors fighting in a tournament. But that doesn't mean that's all there was to the story. The film took the time to set up all three protagonists with some degree of character arc. They might not have been the deepest or most well developed arcs, but they still gave the characters somewhere to go, you know? Actually, I quite like Liu Kang's story. Fueled by a sense of guilt, he starts off by chasing his own personal revenge. But by the end he accepts that there's more at stake and abandons his quest for revenge to shoulder the responsibility of fighting for everyone's sake. It might not have been the best execution, but I think the idea itself is actually much deeper than what you get in most action movies. And when you consider this is a 90's martial arts flick based on a video game that we're talking about, it's actually kind of amazing!
Objectively I consider this movie a 7/10: it's a fun action flick that is head and shoulders above so many of it's video-game-adaptation peers. Subjectively I'm actually tempted to rate it higher; after all this is a movie that I still remember very fondly well over twenty years after I first saw it. That's kind of impressive for an early videogame adaptation, right?
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