The new Mortal Kombat movie almost gets there a number of times but is held back by being so very uneven. But it’s not so uneven that it doesn’t have some fun to it and it’s pretty watchable. I suspect it’ll be more impressive for Mortal Kombat fans though… I have passing familiarity with the games over the years and have seen the previous films but am hardly in that boat.

So… Mortal Kombat introduces a new character to the franchise and mixes him in with a bunch of familiar faces (Sonya Blade, Raiden, Liu Kang, Kano, Sub Zero, etc.). It actually acts as more a prequel to the old “Outworld has won the past nine tournaments and only needs to win one more to invade Earthrealm” plot… in other words, it’s all the stuff that happens before Mortal Kombat as a tournament.

This film takes itself very seriously and that’s certainly a choice. You can play up the campy story or you can put a frown on your face and be dour. Except for one character, this is a very serious movie and that, at least in the first half, was kind of a pill. I thought it needed more energy and life and, yeah, maybe a little cheese. But, again, that’s a choice and credit to them for sticking to it, I suppose.

I’d say though that the second half of the film is stronger than the first. Which is when it just gets down to being the martial arts slugfest it promises on the box. And the fact this is a very R rated Mortal Kombat, some of that fun is seeing familiar (very bloody) fatalities, some from the past and some from the newest games. Between the violence and some impressive cursing, this film definitely earns the R rating the 1995 film and its sequel shied away from.

The action and fight choreography is a mixed bag. Some of its pretty good, some of its pretty pedestrian. And that’s a bit of a problem for, you know, a martial arts film. I think part of the blame can be laid on the editing as most shots don’t last for more than a few seconds. This seems so contrary to a lot of modern action films where they let the camera stay on the action so we can admire the incredible choreography and stunt work. It’s a missed opportunity that hopefully a sequel (if it gets one and I look for to it) can fix.

And the uneven feeling bleeds into the actors. Some of them are pretty good and charismatic, and others – including the leads – are pretty boring. They introduce a new character as the film’s lead and didn’t give him much back story or personality. I think his combat style and special skills are a decent match for Mortal Kombat, but his lack of any interesting character is a miss. It’s curious to look back on the 95 film and realize, hey, the trio of heroes and villains were somehow more engaging and fun.

As far as Mortal Kombat fans go, I think they’ll get more out of it since the film tends to use short hand to do the heavy lifting. There are location introductions and characters who are pretty meaningless to people not familiar with the lore. And those characters sometimes are introduced in one scene only to get slaughtered in the next. Someone steeped in the game will find those sequences cool (presumably) but the rest of us will think we missed a scene or two.

So, yeah… this is pretty mixed bag. Oddly I find the original 1995 film “better” even though I’d rate them about the same. That movie didn’t take itself too seriously and was just goofy doofy charming (with a mix of 90s ‘tude and terrible CGI). This one is trying something different and manages to mess up just as much as it gets right. I think action and martial arts movie fans will find enough to enjoy. Others… less so.

Score: 79