Shazam!
High Life
Widows
The Walking Dead
Log in with Facebook
OR
By creating an account, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies, and to receive email from Rotten Tomatoes and Fandango.
Please enter your email address and we will email you a new password.
We want to hear what you have to say but need to verify your account. Just leave us a message here and we will work on getting you verified.
Please reference “Error Code 2121” when contacting customer service.
Despite an effective otherwordly atmosphere and appropriately cheesy visuals, Mortal Kombat suffers from its poorly constructed plot, laughable dialogue, and subpar acting.
All Critics (37) | Top Critics (9) | Fresh (17) | Rotten (20) | DVD (3)
A martial arts action-adventure with wondrous special effects and witty production design, it effectively combines supernatural terror, a mythical slay-the-dragon, save-the-princess odyssey and even a spiritual quest for self-knowledge. Apr 18, 2019 | Full Review…
A martial arts action-adventure with wondrous special effects and witty production design, it effectively combines supernatural terror, a mythical slay-the-dragon, save-the-princess odyssey and even a spiritual quest for self-knowledge.
Kevin Thomas
The guys in the recording studio who made the ooofff! augghhhh! sounds are the ones who really had all the fun. Sep 7, 2011 | Rating: C+ | Full Review…
The guys in the recording studio who made the ooofff! augghhhh! sounds are the ones who really had all the fun.
Lisa Schwarzbaum
Where others have sunk in the mire of imitation, director Paul Anderson and writer Kevin Droney effect a viable balance between exquisitely choreographed action and ironic visual and verbal counterpoint. Sep 22, 2008 | Full Review…
Where others have sunk in the mire of imitation, director Paul Anderson and writer Kevin Droney effect a viable balance between exquisitely choreographed action and ironic visual and verbal counterpoint.
Leonard Klady
British director Anderson does a fair job with what he was given: four good-looking leads, some very impressive sfx, Babylonian sets, a bone-crunching soundtrack, and a battery of well-choreographed fights. Jun 24, 2006 | Full Review…
British director Anderson does a fair job with what he was given: four good-looking leads, some very impressive sfx, Babylonian sets, a bone-crunching soundtrack, and a battery of well-choreographed fights.
Derek Adams
The most intriguing is a glassy-eyed follower whose right hand shoots out a hissing reptile that can extend itself for miles. Exotic creatures like these make watching Mortal Kombat feel like being in a high-tech fun house. May 20, 2003 | Rating: 3/5 | Full Review…
The most intriguing is a glassy-eyed follower whose right hand shoots out a hissing reptile that can extend itself for miles. Exotic creatures like these make watching Mortal Kombat feel like being in a high-tech fun house.
Stephen Holden
The movie has everything a teenage boy could want... Everything, that is, but an interesting plot, decent dialogue and compelling acting. Jan 1, 2000 | Rating: 1/4 | Full Review…
The movie has everything a teenage boy could want... Everything, that is, but an interesting plot, decent dialogue and compelling acting.
Laura Evenson
Unlike other games-inspired turkeys (Super Mario Bros, Street Fighter), this one actually works, thanks mainly to director Paul Anderson's single-minded dedication to nonstop, expertly choreographed martial arts action, all set to a thumping techno beat. Apr 18, 2019 | Rating: 3/5 | Full Review…
Unlike other games-inspired turkeys (Super Mario Bros, Street Fighter), this one actually works, thanks mainly to director Paul Anderson's single-minded dedication to nonstop, expertly choreographed martial arts action, all set to a thumping techno beat.
John Ferguson
One of its main attractions is, in effect, the way in which it works with the visual and interactive aspects of the videogame, trying to incorporate all this into a totally different product. [Full Review in Spanish] Apr 18, 2019 | Rating: 2/5 | Full Review…
One of its main attractions is, in effect, the way in which it works with the visual and interactive aspects of the videogame, trying to incorporate all this into a totally different product. [Full Review in Spanish]
Pilar Cuesta
It's a movie rife with mullets, gratuitous gymnastics, screamed lines, and terrible CGI. But it all just contributes to the charm. Apr 18, 2019 | Full Review…
It's a movie rife with mullets, gratuitous gymnastics, screamed lines, and terrible CGI. But it all just contributes to the charm.
Dan Seitz
This is a Mortal Kombat movie made for Mortal Kombat fans. Apr 18, 2019 | Full Review…
This is a Mortal Kombat movie made for Mortal Kombat fans.
Jeremy Jahns
A fun, visually appealing film with effective performances and well choreographed fights. [Full review in Spanish] Sep 29, 2016 | Rating: 3/4 | Full Review…
A fun, visually appealing film with effective performances and well choreographed fights. [Full review in Spanish]
Sebastian Zavala Kahn
Cheesy and very violent adaptation of '90s video game. Jul 12, 2016 | Rating: 1/5 | Full Review…
Cheesy and very violent adaptation of '90s video game.
Brian Costello
The first and best of the 'MK' movies. I saw this on cinematic release and thought it was slightly OK, upon watching it again I still feel its slightly OK, extremely hokey and tacky but it holds its own to a degree. At the time it was either this or 'Street Fighter' with JCVD and MK won hands down. Its basically a continuous setup for various fights between popular characters, unfortunately the fights are very basic and don't even look too good but they were fine for the time and the characters do look good, Scorpion being the best. The look is dark n gloomy in a PG kinda way, kinda goth with some glorious location backdrops and it does match well against the game. It is very gentle stuff but it does the job well, which is rare for a computer game film, it just about gives you what you expected...after seeing the trailer and realising it wasn't an adult film that is. Tagawa and Lambert make the film stand out with some nice hammy ass performances but they do inject some laughs and a reasonable hint of realism or a sense of danger into the fun. They both give the film much needed bite with the lack of spine removals and acid pools. Rest of the cast are pretty much your bargain basement D-list personnel which may have been hired off the street I dunno. I guess you have Robin Shou who looks the part and can actually do the moves. The film is a lost chance for something really nasty lets be honest but we all knew this would happen right, at least it betters the 'Double Dragon' film. One also has to remember this is in the days of early CGI and by gum its bad here!. Not only do they use a lot of it (naturally) but it looks awful, really basic stuff that doesn't even look like its been done correctly. What on earth they did to 'Reptile' I'll never know, looked like something off an old Amiga videogame. Best to forget about the 'Goro' puppet creation, not bad though...in a PG 'TMNT' kinda way that is, good dated 90's techno soundtrack too. Its all 90's...'FIGHT!!'
Super Reviewer
I've played 4 MK games, MKII, MKIII, MK Deadly Alliance, and MKI, and though I don't think the games are incredibly good like everyone else says, I will say, it was good for a movie idea. Aaaaaannnnddddd...... The movie was just okay. The acting is cheesily entertaining, and some of the action scenes are good. The only nitpicks I have for the film is that, while some of the effects look really good like Goro, Scorpions eyes and skull face, and the soul stealing thing that Shang Tsung does, most of the other effects look really bad or look really dated, like Reptiles CG form, the spear that comes out of Scorpions hand, or the electricity effects on Raiden. Another Nitpick is that a lot of the action scenes go on a little too long, like 5 minutes too long. Most fighting movies have fights up to about 4 to 5 minutes, most of the fights in this movie, go on for about 9 minutes to 11, and it gets really boring after a while. But its a decent movie overall and its entertaining to watch with friends, even if it is just to make fun of it.
I just get the feeling that this movie was completely rushed. It seemed cool as a little kid, but looking back now it just seems all too cheesy.
Rewatching this recently brought back a lot of memories. The film based on the popular video game of the same name looks dated by today's standards with cheap dialogue, special effects and mediocre acting. But boy is it still a fun film to watch. Mortal Kombat focuses on a tournament where the best martial arts fighters are assembled on a secret island to battle in hand to hand combat in order to win and determine the fate of the human race. Paul W.S Anderson first video game to film adaptation (he would later helm the Resident Evil films) is a good acting yarn, that is meant to be harmless fun. On that end, the film succeeds. Mortal Kombat can be seen as a guilty pleasure. The film has good actin, cheesy one liners and it's one of those films that you can't take too seriously. As a person who has played the game, I thought that this was a good, entertaining film that fairly respected the game. Mortal Kombat, though an average action film is a respectable video game to film adaptation. The film is non stop excitement and thought it won't win any Oscars, it does a great job at keeping the feel of the game. But it does feel like a B movie by today's standards. Mortal Kombat is a mindless action film that is a lot of fun, and it manages to keep the best elements from the game. Mortal Kombat is an entertaining guilty pleasure that though dated is a lot of fun to watch.
View All Quotes
View All