I’m conflicted about this. On the one hand, it is clearly and inarguably better than Mortal Kombat (1995) — it’s made by people who understand how movies work, it has actual characters, it has dialogue that is legitimately amusing (Kano is the lowkey highlight of the movie), it is slick and professional, there was apparently a budget behind it.

But on the other hand, it lacks the primal energy of the original movie. The soundtrack is mostly orchestral generic with only occasional nods at the iconic stylings of Techno Syndrome (Theme From Mortal Kombat). Characters exist in the movie who do not engage in the titular kombat. And… okay, I don’t want to spoil anything, but let’s just say they’re deliberately leaving a lot of room for a sequel in terms of what happens in the official Mortal Kombat tournament.

It’s not bad. It’s fine. By the standards of the genre it’s in, it’s probably even pretty good. But it’s not fuck-yeah good in the way that the 1995 original was, even if it’s objectively better.