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Despite a strong opening sequence, “Mortal Kombat” quickly devolves into a mess, with a lackluster plot and mediocre characters that don’t do their video game counterparts much justice. The film very quickly rushes through the lore of the Mortal Kombat tournament, which will probably lose viewers unfamiliar with the video games franchise. Quickly cutting from the relatively grounded earth-based characters to the bizarre Outworld menace makes the villains seem a little silly instead of threatening. The plot rushes by, giving little time to get attached to the main characters. And it doesn’t help that poor acting, uninspired casting, and mediocre character designs give the film nothing to fall back on. The only standout in the bunch being Kano, and even he borders a bit on being over the top and too much of a joke to take serious. The fight scenes are also generally pretty uninspired. The hand-to-hand stuff is nothing special, and the sporadic use of magic powers doesn’t mesh well with the choreography. The film is quite bloody, but the gore and fatalities can’t salvage the overall product.
*1/2 out of *****