With the upcoming release of Assassin's Creed, Screen Junkies decided to make an 'Honest Trailer' of classic examples of video game movie adaptations: Mortal Kombat and its sequel, Mortal Kombat: Annihilation. Working its magic on the two films, it lets people remember the good parts of the movie, and, most especially, the bad parts.

Released by New Line Cinema in 1995 and 1997 respectively, the movies were based on the controversial fighting games of the same name. While the first film was able to make $122 million in the box office despite the mixed reviews it received from critics, the sequel only made less than half, with $51 million out of a $30 million budget, in addition to getting really poor review scores.

Cinema Blend notes on how the trailer points out how it fails to hit the mark on the acting, combat and animation aspects of the films in the humorous style it is known for. From Robin Shou's mullet being his character Liu Kang's most interesting feature, to Talisa Soto's Kitana' look and flute gesture, and Shang Tsung, played by Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, and his amusing standing-up gesture, the highlight reel pokes fun at the glaring issues the films has regarding the actors' portrayals. The action sequences, which should be the highlight, being the movie is based on a fighting game, is somehow lackluster compared to what it wants to show.

As for the animation, the trailer refers to them as more like made on the Game Boy than on an actual computer, which was pretty crude, considering that they were made in the mid 90's. While the production wanted to re-create several of the game's iconic attacks, like Scorpion's "come over here" grapple, to the "animality" finisher, the CGI used came out pretty displeasing.

Comicbook also mentions how the music (especially the theme song), as well as several lines inserted on the movie ("fatality", "flawless victory", and "Mortal Kombat", to name a few) seems forced, making sure the audience would never forget the source material.

All in all, the "Honest Trailer" was a good trip down memory lane, especially for those who have seen the films in their youth. This also sets the expectations for the upcoming reboot film, which has yet to be given a release date.

Related