Reboot Versus - Mortal Kombat Beatdown

Copyrights belong to New Line Cinema, Warner Bros, and Ed Boon

Here is a new segment... making 2 reviews(or more), whether they are using the same review structure or not, and fitting them together accordingly... but pitting them against each other.

As the name implies, we are going to review an original and a reboot... at the same time. The catch is......... they will be scored on the merits of its own work, but comparisons will be made with their own scoring system.

Best way to do this is by giving it a go.

So let's do this.

UNLOCKABLE GEM

Mortal Kombat 1995(MK95)

Starring Robin Shou, Christopher Lambert, Cary Hiroyuki-Tagawa

Directed by Paul W.S. Anderson

Reboot Versus

MODERN CLASSIC

Mortal Kombat 2021(MK21)

Starring Lewis Tan, Jessica McNamee, Josh Lawson

Directed by Simon McQuoid

Concept: Earthrealm's champions must defend against an invasion from Outworld. Based of the video game series of the same name.

Era:

MK95: The Infancy of the Video Game movie craze.

MK21: Post Detective Pikachu world where video game movies can actually be great.

Execution

Here we go...

Cast:

MK95: Robin Shou was convincing as Liu Kang, Tagawa legendary as Shang Tsung, Lambert as Raiden was awesome for a Highlander fan, Linden Ashby WAS Johnny Cage. And the one to mention most is Trevor Goddard, a Kano SO good, it changed the canon of the character in the video games. But... who is Art Lean? Score: 18/20

MK21: Casting in this movie is tricky. Nearly EVERY character is spot on. The issue is, there are so many characters. The cast seems bloated. But... the real issue will be addressed in a moment. Before that, Shang Tsung badass, but never fought. Kano... stole the show... and there was just... a lot of characters. But... who is Cole Young? Score: 14/20

THE LINE: So, MK21 had a diverse cast(more ethnically accurate to the games lore), but they had so many characters, there wasn't enough time devoted to enough of them. MK95 had a smaller focused cast, one that fit every character, and even though Raiden wasn't... right... Lambert's raspy voice was MUCH better to understand. Advantage: MK95

Presentation:

MK95: Practical effects, not much in the ways of CGI, as expected. The era had plenty of practical effects it was the tech at the time. But... we ARE going to bring up the MPAA rating here... a PG-13 movie based on M-Rated gaming content. There was a bit too much Street Fighter in my Mortal Kombat. No blood, no guts, no gore. Was this even a Mortal Kombat movie? This is hurt it more than most people realize... though... the soundtrack is legendary, and the reason KMFDM became my favorite band. Score: 6/20

MK21: Less practical effects and more CGI. But... this movie went for the Hard R. Blood, guts, gore, flashy fatalities! It was all there. Goro looked a bit wonky in CGI, but Reptile looked great. This soundtrack though was...... forgettable. Score: 15/20

THE LINE: Presentation wise... as awesome of a convoluted story the MK game franchise has, people play it for the gore. So... people should want to see it in the movies. Advantage: MK21

Chronicle:

MK95: Faithful recreation of the story from the first Mortal Kombat game. There really isn't any other way to put it. Score: 20/20

MK21: First 3rd of the movie was way too much exposition, because it has way too many characters. As mentioned in cast, it is bloated. And in that first 3rd, you can feel it. That being said, after the exposition...... they built a good, original story from it. I was impressed that were able fit as much together as they did. Like a puzzle with some many pieces, a few seem missing, but it still looks like the picture on the box. Score: 25/30

THE LINE: For the first time, seeing a Gem vs a New... it gets to highlight how they are weighted differently. MK95 was faithful. MK21 was original, with deep roots. And... for me... impossible to choose. Advantage: Neither

Impact/Legacy:

MK95(Legacy): Here is where I'm probably going to get the most flack, but hear me out. MK95 does NOT have much of a Positive movie Legacy. It pains me to think about it, but it doesn't. Street Fighter came first... the first MK game led to controversy and the creation of the ESRB rating system... but the movie made a PG-13 movie in M Rated material, and in the case of MK, that is integral to its legacy as a movie and as a game series. The sequel was hot garbage. And... director Paul W.S. Anderson was so convinced he did a good job overall...... he ruined the Resident Evil movies... by making them. Score: 8/20

MK21(Impact): 2021 Reboot... didn't make much of an Impact either. It happened. But it was trying to be more than it really was. And it didn't need to be. You watch the Expendables to see badass legendary actors kick ass... you see MK to watch people get killed in glorious fashion. And... it at least pulled that off. It isn't epic like Sonic or Detective Pikachu for their overall impact to the sub-genre, but it is important nonetheless. Score: 10/20

THE LINE: This was tougher than I thought, but in reality... neither movie makes the grade in the overall scheme, but one does edge the other out. Advantage: MK21

Extra Oomph/Nostalgia:

MK95(Nostalgia): While I feel like MK95 doesn't have a positive legacy, it still stands out. That is different. Regardless of whether or not it has a positive legacy, it is still a beloved movie of people that are part of that era: gamers. It is still one of the best video game movies. Quotable("Handful of people on a leaky boat are gonna save the world?" "Exactly!" Or "IT HAS BEGUN!!!") If you've seen the movie, you know what I'm talking about. And... again... the soundtrack is a masterpiece of Techno. One of the only movie Soundtracks from the 90s I owned, and I liked playing it while playing the game.(hopefully you readers now fully understand the difference between Legacy and Nostalgia... the former is for the influence on the genre, the latter is for how memorable the movie is). Score: 20/20

MK21(Extra Oomph): The difference in era for video games... 95 came out near the beginning of the MK franchise... 21 came out after ELEVEN games in the main series. THAT IS A WHOLE LOT OF LORE TO TACKLE. As we saw with M. Night and The Last Airbender, you can't fit so much lore into a tiny, roughly 2 hour package. So the best thing to do is be original. Pay homage to the source material, but make it your own(I feel the same way about comic book movies... so many comic issues, not enough screen time). While I DO applaud them for being original is how the story plays out(even Cole Young was at least understandable). It didn't hit the mark, but I praise them for not trying to be perfect. Score: 8/10

Side note: the reason I champion MK95 for being perfect for story... it had one game worth of lore to work off of. But MK 21 can be more original because there has been SO MUCH LORE, what do you do with it? Also, different weighted scores, because Nostalgia is more Important than the Extra Oomph... but the same purpose.

THE LINE: So... MK95 hasn't stood the test of time... but I still love watching it(like Bloodsport lol). And no matter if I got my R-Rated Gorefest or not... Covid ruined my enjoyment of MK21. A full theater would've made it so much more... gruesome. Advantage: MK95

Final Scores!

Mortal Kombat(1995): 72/100

Mortal Kombat(2021): 72/100

(Same score? Was it intentional? No)

Final Grades!

Mortal Kombat(1995): C-

Mortal Kombat(2021): C-

The Line

Mortal Kombat(1995): 2

Mortal Kombat(2021): 2

Winner: Tied!

Conclusion: Neither of these movies were perfect movies. Not even B grade movies. But for the right demographic, either can be hits. Or...... both... or neither.

It's all a matter of opinion: I cannot stress enough that THIS is MY opinion, you can either agree with me or not. I don't have to justify my opinion, because *clears throat" that's what this blog is about. Whether I like it or not doesn't mean you have to or not...... I'ts just my justification behind MY recommendation... Which leads me to my FINAL JUDGMENT...

FINAL JUDGMENT: Yes, they tied. But this was the best example of how reboots can be loved, but for different reasons. I love the original 1995 Mortal Kombat. It is important to me in that genre of video game movies... but the PG-13 based on M-Rated Material irks me to this day, and it STILL happens(example, Ghost In The Shell). The 2021 Reboot was as advertised: bloody, gory, unapologetic, even it had so much going on.(even though it handled it better than MK: Annihilation). I love them both. For different reasons. And yes... equally.

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There you have it. Both movies got a 72!

Surprised?

Any other reboot you think deserves to be pit with an original? Lemme know below. Share this thing.

And above all else... don't forget...