Combate Mortal

A thoroughbred B-movie that doesn’t pretend to be anything else. As the saying goes, it’s so silly it’s beautiful. A perfectly relaxing affair where you can safely switch off your brain and you won’t be mad if someone makes noise with their pop-corn or cheers in the cinema. Anderson is a clever B-movie maker who, for a small budget, offered me a 100-minute PC game converted to film strip, with zero plot and wrapped in attractive packaging. Just a nice silly but fun thing. :) (02/06/2002)

Endless hours spent in front of the monitor and intense gaming battles that subsequently spill over into reality, as tearing oneself away from this addictive game proved to be a superhuman task. No brain, no pain. Paul Anderson precisely followed this motto and directed a straightforward narrative that playfully mocks established clichés about a handful of chosen ones saving the world, without a hint of seriousness. A choreographically well-executed spectacle, in which not a drop of blood is spilled, but given its brisk pace built upon combat scenes occurring at approximately 3-5 minute intervals, this is forgivable. The ridiculous digital effects are excused by the budget and production date, but the lavish creative design is a delight. In addition to that, we also have the pumped-up soundtrack and Christopher Lambert in the last significant role of his acting career. The viewer is left with nothing else but to watch for just under 100 minutes with a silly smile on their face, experiencing the incredible entertainment that the mid-1990s brought to the realm of action films. It's a nostalgic reminder that we haven't seen another proper video game adaptation since then. (19/02/2006)

A B-movie with all the trimmings. I have to give Anderson credit for being entertaining, though. Basically, for a long time, the only, within reason, successful adaptation of a computer game. (27/07/2007)

Some classics shouldn't be risked in adulthood, while some, thanks to nostalgia, rise surprisingly high. And Mortal Kombat more or less confirms what I always suspected about its most famous adaptation. Linden Ashby is flawless as Johnny Cage, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa as the villain with many faces pleasantly unfair, and Bridgette Wilson is unbearable even beyond expectations. To this day, I smirk knowingly at the ideas loaded in the first half, only to be disappointed by how strangely serious and minimally self-aware the second half plays out. But thanks to the humor of Christopher Lambert's thunder god, I will forgive even the occasionally confusing editing that ruins not just the action scenes. (02/08/2013)

To call this cool film nonsense would be a mistake. It has style, charm, and above all, it is wrapped in an attractive visual package, so you don’t even realize that practically nothing happens and that it's more or less about nothing. So many great characters, stellar actors, action music and perfect fights – it's simply irresistible. If Paul W.S. Anderson only made films like this, I would be willing to forgive all his shortcomings as a director. This one has only few missing for maximum satisfaction, and within the genre, it is absolute top-notch. I dare say that there was practically no way to put more effort into it. (23/02/2006)

It's just not something I'm excited about these days, although Christopher Lambert is still great. The special effects are just repulsive, but Anderson tried to balance it with humor, which worked quite well. Overall, it's very epic, but ultimately very small. Yes, it's action-packed, but more of an action comedy than a truly good martial arts film. (24/04/2015)