Mortal Kombat Annihilation 4K UHD Review

To find anything interesting about Mortal Kombat Annihilation (rather than the internet’s pile-on about this atrocious, incoherent movie) consider this: It’s arguably the earliest example of contemporary fan service.

Mortal Kombat Annihilation, to anyone who doesn’t know of the videogame, is indecipherable. However, to those that do (specifically, Mortal Kombat 3), every costume, every unnamed character cameo, and every special move is here. Ignoring the script’s hazy storytelling, Mortal Kombat Annihilation was written by people who did their research on the license, and spent days writing something that doesn’t excise anything from the companion games, whether they fit neatly into the plot or not.

… there’s no question Mortal Kombat Annihilation is a product of late ‘90s pop culture

But it all makes as much sense as a Power Rangers episode. If the team of Liu Kang (a returning Robin Shou) and Sonya Blade (Sandra Hess) fought a giant pumpkin monster, it wouldn’t feel out of place. Producers knew the demographic, going so far as to stage a mud wrestling brawl between two of the women fighters, and keeping the blistering techno soundtrack blaring throughout. Within the first few minutes of wonky digital composites, unfinished digital effects, and visually erratic editing, there’s no question Mortal Kombat Annihilation is a product of late ‘90s pop culture.

Littered with characters, many unnamed and identified by costume alone, Mortal Kombat Annihilation flounders, directionless and hideously ugly. The latter is partly unfair – the story takes place during a mystical apocalypse and the aggressive coloration is easy method to suggest as much on a budget. It’s still eye-watering in its litany of clashing purples and blues.

There are attempts at twists concerning familial bonds, yet there’s no weight to any of the character’s backstories. Being realistic, there’s more marketing power in staging a fight between two former stars of American Gladiators (Deron McBee as Motaro, and Lynn Williams as Jax) than anything to do with Outworld and Earthrealm forces at war or the reasons for said conflict. Again, the goal of Mortal Kombat Annihilation is fan service, throwing recognizable things at the screen so fans can shout, “I understood that reference,” to their beguiled friends who came along unwillingly.

Sharpness doesn’t always benefit Mortal Kombat Annihilation. Resolution is so high on the disc, the low-resolution visuals effects are revealed down to their individual chunky pixels. That’s no fault of the disc, but the source material’s budgetary limitations, forever preserved in this precise, clean master. Resolution elsewhere varies depending on the state of the visual effects. They soften the images, while the non-effects shots look fantastic. Texture and definition readily best the previous Blu-ray.

An ugly palette is maintained here, with lots of purples and grays. Primaries only occasionally stand out from this purposefully murky aesthetic. Grain can spike and the encode isn’t perfect, but it’s minuscule fault in otherwise pristine encode.

Given an HDR pass in Dolby Vision, peak brightness is a disappointment. Raiden’s lightning never has much oomph, and overall contrast wanes. Black levels, however, suffer no lapses. Shadows are heavy, pure black, and attractive.

A pounding DTS-HD track starts with a blistering techno beat and doesn’t let up as the fights deliver crunching punches and kicks. The subwoofer is rarely given a moments rest, running at a near constant clip. It’s all similar as there’s no subtlety. Either there’s bass or there isn’t, and it runs about the same depth. It provides a great, weighted low-end to work with though.

Although just a 5.1 mix, the spacing and precision is quite spectacular. Unlike the bass, the subtle effects here are everywhere, especially echoes from voices when underground. Lightning, thrown weapons, special powers, thunder, wind, fire, glass, and whatever else bounces around the soundstage with impeccable accuracy. It’s loud in a pure ’90s way.

Two brand new commentaries are on the disc. Director John R. Leonetti is moderated by filmmaker Gillian Wallace Horvat. The second features podcast host Dave Baxter. New interviews include actor Musetta Vander, composer George S. Clinton, and stunt performer J.J. Perry. Older on-set interviews and B-roll footage (plus trailers and stills) offer a nicely balanced set of bonuses.

Note Arrow found someone to write a positive essay about this movie for the included booklet, which might be the most impressive thing Arrow did for this release (although it’s littered with typos, which feels appropriate, considering it’s Mortal Kombat Annihilation).

Full disclosure: This Blu-ray was provided to us for review. This has not affected the editorial process. For information on how we handle review material, please visit our about us page to learn more.