THE BIG RELEASE

THIS video game spin-off reboot has been writhing in development hell ever since 1997’s Mortal Kombat: Annihilation. Plenty of time, you might assume, for the writers to pen a decent script. Assume again.

A rather classy opener set in 17th-century Japan spritzes a rare whiff of quality over an otherwise duff, splatter-tastic origin story. The plot sees a motley bunch of ‘Earthrealm’ champions, made up of wisecracking Kano (Josh Lawson), strong female character Sonya Blade (Jessica McNamee), mentor figure Jax (Mehcad Brooks) and brandnew hero Cole Young (Lewis Tan), called upon to defeat samurai-style otherworlders in an epic MMA tournament that, confusingly, doesn’t even happen in this movie. We’ll have to wait for Mortal Kombat 2 for that, it seems. No rush.

Fresh off the back of Mortal Kombat 11, the biggest game launch in the franchise’s history, there has never been a better time to bring the title back to the big screen – or rather, to the small screen, since this is available for £15.99 as a ‘home premiere’. Yet, for the Kombatuninitiated, the mythology is almost impossible to penetrate – and you’re given little incentive to try.

Boasting execrable dialogue and the blandest acting of the year (Tan is superheroically dull), it’s fair to say this is unlikely to convert the unconverted. Sample banter level we’re talking here: ‘It’s a birthmark.’ ‘What does that mean?’ ‘It means he was born with it.’ The Kano character, a hugely irritating mercenary, punches in a few, drily ironic lines but tongue-in-cheek humour is scarce.

Though edited with almost zero sense of pacing or suspense – often cutting away unnecessarily between locations – it’s still likely to please existing Mortal Kombat fans. And, of course, that’s the main point and the only reason this review is getting two stars.

That’s because, like the video game, it’s basically all about the wall-to-wall, well-choreographed fights that don’t stint on the gory details. Shame about all the bits in between.

Out now on premiere home rental

THE VERDICT

Fights galore but not much more in this faithfully gory spin-off