Mortal Kombat
Mortal Kombat Image
See the trailer
Metascore
58 out of 100

Mixed or average reviews - based on 12 Critics What's this?

User Score
7.7 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 53 Ratings

Your Score
0 out of 10
Rate this:
  • Starring: Christopher Lambert, Robin Shou
  • Summary: Summoned to a mysterious island, three martial arts warriors engage in the ultimate battle of good vs. evil. (New Line Cinema)
  • Director: Paul W.S. Anderson
  • Genre(s): Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi, Thriller, Fantasy
  • Rating: PG-13
  • Runtime: 101 min
  • More Details and Credits »

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 5 out of 12
  2. Mixed: 7 out of 12
  3. Negative: 0 out of 12
  1. Los Angeles Times
    Reviewed by: Kevin Thomas
    90
    A martial arts action-adventure with wondrous special effects and witty production design, it effectively combines supernatural terror, a mythical slay-the-dragon, save-the-princess odyssey and even a spiritual quest for self-knowledge. [21 Aug 1995 Pg. F3]
    All this critic's reviews
  2. Christian Science Monitor
    Reviewed by: Peter Rainer
    75
    It is one continuous fight sequence from opening scene to final credits, but lacks the blood, profanity, and gore that would have merited a more adult rating.
  3. Washington Post
    Reviewed by: Richard Harrington
    60
    A mix of martial-arts and special-effects magic, the film serves its nonstop confrontations either straight up or with a twist (as when they involve Kombatants with special powers, like Sub-Zero, Reptile and Scorpion).
  4. Empire
    Reviewed by: Kim Newman
    60
    The filmmakers try to solve the problem of turning an experience which merely consists of a series of fights into a story by... ignoring it, presenting a film which merely consists of a series of fights.

See all 12 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

Write a Review
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 16 out of 20
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 20
  3. Negative: 1 out of 20
  1. GeorgeK.
    10
    Absolutely amazing. Sure it is an old movie now but still it has lavish production design. Everything is created in full detail, good acting, nice injections shots of humor, fascinating fights, excellent editing and one unfuzzy direction from Anderson. Plus the exotic locations. Maybe the story is not serious-which it isn't-but it is presented in a way that makes the movie serious. Another plus-the exotic-atmospheric score by George S.Clinton, the techno soundtrack and the photography. It 's good to see locations that they have a blue feeling(Stage with SubZero), a hellish one(Scorpion) etc.. Cary Hiroyuki Tagawa is simply fantastic!… Expand
  2. Rox22
    8
    While this movie is far from good, it is still one of the few video game to movie adaptations that is both good and fairly loyal to the source material. If anything this movie has an iconic soundtrack that pretty much any MK fan knows by heart. For it's time this movie was really good with some pretty decent fight scenes. A shame they went the PG route as a bit more blood and gore would have made it a bit more interesting. But, still that aside it still is pretty good. Acting is cheezy at times, but far better than can be expected. Overall: Far from perfect, but still a fun movie to watch.… Expand
  3. KevinM
    7
    I liked this movie too, but I'm surprised it got this good of reviews, especially from critics.
  4. grandpajoe6191
    4
    Paul W.S Anderson's "Mortal Kombat" doesn't play out like a game, but like 32 episodes of 'Power Rangers' fused together. Yes, the movie is that much terrible.… Expand

See all 20 User Reviews

Trailers

Related Articles

  1. Games, Movies

    Ranked: Best and Worst Movies Based on Videogames

    Ranked: Best and Worst Movies Based on Videogames Image
    Published: September 8, 2010
    This week's "Resident Evil: Afterlife" is yet another film adaptation of a popular videogame. Everything you've heard about the genre is true: there are a lot of terrible movies, and a lot of Uwe Boll movies. (And those categories are definitely not mutually exclusive.) We look at the "best" and worst examples of games-turned-movies.
    More »

Current Movie Releases

Full List »
  1. Star Trek Into Darkness
    Metascore: 73
  2. Iron Man 3
    Metascore: 62
  3. 42
    Metascore: 62
  4. Evil Dead (2013)
    Metascore: 57
  5. The Croods
    Metascore: 55
  6. The Great Gatsby
    Metascore: 55
  7. Oblivion
    Metascore: 54
  8. Pain & Gain
    Metascore: 43
  9. G.I. Joe: Retaliation
    Metascore: 41
  10. Olympus Has Fallen
    Metascore: 41
  11. The Host
    Metascore: 35
  12. Tyler Perry's Temptation
    Metascore: 27
  13. Scary Movie 5
    Metascore: 11
All Current Movies »