History YMMV / MortalKombatTheMovie

* Scorpion and Sub-Zero, two of the game’s most iconic characters are reduced to mere mooks under the control of Shang Tsung. What’s worse is that their infamous rivalry is brought up by Shang Tsung, but is never acknowledged or brought up afterwards. They don’t even make it to the end of the movie and end up getting killed in rather ridiculous ways, with Scorpion blowing up and Sub-Zero getting impaled and frozen by an icicle he accidentally created.
* Art, one of the noncanon characters created for the film, was apparently rather beloved by the main trio given their despair [[spoiler: at his death at the hands of Goro.]] We never really get to see Art in action before that point, but his very existence alludes to a massive number of fights that we the audience didn't even get to see with the other characters who aren't Liu Kang, Johnny or Sonya.

* FranchiseOriginalSin: ''Film/MortalKombatAnnihilation'' and other disliked adaptations have been criticized for [[TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter including a bunch of familiar faces for the games and doing nothing with them other than killing them off in fight scenes to pad out time]]. The roots of this issue can be seen in this movie where Scorpion, Sub-Zero, Reptile and Kano are little or nothing more than Shang Tsung's minions who get killed off by the heroes, with only Kano displaying any real personality. However, at least some of the fights had some narrative weight such as Liu Kang's defeat of Sub-Zero being payoff for Kitana's cryptic advice, Sonya and Kano already being established as enemies and Scorpion being the first test of Johnny's skill as a fighter before he goes up against [[TheDragon Goro]]. Other adaptations on the other hand just have the villains be generic minions thrown at the heroes with no plot significance or character development, i.e. Sonya killing Mileena in ''Annihilation'', despite the latter having an established enmity with Kitana in the games, and Kitana and Mileena not even sharing screen time in that movie.

* HamAndCheese: Creator/ChristopherLambert and Creator/LindenAshby seemed to know ''exactly'' what kind of film they signed on for and spent the entire time tossing the comedy ball back and forth. It helped that both Creator/PaulWSAnderson and producer Lawrence Kasanoff pushed them to ad-lib whenever they had a good idea for their characters.

** This film features two scenes which look much darker in light of Liu Kang's fate in ''VideoGame/MortalKombatDeadlyAlliance'' and ''VideoGame/MortalKombat9'', two games which see him being killed and having his soul enslaved by an evil sorcerer:

** This film features two scenes which look much darker in light of Liu Kang's fate in ''VideoGame/MortalKombatDeadlyAlliance'' and ''VideoGame/MortalKombatX'', two games which see him being killed and having his soul enslaved by an evil sorcerer:

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter: Scorpion and Sub-Zero, two of the game’s most iconic characters are reduced to mere mooks under the control of Shang Tsung. What’s worse is that their infamous rivalry is brought up by Shang Tsung, but is never acknowledged or brought up afterwards. They don’t even make it to the end of the movie and end up getting killed in rather ridiculous ways, with Scorpion blowing up and Sub-Zero getting impaled and frozen by an icicle he accidentally created.

* {{Woolseyism}} since there isn't a word like "subterranean" in Polish language to denote "underground," the translators went with literally saying the kingdom of Shokan was underground and had Kano ask, during his dinner with Goro, whether it meant it was something clandestine and illegal. Kano's obvious discomfort at being in Goro's presence additionally played into the whole thing nicely by making it seem like Kano was thinking about [[{{Hell}} another underground place possibly waiting for him.]]

** The theme song is [[SongAssociation one thing a lot of people know about the entire series]], but it wouldn't be used in any game until ''VideoGame/MortalKombat11'', released more than two decades later (apparently due to [[ScrewedByTheLawyers licensing issues]]).

* CriticalDissonance: Although it got mixed reviews from critics, the movie received praise from fans and casual moviegoers alike, and it is seen today as the best {{aver|tedTrope}}sion of VideoGameMoviesSuck.[[note]]At least until ''Film/PokemonDetectivePikachu'' and ''Film/SonicTheHedgehog2020'' came out years later to even greater acclaim, but even still ''Mortal Kombat'' remains beloved by fans.[[/note]] The film was also a commercial hit, enjoying a three week run as the number one grossing movie at the box office and the soundtrack charted in the Top 10 of the Billboard album charts, going platinum in 10 days. Because of it's success elements of its story [[RetCanon eventually became woven into the canon of the games]]. It helps too that the sequel ''Film/MortalKombatAnnihilation'' was not well received, which helped keep the reputation of this film higher in comparison.

*** Also his transformation in the beginning, with Boyd often changed to someone else.

** The very first line, Shang Tsung saying "Your brother's soul is mine!" while pointing at the camera, is so over-the-top it can elicit laughter. Thankfully the other instances of YourSoulIsMine work better.

** Johnny's fight with Goro, particularly the GroinAttack and the "$500 sunglasses" one-liner. Also counts due to Frank Welker's amazing vocal effects.

* {{Woolseyism}} since there isn't a word like "subterranean" in Polish language to denote "underground," the translators went with literally saying the kingdom of Shokan was underground and had Kano ask, during his dinner with Goro, whether it meant it was something clandestine and illegal. Kano's obvious discomfort at being in Goro's presence additionally played into it by making it seem like Kano was thinking about [[{{Hell}} another underground place possibly waiting for him.]]

** When Kano describes the Sub-Zero vs. random mook [[CurbStompBattle not-fight]], Goro utters a single word: "Disgusting." ''What'' is disgusting though? [[{{Squick}} What Kano's describing?]] [[EveryoneHasStandards Shang Tsung sacrificing a servant for the sake of intimidation?]][[note]]This isn't as out there as it appears. When Goro enters the arena prior to his match with Johnny Cage, Shang Tsung's underlings genuinely cheer him on and he in turn acknowledges their support before gently brushing them aside.[[/note]] Or maybe he means [[JabbaTableManners the way Kano eats]].

* FoeYay:
** This can pretty much be seen as how Kano views his little rivalry with Sonya. His dialogue throughout the movie about her pretty much casts any doubt of this:
--> ''"She's here, right on time! I LOVE punctuality in a woman!"'' (smiles)
--> ''"Maybe Sonya and I should share a cabin, have our own little honeymoon cruise."''
--> ''"Ello baby, did chu miss me?"''
--> ''[[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything "Give it up baby! I studied ALL your moves!"]]''
--> ''[[DoubleEntendre "Give me a break!"]]''
** Shang Tsung to Sonya, big time. He's constantly flirting with her, complimenting her looks and saying he has "great plans" for her, and her GoGoEnslavement look after being "challenged" by him speaks volumes.

--> ''[[FoeYay "'Ello Baby, did you miss me?"]]''

* CriticalDissonance: Although it got mixed reviews from critics, the movie received praise from fans and casual moviegoers alike, and it is seen today as the best {{aver|tedTrope}}sion of VideoGameMoviesSuck[[note]]At least until ''Film/PokemonDetectivePikachu'' and ''Film/SonicTheHedgehog2020'' came out years later to even greater acclaim, but even still ''Mortal Kombat'' remains beloved by fans.[[/note]]. The film was also a commercial hit, enjoying a three week run as the number one grossing movie at the box office and the soundtrack charted in the Top 10 of the Billboard album charts, going platinum in 10 days. Because of it's success elements of its story [[RetCanon eventually became woven into the canon of the games]]. It helps too that the sequel ''Film/MortalKombatAnnihilation'' was not well received, which helped keep the reputation of this film higher in comparison.

* GeniusBonus: Two in the final battle.

** Due to some dramatic pauses in the action, the fight can be seen as having three rounds. In this interpretation, round 1 ends when Liu defeats the last revived warrior, round 2 ends after Shang gives Liu a brief beatdown and, obviously, round 3 ends when Liu pushes Shang out of the platform with a fireball. Since Liu is never hit in the supposed third round, this actually fixes a hole in the script by giving sense to his claim of Flawless Victory when Shang dies.[[note]]Although he blocks two punches, which, by the actual Flawless Victory rule in the MK games, would nullify the claim anyway[[/note]]

* [[EnsembleDarkhorse/MortalKombat Ensemble Darkhorse]]

* CommonKnowledge: This movie's depiction of Kano is credited for the reason the games retconned Kano from American to Australian. However, Trevor Goddard actually portrayed Kano as a British man with a Cockney accent. Many people couldn't differentiate between a Cockney accent and an Australian one, so Kano was assumed to be Australian in this film. In fact, many people didn't know Goddard was British and not Australian, until his death.

* GeniusBonus: Two in the final battle:

** Due to some dramatic pauses in the action, the fight can be seen as having three rounds. In this interpretation, round 1 ends when Liu defeats the last revived warrior, round 2 ends after Shang gives Liu a brief beatdown and, obviously, round 3 ends when Liu pushes Shang out of the platform with a fireball. This actually fixes a hole in the script by giving sense to Liu saying "flawless victory" when Shang dies, since he never takes a hit in the supposed third round.

** Instead of regular ninja-esque tabi, Scorpion can be seen wearing what look like hiking boots during his fight with Johnny Cage. And in a bit of [[FreezeFrameBonus freeze frame failure]], If you pause the movie while Reptile's doubled over from Liu Kang kicking him over a banister, you can make out a Nike swoosh on the soles of his feet.

** The fight against Reptile, added to the movie in the last minute. Without explanation, the CG critter Reptile fuses with a statue he was kicked inside to take an appearance similar as in the games, and have a long fight sequence with Liu Kang. It's never mentioned again. Supposedly, it's because test audiences wanted more fights, so they went back to do some re-shooting. It's also why Johnny disappears during the course of the fight: Creator/LindenAshby wasn't actually there for the additional filming. While the scene itself might seem out of place, the fight itself is praised by many fans as being the best in the film. There was also at least some foreshadowing for Reptile having a fight scene later on because early in the film, Shang Tsung is there to give Reptile orders to watch Kitana and keep her away from the main characters (Reptile being a last-minute addition might explain why he sucks at that job).

** Kano's movie portrayal by Trevor Goddard was so well-received by the fans and creators alike, the character was since given an accent mimicking Goddard's and a similar appearance, and had his nationality retconned from a Japanese-American to Australian to honor his memory.

** This was the case with Creator/LindenAshby's portrayal of Johnny Cage for many years but wore off over time. Linden also returned to voice the character in a skin pack for ''[=MK11=]'' with a film-based skin for Johnny.

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: Was Shang Tsung really that determined to not concede to Liu Kang in the final round, or was he trying to [[BetterToDieThanBeKilled avoid punishment]] for failure from Shao Kahn?
** When Kano describes the Sub-Zero vs. random mook [[CurbStompBattle not-fight]], Goro utters a single word: "Disgusting." ''What'' is disgusting though? [[{{Squick}} What Kano's describing?]] [[EveryoneHasStandards Shang Tsung sacrificing a servant for the sake of intimidation?]][[note]]This isn't as out there as it appears - when Goro enters the arena prior to his match with Johnny Cage, Shang Tsung's udnerlings genuinely cheer him on and he in turn acknowleldges their support before gently brushing them aside. Seems he's a pretty popular guy.[[/note]] Or maybe he means [[JabbaTableManners the way Kano eats.]]

* GeniusBonus: Two in the final battle.

* GeniusBonus: The traditional Kung Fu salute, palm over fist (well, it's palm ''against'' fist, but the palm overshadows) represents Peace over Power. Shang Tsung's odd bow before the final battle, fist ''on top of'' palm, is meant to represent Power over Peace, reflecting the opposing philosophies of the two characters.

* BigLippedAlligatorMoment: The fight against Reptile, added to the movie in the last minute. Without explanation, the CG critter Reptile fuses with a statue he was kicked inside to take an appearance similar as in the games, and have a long fight sequence with Liu Kang. It's never mentioned again. Supposedly, it's because test audiences wanted more fights, so they went back to do some re-shooting. It's also why Johnny disappears during the course of the fight: Creator/LindenAshby wasn't actually there for the additional filming. While the scene itself might seem out of place, the fight itself is praised by many fans as being the best in the film. There was also at least some foreshadowing for Reptile having a fight scene later on because early in the film, Shang Tsung is there to give Reptile orders to watch Kitana and keep her away from the main characters (Reptile being a last-minute addition might explain why he sucks at that job).
** The fight between Scorpion and Johnny Cage. The way the movie cuts to it makes the whole scene feel like a very long cutaway gag that has no bearing on the plot.

** Liu Kang and Johnny Cage becoming FireForgedFriends over the course of the movie since Robin Shou and Linden Ashby are still good friends over twenty years later.

* HeartwarmingInHindsight: This is the movie that introduced the ShipTease between Johnny Cage and Sonya Blade. Nineteen real life years later, this tease not only [[RetCanon/MortalKombatTheMovie became canon in the main games]], but it also gave birth to [[VideoGame/MortalKombatX Cassie Cage]].

* BigLippedAlligatorMoment: The fight against Reptile, added to the movie in the last minute. Without explanation, the CG critter Reptile fuses with a statue he was kicked inside to take an appearance similar as in the games, and have a long fight sequence with Liu Kang. It's never mentioned again. Supposedly, it's because test audiences wanted more fights, so they went back to do some re-shooting. It's also why Johnny disappears during the course of the fight: Creator/LindenAshby wasn't actually there for the additional filming. While the scene itself might seem out of place, the fight itself is praised by some fans as being the best in the film. There was also at least some foreshadowing for Reptile having a fight scene later on because early in the film, Shang Tsung is there to give Reptile orders to watch Kitana and keep her away from the main characters (Reptile being a last-minute addition might explain why he sucks at that job).

** When Kano describes the Sub-Zero vs. random mook [[CurbStompBattle not-fight]], Goro utters a single word: "Disgusting." What ''is'' disgusting though? [[{{Squick}} What Kano's describing?]] [[EveryoneHasStandards Shang Tsung sacrificing a servant for the sake of intimidation?]][[note]]This isn't as out there as it appears - when Goro enters the arena prior to his match with Johnny Cage, Shang Tsung's udnerlings genuinely cheer him on and he in turn acknowleldges their support before gently brushing them aside. Seems he's a pretty popular guy.[[/note]] Or maybe he means [[JabbaTableManners the way Kano eats.]]

** This was the case with Linden Ashby's portrayal of Johnny Cage for many years but wore off over time. Linden also returned to voice the character in a skin pack for ''[=MK11=]'' with a film-based skin for Johnny.

* HamAndCheese: Creator/ChristopherLambert and Linden Ashby seemed to know ''exactly'' what kind of film they signed on for and spent the entire time tossing the comedy ball back and forth. It helped that both Creator/PaulWSAnderson and producer Lawrence Kasanoff pushed them to ad-lib whenever they had a good idea for their characters.

* CantUnhearIt: A live-action version:

* HamAndCheese: Lambert and Ashby seemed to know ''exactly'' what kind of film they signed on for and spent the entire time tossing the comedy ball back and forth. It helped that both Paul Anderson and producer Lawrence Kasanoff pushed them to ad-lib whenever they had a good idea for their characters.

* HeartwarmingInHindsight: This is the movie that introduced the ShipTease between Johnny Cage and Sonya Blade. 19 real life years later, this tease not only [[RetCanon/MortalKombatTheMovie became canon in the main games]], but it also gave birth to [[VideoGame/MortalKombatX Cassie Cage]].

** When Kano describes the Sub-Zero vs. random mook [[CurbStompBattle not-fight]], Goro utters a single word: "Disgusting." What ''is'' disgusting though? [[{{Squick}} What Kano's describing?]] [[EveryoneHasStandard Shang Tsung sacrificing a servant for the sake of intimidation?]][[note]]This isn't as out there as it appears - when Goro enters the arena prior to his match with Johnny Cage, Shang Tsung's udnerlings genuinely cheer him on and he in turn acknowleldges their support before gently brushing them aside. Seems he's a pretty popular guy.[[/note]] Or maybe he means [[JabbaTableManners the way Kano eats.]]