Almost all the boys born in the 90s grew up on the Mortal Kombat franchise. First of all, in Russia, of course, films based on the video game of the same name were popular, as well as the animated version.
The first tape came out in 1995, and the second after 2 years. She received the name "Mortal Kombat 2: Extermination" (film, 1997). The actors in the film were involved as those that were shot in the first tape, as well as new ones. It is about the sequel that will be discussed in this article.
About the film
The picture in question as part of this article is a sequel to the film, based on the video game of the same name. Despite the fact that all over the world Mortal Kombat fighting games became famous and therefore it was decided to make films based on them, films in Russia gained popularity earlier than games.
Be that as it may, both tapes have become quite popular, but if you compare, the first part has become much more successful than the second both commercially and creatively. Despite the fact that the budget of both tapes was the same.
The start of film rental took place in November 1997. The release on DVD took place only in 2008.
Mortal Kombat 2: Extermination: Story
The main antagonist of the film is the evil emperor Shao Kang, who arrived on Earth to personally notify its inhabitants that he intends to exterminate the inhabitants of the planet, and to do this in just seven biblical days.
His assistants in this matter are ninja robots, as well as half-half-man Motaro and the four-armed female warrior Shiva. Despite the fact that the emperor’s forces are very great, there are still people who are ready to fight him back.
Fearless warriors opposed the villain: Lord Raidan, Sonya Blade, who was captured by Shao Kang, Liu Kang, Night Wolf, etc.
Although the forces are unequal, and the villain has a clear advantage, the defenders of our world are ready to fight to the last drop of blood in order to wrest victory from the hands of Shao Kahn.
Mortal Kombat 2: Extermination (film, 1997): actors and roles
The film starred many actors from the first part, but there were others who played new characters. The main roles were played by such actors as: Robin Shaw, who is also known for his roles in the films "Street Fighter" and "Beverly Hills Ninja", Talis Soto ("License to Kill") in the role of Princess Kitana, as well as James Rimar (" White Fang, Dexter) - Raidan.
In addition to them, starred in "Mortal Kombat 2: Extermination" (film, 1997) actors: Sandra Hess (Sonya Blade), Lynn Williams (Jax), Brian Thompson (Shao Kahn) and many others.
The acting did not impress the audience too much, although the first film was still noted as one of the advantages of the picture. What is the reason for the decrease in the quality of the tape compared to the first film is unclear. Be that as it may, the picture was extremely unsuccessful.
Reviews and box office
No matter how popular and successful the first film was, the second turned out to be much worse. The first tape was heavily blamed for the poor acting, weak plot and low-quality special effects.
In the movie "Mortal Kombat 2: Extermination", according to the opinion of the audience, these errors not only remained, but were even multiplied. In addition to all of the above, there were problems with acting and directing, although the crew actually remained the same.
As a result, the film was taken very coldly, so it barely paid off at the box office. If the first film with a budget of $ 30 million managed to collect more than 120 at the box office, then the second film, with the same investments in production, collected only a little more than 50 million.
At the same time, critics literally defeated this tape. Therefore, there was no longer any talk of a full-fledged continuation. Although in 2000 there was a small addition to this film called “Mortal Kombat: Martial Arts Federation”, the picture was immediately released on videotapes, bypassing widespread distribution in movie theaters. The film received very low ratings, and the special effects even for that time looked too low-grade.
Conclusion
"Mortal Kombat 2: Extermination" was shot in the genre of a fantastic action movie, where the emphasis is on fighting scenes and a demonstration of extravagant characters in the fictional universe in which the film takes place. This film franchise had quite a lot of potential, which its creators, unfortunately, were not able to dispose of competently.
Of course, all the problems can be attributed to the fact that the creators did not have a large budget for special effects and scenery, and the shooting took place in the 90s, when the cinema effects had not yet reached perfection. But after all, in the absence of proper funding, it was possible to put more emphasis on a good script and excellent acting than on low-quality special effects.
As a result, “Mortal Kombat 2: Extermination” (film, 1997), whose actors showed not the highest level of skill and professionalism, turned out to be a rather weak film, although the idea of the picture is very promising. Perhaps someday a project based on this idea will appear that will be made much better. So, for example, in the period from 2011 to 2013. the mini-series Mortal Kombat: Legacy was released, which looked fairly fresh and of high quality.