One of the best video game movies ever

Rating: 9/10 (17 March 2002)

I love the first 'Mortal Kombat' film. It's one of my personal favorites. It just so happens that the film I'd place next to it on my list is 'Resident Evil'... and they're both directed by Paul Anderson! I'm a huge fan of the video games, I've played them all. Sure this film takes some liberties (none of the characters are here at all, and there was no Red Queen), but it successfully takes the majority of what made the games so scary and suspenseful and mixes them with some outlandish action scenes. Milla Jovovich (YUM!) is a great female action hero (and flashes some nip to boot!), and tackles the lead of the film rather well. I've never been a fan of Michelle Rodriguez (she's all pout and no talent), but in the end I was rooting for her and feeling sympathy for her character (she gets the snot pummeled out of her over the course of the film). There's the familiar villains (Licker, zombies and the dogs), familiar scenes (both from other films and the games) and familiar faces (Eric Mabius from 'The Crow 3' and even Paul Anderson regular Jason Isaacs from 'Event Horizon' and 'Soldier') that make it all the more fun. The industrial metal music by Marilyn Manson is great, and the FX are for the most part pretty good. My only major gripe is that while I was expecting this movie to be another 'Tomb Raider' (i.e. complete crap) and it wasn't, I was also looking forward to seeing a good splatter flick. There is virtually no gore to be found in this film. Sure there's a head that gets cut off and some nasty looking zombies, but we never see anyone get eaten or ripped apart... that's a staple for a zombie movie. One particular moment involves the Licker killing someone... it obviously takes a bite out of the person's arm, but when it pulls back there is nothing... no marks, just blood that was there before it leant in for a quick snack. And upon seeing the victim at a higher viewpoint, we are treated to a gigantic splatter of blood around the carcass, but there are no visible wounds on the person. Lame! I hope there is an unrated cut available when this comes out on DVD. And the end is great, leading directly into a sequel that I hope gets made real soon! 9 out of 10, for all the immense fun and suspense to be found in this surprisingly entertaining survival horror film.