Saturday, August 15 at 9:30pm | $8 |
“It Has Begun!”
Whether you’re in the “it’s a pretty good kung fu movie” camp, or the “it’s so terrible it’s hilarious” camp, Mortal Kombat is an undeniably entertaining movie that is perfect for the Hecklevision screen.
Seeking to capitalize on the runaway success of the Mortal Kombat fighting game franchise, this film ushered in a new era of video game adaptations, most all of them terrible. As a matter of fact, the director of this first Mortal Kombat picture, Paul W.S. Anderson (not to be confused with Paul Thomas Anderson) went on to produce and direct pretty much all of the Resident Evil films, another video game series, and among the more tolerable of that genre.
Released twenty years ago this summer, 1995’s Mortal Kombat follows Johnny Cage, Liu Kang and Sonya Blade as they arrive in a mysterious dimension for a spooky karate tournament. A few action-movie archetypes are on display here - Cage constantly cracks wise, Liu Kang is the stiff and stoic martial artist, and Sonya (played by Bridgette Wilson, directly after her role in Billy Madison) is special forces cop that will stop at nothing to capture her prey. There are some memorable fight scenes, including fan favorites like Sub-Zero and Scorpion (who seems to telepathically communicate his catchphrases.) Fans of practical effects will enjoy the four armed Goro character, who lumbers around the film being a rather menacing contrast to the less-than-perfect CG effects Mortal Kombat features. All seven characters from the original game are represented here, from the oddly-cast Christopher Lambert (Highlander) as Raiden, to the born-for-this-role Trevor Goddard as Kano.
At its best, Mortal Kombat is a decent bit of mid 90s low-brow cinema that didn’t exactly fail in its mission to bring its source material to the big screen with plenty of energy. It also borrows heavily from the amazing Big Trouble in Little China, which definitely helps keep it entertaining. And who could forget that soundtrack? You know the one. Techno-based ultra-violence never sounded so good!
This special screening is presented in HECKLEVISION: Through the magic of MuVChat technology, your jokes, heckles and commentary are encouraged - in TEXT form! Tap out your wittiest wisecracks with your phone and they'll appear instantly on screen! Each month, special guests will hang out to crack jokes via text with you and a few hundred of your best friends!
The Hollywood Theatre is a beautifully restored nonprofit theatre with beer, wine and pizza for sale. To learn more about the theatre, visit:
http://hollywoodtheatre.org/
This month's special guests:
Shane Hosea
Dan Weber
Dylan Reiff
Jeremiah Coughlan
Craig May
Nariko Ott
Steven Wilber