Mortal Kombat: Annihilation (1997)

Directed by John R. Leonetti. Starring Robin Shou, Talisa Soto, Brian Thompson, Sandra Hess, James Remar, Lynn “Red” Williams, Irina Pantaeva, Musetta Vander, Marjean Holden, Litefoot, Reiner Schöne. [PG-13]

Catastrophically poor sequel is about as satisfying as playing an arcade game where half the buttons no longer work. And some sneak swiped the quarters you laid out on the console top. And the coin-op cabinet tipped over and crushed your spine. More or less picks up where the last one left off, with the heroes venturing into Outworld to defeat Emperor Shao Kahn (Thompson), but the story is so tedious and incoherent that it’s hard to be sure. The relentless fights are ineptly directed and edited, the stagecraft materials are the pits, and the visual effects are some of the worst to ever appear in a film that reached theaters; it’s always a bad sign when Christopher Lambert doesn’t want the work. Its worst sin, though, is just being a complete bore, robbing this trainwreck of even the simple pleasures of derisive laughter (though Vander does have a line reading for the ages: “Too bad, you…will die!”). Game over, indeed.

6/100