1993’s Super Mario Bros. However, not only did Mortal Kombat: Annihilation fail to replicate what made the first movie work, but it also felt more like a Mortal Kombat parody than a true sequel.
One of the reasons why the 1995 Mortal Kombat movie worked is because it told a relatively simple, straightforward story. The Mortal Kombat lore, despite the simplicity of the first few games, was already big enough at that time – with countless characters and potential stories for the movie adaption to pick up. In hindsight, that was one of Mortal Kombat: Annihilation’s biggest problems, as the sequel tried to expand the scale and the scope of the first movie in almost every matter. Mortal Kombat (1995), on the other hand, played safe by following Liu Kang, Johnny Cage, and Sonya Blade heading to the first Mortal Kombat tournament in ages while Raiden lectured the audiences about the lore and rules of that world.
In theory, Mortal Kombat: Annihilation was right in expanding the world of the first movie. The 1995 Mortal Kombat had already established the main characters and the rules of the Mortal Kombat, plus featured a tournament from beginning to end. Bringing Shao Kahn at the end of Mortal Kombat to be the villain of the sequel seemed like an obvious choice, and it set up a bigger, bolder Mortal Kombat sequel. However, the result was disastrous. Mortal Kombat: Annihilation is regarded to this day as one of the worst video game movies of all time, if not the worst, for a number of reasons. The Mortal Kombat sequel was flawed in every possible matter, from the costumes to the dialogues, to the point the movie became accidentally funny. That said, one fan theory (via Reddit) found a way to perceive Mortal Kombat: Annihilation in a better light. According to the theory, Annihilation was a movie within a movie, one that was created, written, and directed by Johnny Cage after the events of the first Mortal Kombat.
Mortal Kombat: Annihilation Was Worse Than Anyone Could’ve Imagined
The 1995 Mortal Kombat walked a thin line between fun and overly silly, but the final result was still satisfactory. However, in Annihilation, everything that did not work in the first movie was suddenly much more present. Mortal Kombat: Annihilation had a very silly tone, although that may have been a consequence of poor writing and direction rather than by default. The fight against Shao Kahn plotline was way too convoluted and did not make much sense, as if the story was being written on the spot. There were now a lot more Earthrealm champions and Outworld villains, all beloved characters from the Mortal Kombat games, but most of them would show up and then have no use in the story at all. The biggest example was Nightwolf, who appeared midway through the movie to guide Liu Kang and then completely disappeared from the rest of the film.
The dialogue was campier than anything in a Mortal Kombat game, and not in a good way. Annihilation relied a lot on visual effects, more than the first movie, but the quality of it was far behind that of contemporary films like the Star Wars prequels. Whereas the 1995 Mortal Kombat movie still holds up, a Mortal Kombat: Annihilation rewatch is quite difficult to sit through.
Theory: Mortal Kombat: Annihilation Is A Movie Directed By Johnny Cage
Mortal Kombat: Annihilation is such a poorly executed movie that it almost feels like it was intentionally bad – and that’s the starting point for this fan theory. In the Mortal Kombat games, the 1995 Mortal Kombat movie, and other adaptions, Johnny Cage enters the story as an outsider who goes to the Mortal Kombat tournament, imagining that it will help his acting career. Johnny Cage is a Hollywood B-movie star and a stunt performer, but by the time he realizes what the Mortal Kombat tournament really is, it is already too late to go back. Cage serves as the audience’s perspective in the Mortal Kombat universe and also works as comic relief, mainly because of his overconfidence in his acting and fighting skills.
Johnny Cage never takes anything too seriously, and it would make sense for the character to try to capitalize on the events of the first Mortal Kombat in some way that could help his career. As such, according to the theory, the Earthrealm champions defeated Shao Kahn not too long after the end of Mortal Kombat. None of the events of Mortal Kombat: Annihilation actually happened, at least not in that way, and the whole thing was a movie directed by Johnny Cage based on his experiences in the real fight against Shao Kahn and the Outworld roster following Mortal Kombat. This fun interpretation of Annihilation would give an in-universe motive as to why a 30 million dollar movie, a significant budget for a 1997 production, looks like a B film in of visuals and dialogues. The reason is simple: Annihilation reflects who its director, Johnny Cage, is as an actor.
Annihilation Being A Movie Within A Movie Explains The Mortal Kombat Recasts
Mortal Kombat: Annihilation had several significant recasts. Johnny Cage, Sonya Blade, Jax, Scorpion, Sub-Zero, and Shao Kahn were all recasts for the Mortal Kombat sequel. In fact, from the main Mortal Kombat cast, only Robin Shou (Liu Kang) and Talisa Soto (Kitana) returned for Mortal Kombat: Annihilation. While recasts for a sequel are nothing new in Hollywood, it was strange to see almost the entire Mortal Kombat cast not coming back for Annihilation. Although each actor had their own motive not to return, the Johnny Cage theory finds an in-universe explanation for why most of the characters look so different.
In that scenario, Cage only got to convince Liu Kang and Kitana to appear in his film, and thus the remaining Mortal Kombat roster had to be played by actors. Plus, Cage would not be able to play himself while also directing the movie, which is why he would have written his character out of the movie right at the beginning – thus explaining why Johnny Cage dies so early in Mortal Kombat: Annihilation.
Mortal Kombat: Annihilation Being A Movie Makes It So Much Better
Obviously, Mortal Kombat: Annihilation being a movie within a movie directed by Johnny Cage is just a fun way to look at the Mortal Kombat sequel. Still, considering just how bad Mortal Kombat: Annihilation is, this fan theory makes it much better. It is challenging to take Anihhilation seriously, even when considering the technology and the limitations of its era, especially because the first Mortal Kombat movie stills holds up. As such, assuming that the fight against Shao Kahn in Mortal Kombat: Annihilation is just a fictional retelling by Johnny Cage of how things actually played out can make for a much more fun rewatch.
