Mortal Kombat 95 vs Mortal Kombat 2021 and Mortal Kombat 2 (2026)

Welcome kombatants. Today we shall review and compare and contrast how the new Mortal Kombat films stack up against the one of old time from 1995. With the sequel to the new reboot having freshly just come out let’s talk about which one I prefer and test their might.

Let’s begin with the newer ones. It’s actually scary how fast time goes and that the two new MKs are 5 years apart. When I saw the 2021 MK for the first time, I wasn’t crazy about it. I actually didn’t even like it. I think it’s only because of the sequel that I can tolerate it now. Knowing that Cole Young goes on to have a “purpose” makes the first one more watchable albeit that purpose was to set him up as a new important main character just to kill him off like a fly in the sequel. To his credit, he would’ve beaten Shao Kahn but then he was killed off like a goofy. He’s not to be missed. The fact that he beat that terrible CGI slop-mess Goro in the first one was just sheer dumb luck. And Goro was such a waste of a good character. The Sub-Zero v Scorpion subplot is strong though, the strongest part of the movie. It’s really tragic what happens to Hanzo Hasashi at the hands of Bi-Han. It’s nice that it’s actually Bi-Han who murders Hanzo instead of using the original retcon in the game where it was Quan Chi disguised as Bi-Han and killed Hanzo and his family. Joe Taslim and Hiroyuki Sanada really bring the presence. When I first watched MK 21’ I wasn’t convinced with the casting- i.e Tadanobu Asano as Raiden and especially Chin Han as Shang Tsung. Every antagonist in this movie was wasted except for Sub-Zero. Mileena and Reptile were simply one-time goons. I’ve never thought about it deeply but the Dragon Mark and arcana theme of the movie is actually pretty cool and creative. It adds groundedness to the film although we know this movie is not grounded. I think I may have been too harsh on this one before. The sequel makes it more tolerable, knowing where the stories of the characters go. I think the biggest flaw of MK 21’ is that it feels rushed. The characters are fine. The story is ok but I feel like it is missing some depth and layers. We didn’t really have time to get invested with Kung Lao, an immediate hit-character. Kano can stay dead, man is that guy annoying. Some may find him funny but he’s irritating. It’s not the worst movie, but it’s not good either. It’s not bad. It’s ok.

The sequel is a significant improvement and is what makes the first one acceptable. As a cinephile, story is a major part of what makes a movie good. This is a good example. MK 2 has a much more layered story than MK 1 therefore making it more engagable. It’s got a different writer and has better acting. Liu Kang and Shang Tsung are given more to do and the fight choreography is much much better. Kano is still annoying as all hell. Martyrn Ford definitely brings presence as Shao Kahn. Everyone here gives good performances but Raiden didn’t have much to do. Kitana is good. The star of the movie is definitely Karl Urban as Johnny Cage, as he was supposed to be. All the characters in this feel more fleshed out because the story is told better. The movie still might feel slightly rushed but because this one has the actual Mortal Kombat in it, this feels like the modern MK everyone expected. Did I say it was better than 95? Hold your ponies. The best fight was easily was Kung Lao and Liu Kang. Baraka is a pleasure as well and the second best fight is Scorpion’s 2nd rematch with Bi-Han who now goes by Noob Saibot instead of Sub-Zero. They don’t call him that but that’s who he becomes in the source material. I will say the movie may have plot armor for simplicity sake. Kitana switches sides at the end giving Earthrealm another champion and Johnny and Kano destroy Shinnok’s amulet allowing Kitana to luckily deliver the killing blow to Kahn. Yes, yes I know other movies have done this too, I’m not saying it’s stupid for this. Just too easy. Cole made Shao Kahn look like a fraud in their fight before Kahn killed him. Sadly, I’m not a MK videogame player but I would have assumed that Shao Kahn was a formidable and beast of fighter. Seemed a little too easy for Cole to take, he would’ve killed Kahn were it not for the immortality he used from the amulet. Overall, not a bad film, an improvement over the prequel like I said.

Next is MK 95. The one I grew up with parallel to the SNES game we have and the one where my 2 year old brother and 4 year old self danced to the hit song by Immortals. Some will say nostalgia bias but if I favoured new MK it’s recency bias. I just can’t win can I? That being said, I do favor this one and I’ll tell you why. This is another example of the classic being superior to the new remakes/reboot/soft reboot etc. and that could be said for Jumanji vs Welcome to the Jungle, Jurassic Park vs Jurassic World, Independence Day vs Resurgence, Space Jam vs New Legacy. The only exception is Top Gun vs Top Gun Maverick where the sequel is clearly better. How do I even go go about comparing the classic to the modern? The best way I can put it is that the 2021 version and its sequel feels more generically Hollywood and you can tell. It’s a movie, 95 is more of a film. That being said, the 95 version pays homage and translates the tones of the original arcade/SNES/Genesis games while the new ones translate the tones of games like MK 11 and MK1. The latter films are also goofier and have forced humour vs the more grounded former. While 95 can still be considered over-the-top, the new films are much much more. Kano goes overboard with being annoying and Sonya makes jokes and then there’s Cole Young, the so-called protagonist vs Robin Shou’s Liu Kang. 95 is the more serious film which is why I like it more. A more mature Liu Kang, more serious Raiden, Kano, and Sonya, a more intimidating Shang Tsung, although the new films did improve on Sub-Zero and Scorpion and Johnny Cage is equally liked by me for both films. I like the dark tone of Paul Anderson’s film and the entire plot was focused around the tournament. It was even centered around a Gothic-styled fortress which gave it tones of creepiness and grotesquery. The battles are much more stylistic and much better choreographed, the best one easily being Liu Kang and Sub-Zero for authenticity and Scorpion and Johnny Cage for style. Modern MK is the MK who want to enjoy a simple popcorn flick and original MK is for those who want to feel the spirit and essence of Mortal Kombat. We can’t forget this is the movie that introduced the hit main theme by Immortals. It also has a score which is absent from the new ones and cool score by George S Clinton but we can’t forget Juno Reactor’s Control theme for Reptile vs Liu Kang.

In conclusion, the results show that I favor MK 95 but that don’t mean I don’t appreciate the new ones (MK 2 to be exact). They are both enjoyable in their own way but I like MK 95 more. That’s just the way the ball rolls. Peace out amigos.