The user reviews tell a specific story. The algorithm aggregates scores from millions of users, but the weighted reviews reveal a pattern: the 1995 film is rated highly by users aged 30-44 and poorly by critics archived from the 90s. The film’s "X-factor" is its tone. Anderson understood that Mortal Kombat was inherently ridiculous—a game about a thunder god, a Hollywood actor, and a ninja fighting a four-armed monster. Instead of making it gritty (like the later Annihilation ), he made it campy but sincere. The IMDb comment section is littered with phrases like "guilty pleasure" and "best video game movie of the 90s."
The 1995 film benefits from 90s kids who are now adults logging on to rate it a 10/10 "for the memories." The 1997 film has no such shield; it was so bad that even nostalgia can’t save it. The 2021 film suffers from "recency bias," where modern standards of CGI and choreography elevate its floor, but the lack of nostalgia for a new cast caps its ceiling. imdb mortal kombat