Mortal Kombat: Annihilation
Directed By: Paul W.S. Anderson
Produced By: Lawrence Kasanoff
Written By: Kevin Droney
Based On: Mortal Kombat by Midway Games
Cast
Robin Shou as Liu Kang
Bridgette Wilson as Sonya Blade
Linden Ashby as Johnny Cage
George Takei as Raiden
Ming-Na Wen as Kitana
Michael Jai White as Jax Briggs
Bryan Clark as Shao Kahn (Voice of Frank Welker)
Tony Jaa as Quan Chi
Brandon Lee as Sub-Zero
Chris Casamassa as Scorpion
Michelle Yeoh as Sindel
Kelly Hu as Mileena
Doug Jones as Baraka
Chris Morgan as Kabal (Voice of Kevin Michael Richardson)
Thuy Trang as Jade
Litefoot as Nightwolf
Chris Conrad as Kurtis Stryker
Release Date: November 21, 1998
Budget: $60 million
Box Office: $500 million
So, what's changed from OTL? Well, the plot starts off the same with a battle between the main characters from the first movie against Shao Kahn's early attack forces before Raiden calls them back. He brings them to a safe place and informs them of Shao Kahn and his Outworld army and that to fight them, Earthrealm will need an army of its own. He sends the four off in pairs; Liu with Kitana and Sonya with Johnny. Liu and Kitana are able to recruit Kitana's friend Jade and a wandering shaman named Nightwolf before heading to the Lin Kuei temple to find the new Sub-Zero, the younger brother of Bi Han. At first, Sub-Zero attacks to avenge his brother. However, their plans are thwarted by an attack by Scorpion, resurrected by the Outworld sorcerer, Quan Chi. Scorpion manages to capture Kitana after a fight against Liu and Sub-Zero, but Sub-Zero pledges himself to aiding the Earthrealm army, believing that the resurrection of Scorpion means that Quan Chi has control over his older brother's soul. Sub-Zero is transported to Raiden's base, Liu being sent on his own to rescue Kitana.
Meanwhile, Sonya and Johnny manage to recruit Kurtis Stryker to the army (in exchange of an autograph from Cage) but when seeking out Sonya's partner Jax, they find themselves in an Outworld Prison in the midst of riot. During the right, they find Jax fighting against Black Dragon elite member Kabal. Johnny and Sonya are forced to fight off prisoners and guards alike to help Jax escape, but the three are thwarted in their exit by the warden of the prison, the Tarkartan warrior Baraka. Johnny fights and loses to Baraka, buying Sonya and Jax time to escape while he ends up getting stabbed through the chest. The remaining forces are gathered to attack Outworld, rescue Kitana and defeat Shao Kahn to push back his army.
Liu rescues Kitana, who heads off to find her mother, Sindel, in the hopes of freeing her from Shao's control. However, instead she ends up fighting a Tarkatan hybrid clone of herself, Mileena while Sindel evades her. Meanwhile, Jax and Sonya fight against Baraka, Sonya killing the Tarkatan in revenge for killing Johnny. Sub-Zero defeats Scorpion, learning his brother's soul was placed into Ermac before Scorpion returns to the Nettherrealm. The final major battle is between Liu Kang and Shao Kahn, the fight first going in Kahn's favor thanks to his raw brute strength. However, Liu Kang gains the second wind, gets the upper hand and sends Shao Kahn plummeting into a pit to the Netherrealm.
All is not well as Quan Chi escapes with Sindel, promising that this is not the end.
The film is the the big release of the 1998 November run, making twice of the original film's take and becoming the second highest-grossing worldwide release, just below Armageddon. The film still had the weakness of being heavy on fights and light on plot, but a more focused cast and the direction of Paul Anderson made a difference, helped by it building up to a potential sequel. The story would also continue in an anthology series
Mortal Kombat: Chronicles on HBO, focusing on the minor characters such as Jade, Stryker, Sub-Zero (Kuai Liang) and others or showing events such as Jax and Kabal's capture by Baraka.
By the end of 1998, Annihilation was the clear winner for video game movies, followed by Rampage, Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and trailing behind them all was Super Mario Bros. 4. Nintendo no longer has the position of the top dog of video game media as we draw closer to the New Millennium.