I’m not exactly a fan of Mortal Kombat movies or games, so I was mostly lost following the plot. I think true fans might appreciate it more than me. Some of the episodes were character-centered, but mostly it’s about a monk and his friends engaging in fights against ninjas and evil sorcerers in wacky costumes because an evil skull-faced emperor has declared a cosmic tournament fought by mortal warriors to decide whether he gets to annex their realms into his dark empire of evil. That, and the monk bickers with an inconsistently-appearing thunder god protector who dispenses not-so-great advice or encouragement from time to time.

1998 was the age where CGI was in its relative infancy, so I forgive the primitive special effects, but not always when used in place of miniatures or matte paintings. However, while they thankfully didn’t use any nauseating digital filters that are standard-issue today, everything is filmed underneath purple lights and fights are shrouded in lots of fog. I have some experience telling the difference between TV show fight choreography where impressive flips and quick cuts mask the fact that stunt performers are only pretending to fight each other instead of actual combat. The combat sequences aren’t very gory, and characters occasionally get injured only after the fact, not during the fight. Losers do get their souls consumed in a not-gory CGI way.

For a series rated TV-PG, there is just as much suggestive sexual content as violence, if not more. There are a lot of scantily-clad female villain underlings wearing little more than string bikinis, and they use some unexpectedly rude words to describe each other such as “whore”, “harlot”, “bitch” and “slut”. (I guess this is what girlbossing looked like in the 90’s). And in the latter half of the season, a villainous insect queen plots to mate with various males from other realms to breed her army of all-female warriors. The show is not subtle about any of this. If you think children might be watching, be warned.