Mortal Kombat: Annihilation

Where the first film’s ”mortal kombat” tournament amounted to little more than a glorified videogame, Mortal Kombat: Annihilation‘s more fantastical adventures (this time, it’s all-out war) play like a live-action comic book. An even flashier showcase for morphing monsters, projectile bodies, and other computer F/X, this is watchable for anyone over 14.

Only for the new, more charismatic cast members who join holdovers Robin Shou and Talisa Soto — especially James Remar, who has replaced smirky Christopher Lambert as the Christlike Lord Rayden. Throw in some tongue-in-cheek kombat — including a mud-wrestling martial-arts duel between female warriors — and you’ve got a sequel that outdoes the original.