Summary SCREENRANT VIDEO OF THE DAY SCROLL TO CONTINUE WITH CONTENT Mortal Kombat had a number of gruesome fatalities lifted straight out of the games, with some outdoing others in terms of faithfulness to the original series and sheer bloody spectacle. Despite being the third of the live-action Mortal Kombat film adaptations to ever be made, 2021's Mortal Kombat was actually the first to secure an "R" rating.
While environmental fatalities have been around in the Mortal Kombat series, none of them have ever involved a lawn gnome statue. While creative, this particular fatality isn't terribly faithful to the games or even especially gory in its own right, being right at home in one of the previous PG-13 Mortal Kombat entries. It's possible that Kano even survived the encounter, allowing him to return in Mortal Kombat 2 with his classic cybernetic eye and face plate.
7 Shang Tsung Swallows Kung Lao's Soul A more esoteric fatality The sorcerer Shang Tsung is one of the most reviled villains in the entire Mortal Kombat franchise, in both the movies and video games. Though technically a human, Shang Tsung has managed to survive for centuries, collecting twisted arcane knowledge of many forbidden arts, including the theft of souls.
Much like Shang Tsung's soul steal, Jax's mighty head clap is a move from the games, though not a fatality. Once again, the clap can be used as a brutality to instantly end the match if Jax catches an opponent at their end of their health bar with it, pulverizing their head just like Reiko in the movie. Jax's head clap is tough to beat in terms of brutal satisfaction, scattering his opponent's brains like confetti.
4 Kano Rips Out Reptile's Heart As classic as a finishing move as the series has Thanks to his non-human blood and guts, Reptile often gets the unfortunate distinction as being a fatality testing dummy, his green blood being less of a censorship issue. 2021's Mortal Kombat film upholds this traditions by having one of the most iconic fatalities from the original games be performed on Reptile courtesy of Kano, following their fight.
The sheer style of this particular fatality gives it high marks on its own, but it deserves even further commendation for its faithfulness to the games. Almost a one-to-one re-creation of his "Face Grind" fatality from Mortal Kombat X, the climax of Kung Lao and Nitara's fight proved that the fight choreographers of Mortal Kombat did their homework.