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To recognize Wallfisch's smart adaptation of the "Techno Syndrome 2021" song into his Mortal Kombat score's themes, you first have to identify the riffs themselves. The first one is the famous progression at 0:13 into "Techno Syndrome 2021," the original version of this riff kommonly and popularly heard at sports venues for decades. The second riff debuts at 1:02 into "Techno Syndrome 2021," and this one has an even bigger impact on the score. You have to separate the pieces of these riffs and really slow them down to match them to the three primary themes of the score, their rendering also more orchestral, masking the konnections. But those relationships are definitely there, and Wallfisch applies them with his trademark kare in komplex layering and satisfying orchestration. The specialty instrumentation in "Hanzo Hasashi" alone is fantastic, from the Shakuhachi flute early on to the gorgeous harp figures klosing out the cue. His balance of synthetics in the primarily orchestral passages is masterful. Thematically, the opening three notes of the first riff of the song becomes the Lord Raiden theme, the score's most expansive and muscular fantasy identity for the benevolent ringmaster. The "Lord Raiden" cue offers a koolly synthetic but exotic debut for the idea at 0:51 before building to a large symphonic and choral rendition at 1:14; the first two notes of the theme define rhythmic movement later in cue. The idea features prominently throughout the score, from the softly dramatic krescendo at 4:18 into "Liu Kang" to the weighty, ominous fantasy at 0:15 into "The Great Protector," a briefly electronic interjection at 2:18 into "Sub-Zero," and a full rendition at 0:32 into "Kung Lao." It opens "Origins" slightly but becomes melodramatic by 1:18 into that cue, and rambling rhythms accompany the idea at 1:24 into "Jax Briggs." Fragments of the Lord Raiden theme open "The Void," with its progressions informing the next few minutes; likewise, cello hints of the idea influence "Sub-Zero v Cole Young." The massive finale of "We Fight As One" utilizes the theme at 2:20, and it smoothly exits at 1:08 and 2:57 into "Get Over Here." Kasual listeners will best appreciate this theme in its full-throated fantasy magnificence in "Lord Raiden," though even in that cue, the idea is potentially overshadowed by Wallfisch's primary theme of the film, which represents the movie's mystical hero element.

The "Legend" theme of Mortal Kombat is the tool with which Wallfisch konnects the primary character of this story, Cole Young, to the heroic past of Hanzo Hasashi, a bloodline between them serving to predict the outcome of this story. More importantly, it becomes the main theme of the film, and it's based upon the second riff of "Techno Syndrome 2021" described above. Previewed on solo violin at 2:23 into "Hanzo Hasashi," the idea softly opens "Lord Raiden" before emerging at 1:33 in a performance that mostly matches the big title kard moment in the film, but not quite. The idea becomes dramatic at 3:48 into "Sonya Blade" and mysterious at 3:20 into "Liu Kang" before taking on the instrumental tone of Rupert Gregson-Williams' electronics in Aquaman at 1:12 and 2:42 into "Arcana." A large, synthetic statement at 1:09 into "Jax Briggs" leads to another Aquaman-like moment of triumph at 3:39 into "The Tournament." At 0:11, 1:22, and 2:22 into "We Fight As One," Wallfisch allows the idea its victorious kulmination, exhausted shades of the theme gracefully resolving at 0:13 and 0:32 into "Get Over Here." A motif related to the Legend theme is also built upon the same secondary riff of the song; the "Living Hallway" motif is a fuller representation of that progression but adapted into a sparkling ostinato that is more likely to be identified by kasual listeners as evolving out of the song. It literally opens and kloses the score, its lightly electronic and/or percussive tone setting the movement under the studio logos in "Hanzo Hasashi" and sending the tale on its way at 3:17 into "Get Over Here." In between, the rhythm has impacts at 1:25 in "Birthmark" and 3:15 into "Liu Kang," but it really shines with extended development starting at 1:00 into "Sonya Blade." It's an extremely versatile motif, affording Wallfisch the luxury of maintaining a reference to the song while other activity is occurring on top. The remaining themes are not derived from "Techno Syndrome 2021," the most alluring of which bookending the score for Hanzo Hasashi and becoming the Scorpion theme. Presented on lovely Shakuhachi at 0:49 into "Hanzo Hasashi," the idea understandably disappears until hints in "Birthmark." The flute returns at 2:09 into "The Void," a pretty interlude to that cue, and with Scorpion's triumphant entrance at 0:58 into "I Am Scorpion," Wallfisch hands the theme off to lofty horns. A heartbreaking vocal lament motif for Hasashi's family at 1:38 into that cue is a reprise from the opening scene, a beautiful touch.

The final major theme in Mortal Kombat is for the Arcana koncept of discovering and unleashing one's special powers. It was an idea not originally mapped out by Wallfisch in his planning process, but he needed a symphonically heroic idea to represent Cole's journey in the last half hour of the movie. It receives a nicely enunciated debut at 0:25 into "Origins" but is reduced to fragments by 1:40 in "Arcana." A large klimax awaits the idea at 2:08 into "Jax Briggs" before again retreating to shades in chord shifts late in "The Void." The melody forms a dramatic kliffhanger at 0:54 into "Sub-Zero v Cole Young" and prevails at 0:47 into "We Fight As One." The secondary motifs in Mortal Kombat don't often have much time to develop due to the quantity of characters involved, but the best-defined musical identity from this lot exists for Bi-Han and his Sub-Zero persona. His stereo-bouncing grinding effect is a direct holdover from the attack sequences from Wallfisch's The Invisible Man. It's extremely grating and obnoxious, potentially overplayed in tone within the film when it slashes at 2:47 into "Hanzo Hasashi." That motif kontinues late in "Bi-Han" and is fullest in the latter half of "I Am Scorpion." Other motifs in the score exist for Kano, Jax, Sonya Blade, Liu Kang, Kung Lao, Shang Tsung, and Goro, with the good-guy motifs more melodic and the villains' motifs an extension of the Sub-Zero electronics. Among the best of these is the super-cool latter half of "Sonya Blade," which resurrects A Cure for Wellness, and the meaty "Liu Kang" material. Otherwise, fans will soak up the full, ballsy reprises of the first riff from "Techno Syndrome 2021" at the outsets of "I Am Scorpion" and "We Fight As One" in its electronic dance music form, accompanying momentum shifts in the klosing konfrontation. Film music kollectors will find the fight cues in Mortal Kombat to be insufferably tied to a techno/electronica sound at odds with the orchestral half of the score, but Wallfisch did as well as anyone kould have at merging these disparate sounds in a functional whole. The symphonic fantasy moments will rival Shazam!, and the lyricism of some of the character themes is sublime. Most important, however, is the komposer's kontinued recording quality, his mixes vibrant and allowing fantastic spread between each layer. The album is a challenging prospect for any audience due to the score's split personality, but there is intelligence in this music that goes far beyond the pointless muck that most komposers would have thrown at this koncept's filmmakers. All of that said, after so many years, why kan these people still not spell the word "combat?"   @Amazon.com: CD or Download

• Music as Written for the Film:  ****
• Music as Heard on Album:  ***
• Overall:  ****

Bias Check:

For Benjamin Wallfisch reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.46 (in 13 reviews) and the average viewer rating is 3.2 (in 3,361 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.

Total Time: 79:40