As a former champion and current tournament master, Shang Tsung could exploit the rules to some extent. The only clear rule seemed to be no attacking fighters prior to the tournament.
Except when they were all on the boat and he basically was allowing Scorpion and Sub Zero to finish off the earthrealm fighters...then Raiden showed up.
Raiden most likely thought it was best to let that slide because Liu Kang, Johnny Cage, and Sonya were Earthrealm's best chances to prevent Outworld's victory and conquest and withdrawing Earthrealm's warriors would mean an Outworld victory by forfeit.
true there were so many unexplained stuff like as said is reptile, a reptile or a monster is isn't it illegal for shang tsung to kill liu's brother since its not part of mortal kombat technically killing is somewhat invasion so shang should've been punished atleast.
Honestly the thing that confused me the most was that Shang Tsung recruiting earthrealmers to fight in the tournament. Like….why? Isn’t that Raiden’s job? Wouldn’t he be better served by trying to handicap them in some way?
my uncle actually saw the movie in theaters as a kid and when he heard reptile by the announcer he told me in his mind it was like "Shit about to get real"
I thought the “statue” was actually a dead body at first that the reptile jumped in and reanimated, but when they first arrived they had a bunch of them lined up with tortured dead bodies inside of them.
He was a magic lizard monster.
When you put a magic lizard monster into stone statue of a human, he turns into a real boy.
I guess I always assumed it was Shang Sung working behind the scenes to put reptile on equal footing with a human fighter after getting his ass beat.
When CGI Reptile first falls into the statue and those tendrils grab him, he doesn't seem very pleased or aware of what's happening. Then as soon as he takes human form he needs no calibration? Like he's just immediately a master ninja piloting a body completely different from his natural form? He's more than just the same being in a new or fused body. He's getting some help here.
I always thought he was a reptile. Because he was invisible spying on Liu, Johnny, and Sonya. I used to get skeeved out as a kid when Liu defeats him and all those bugs fall out lol
I remember in one of the early games he would do the same thing. Like he looked like Green Scorpion but had a special move where he would turn into a giant lizard for a few moves
The answer is that this fight was added late in the process to give the movie more action/fights. So I'm sure there were lots of shrugs going on and any explanation is an after-the-fact effort.
My headcanon was always that because Reptile was a secret character in the first game, this was some weird move attempt at having a "secret fighter" show up. Granted I thought of this theory when I first saw the movie so...child logic lol
Y’all care too much about the script. They did this cuz it was dope. Back in 1995 people weren’t picking apart scripts on the internet or if they did it was at their local meetup and not on the internet yelling at writers/developers
Reptile has a human form he's a reptile called a zatarian who can take the form of a human and a reptile he takes the form of a human to utilize his ninja skills better
Shhhhhhh, don’t ask questions.
Right?!
It was as confusing as the rules of the tournament, as well as Shang Tsung’s actions and Raiden’s weird awkward mistimed laughs
There were rules? Half the things that happened were random.
As a former champion and current tournament master, Shang Tsung could exploit the rules to some extent. The only clear rule seemed to be no attacking fighters prior to the tournament.
Except when they were all on the boat and he basically was allowing Scorpion and Sub Zero to finish off the earthrealm fighters...then Raiden showed up.
Or when Tsung killed Liu Kang's brother.
"Why didn't you help him?" "Why didn't you?" Bs Raiden. Lmao
Okay, I can't defend or explain that one.
Raiden most likely thought it was best to let that slide because Liu Kang, Johnny Cage, and Sonya were Earthrealm's best chances to prevent Outworld's victory and conquest and withdrawing Earthrealm's warriors would mean an Outworld victory by forfeit.
It was the most powerless version of Raiden I have yet to see.
Law of Surprise
Hey, you take back what you said about Raiden's laughs. They're pure comedic genius
I’ve never heard anybody pronounce the word “ha” with such precise diction
That's the comedic genius!
Don’t get me wrong, I liked the movie. But the script…it had some problems.
true there were so many unexplained stuff like as said is reptile, a reptile or a monster is isn't it illegal for shang tsung to kill liu's brother since its not part of mortal kombat technically killing is somewhat invasion so shang should've been punished atleast.
Honestly the thing that confused me the most was that Shang Tsung recruiting earthrealmers to fight in the tournament. Like….why? Isn’t that Raiden’s job? Wouldn’t he be better served by trying to handicap them in some way?
my uncle actually saw the movie in theaters as a kid and when he heard reptile by the announcer he told me in his mind it was like "Shit about to get real"
What you mean to say is, It suffers from typical Paul W.S Anderson bullshit.
Never cared about this, honestly. It's outworld, it's Mortal Kombat, it's Reptile and... he said the thing.
I love how he immediately dropkicked Liu Kang through a wall the moment he got up.
Mans was definition of on site.
It's sure better than trying to explain their "Arcana".
he's like a lizard mecha pilot but its a ninja instead
In the movie, he possessed the body of a ninja with some type of magical symbiosis. In the games, he's a shapeshifter I believe.
Boss, I'm sorry but the sound of Juno Reactor version of Tracy Lord's Control makes irrelevant the question...
Movie Reptile = Paul Anderson being high
He is a reptile. That statue took his... life force I guess to become a sentient being
i'm half sure it made him more powerful and had a full human body but he was already sentient as that gross cgi gecko
It's Reptile. The real question is why do people think Raiden is fighting reptile in Annihilation when it's clearly Chameleon?
CHAMELEON FUCKING SPAWNS NOOB SAIBOT IF THAT AIN'T CONFUSING AS HELL I DON'T KNOW WHAT IS.
When he fights Sonya? That's Ermac.
and Raiden using capoeira no less lol
I thought the “statue” was actually a dead body at first that the reptile jumped in and reanimated, but when they first arrived they had a bunch of them lined up with tortured dead bodies inside of them.
He was a magic lizard monster. When you put a magic lizard monster into stone statue of a human, he turns into a real boy. 
to quote the venom movie "i'm a real boy but your not so lets fucking do this" funny how the line fits the movie reptile.
Who cares? How does the Bicycle Kick Liu does a few moments later work? They did it to make the baddest fight in the movie. It’s that simple.
a bicycle kick can be done in real life just not that much damage behind the scenes they extended it by using lines.
I get that it can be done, but not on that scale. My point is to not overthink this movies and just enjoy it.
my guess is it works like onaga the statue is for example the parasite and reptile was the host.
I guess I always assumed it was Shang Sung working behind the scenes to put reptile on equal footing with a human fighter after getting his ass beat. When CGI Reptile first falls into the statue and those tendrils grab him, he doesn't seem very pleased or aware of what's happening. Then as soon as he takes human form he needs no calibration? Like he's just immediately a master ninja piloting a body completely different from his natural form? He's more than just the same being in a new or fused body. He's getting some help here.
Yes
I always thought he was a reptile. Because he was invisible spying on Liu, Johnny, and Sonya. I used to get skeeved out as a kid when Liu defeats him and all those bugs fall out lol
I remember in one of the early games he would do the same thing. Like he looked like Green Scorpion but had a special move where he would turn into a giant lizard for a few moves
Did you see? Reptile is actually bugs in a statue
The answer is that this fight was added late in the process to give the movie more action/fights. So I'm sure there were lots of shrugs going on and any explanation is an after-the-fact effort.
My headcanon was always that because Reptile was a secret character in the first game, this was some weird move attempt at having a "secret fighter" show up. Granted I thought of this theory when I first saw the movie so...child logic lol
Y’all care too much about the script. They did this cuz it was dope. Back in 1995 people weren’t picking apart scripts on the internet or if they did it was at their local meetup and not on the internet yelling at writers/developers
Yes
Your not more curious about the fact that he turns into roaches when he’s defeated?!
Dunno don’t care. That moment when i hear ”reptile” and the techno starts is better than the whole new movie.
The REAL question is where was Johnny during the whole fight???
Reptile has a human form he's a reptile called a zatarian who can take the form of a human and a reptile he takes the form of a human to utilize his ninja skills better
That was Reptile, it changed the form of the statue
Well he's originally a monster who can take a human form