They could have ruined it, I mean have you seen what WB has been pushing out lately?? In my opinion they didn't ruin it, not at all. Was it AMAZING? No, the story felt kinda rushed and "eh" and they made Kano pretty insufferable. But the fighting was fun, the effects were great, there were some pretty badass fatalities that didn't end up in the trailer (something everyone was afraid of) and it's the best thing MK since the OG movie, if you ask me.
I'm glad they took a decent shot at it, I'm glad they didn't try to do too much world building in one movie, though they did bring in a few too many characters from both sides if I'm being honest, had they trimmed the fat just a little, they could have focused on the plot a bit more to flush it out. But overall, this is solid and I really hope it does well because I've been waiting ages for more live action MK, and I don't one it to be a once and done.