In April 2021, I published a retrospective on the film
adaptations of one of the most famous video game franchises of all time, Mortal
Kombat (or, as the cool kids will remind you of how it should be announced,
MORTAL KOMBAT!!!!!!!!!), in honor of the then-impending
release of the franchise’s James Wan-produced reboot. Since I was only going to
cover the films and none of the franchise’s TV spinoffs, I decided to add a
bonus review amidst my reviews of the original 1995 Mortal Kombat film
and its infamously terrible 1997 follow-up Mortal Kombat: Annihilation since
I knew that only covering the two films meant that it wouldn’t be that much of
a retrospective (as I’ve said in the past, I feel that my style of
retrospectives works best for a series that has produced at least three
installments). The film in question was an adult-oriented animated spin-off, Mortal
Kombat Legends: Scorpion’s Revenge; since then, Mortal Kombat Legends has
become its own franchise with three subsequent films that were released on an
annual basis, with a fifth installment reportedly in the works but without a
confirmed release date. Thus, with the second installment of the rebooted film
series having recently hit theaters, I’m delving back into the eternal conflict
between the forces of Earthrealm and Outworld by going through the entirety of
the Mortal Kombat Legends series to see how these films stack up to the
franchise’s current live-action endeavors. So once again, it’s time to GET OVER HERE (!) as Rhode Island Movie Corner presents its retrospective on
the Mortal Kombat Legends series.
MORTAL KOMBAT
LEGENDS: SCORPION’S REVENGE (2020)
Let’s start things off by recapping how we got here; yes, I
already covered Scorpion’s Revenge in my previous Mortal Kombat retrospective
back in 2021, but that was back when I was, admittedly, a general newcomer to
the Mortal Kombat franchise. Having now become much more of a fan since
then, I figured that it’d be fun to look at this film again with a much
different perspective. Right as production began on the live-action cinematic
reboot of Mortal Kombat, it was announced that the franchise would also
be getting an animated feature-length spin-off, which was the first time that Mortal
Kombat would be represented in animation since Mortal Kombat: Defenders
of the Realm, a kid-oriented ‘Saturday morning’ cartoon that aired on the
USA Network in 1996. With series co-creator Ed Boon heavily involved as a
creative consultant, the script would be written by Jeremy Adams (writer of
several LEGO and Scooby-Doo projects as well as being a story editor for
the hit CW series Supernatural) and directed by Ethan Spaulding, whose
work in animation has included several of DC’s animated features and several
key episodes of the hit Nickelodeon series Avatar: The Last Airbender,
including the acclaimed Season 2 episode ‘The Tales of Ba Sing Se’. As the
title suggests, the film heavily revolves around the one who is arguably Mortal
Kombat’s most iconic character, Scorpion AKA Hanzo Hasashi of the Shirai
Ryu clan, the undead yellow-clad ninja warrior who, after being killed by the
blue-clad ice-powered ninja Sub-Zero (who also murdered his wife and child) of
the rival Lin Kuei clan, is resurrected by the sorcerer Quan Chi and promptly
embarks on a journey to avenge his family, unknowingly aiding Quan Chi’s
sinister plot to free his master, the mad god Shinnok.
From a visual standpoint, this film does a great job of staying
true to the franchise’s well-established visual identity, with character
designs that feel like they were ripped straight from the games and the
frequent use of X-Ray attacks that have been a part of the games since their
2011 reboot. On that note, after both the 90’s live-action films and the 1996
animated series infamously toned down the franchise’s trademark graphic
violence to appeal to wider audiences, Mortal Kombat Legends gives fans
a far more faithful onscreen interpretation of Mortal Kombat with all
sorts of insanely bloody imagery. Sure, it sometimes comes off as feeling a bit
too repetitive, but it does very much deliver the kind of visceral chaos that MK
fans have come to expect. But if there’s one thing that hinders this film,
it’s that, at the end of the day, its Scorpion’s Revenge subtitle ends
up feeling rather misleading. Along with Scorpion’s revenge plot, the film also
goes through the plot of the original Mortal Kombat game, in which
Raiden, the God of Thunder, recruits the trio of Shaolin monk Liu Kang, Special
Forces agent Sonya Blade, and narcissistic movie star Johnny Cage to represent
Earthrealm in the latest Mortal Kombat tournament. There’s nothing necessarily
wrong with this, per se, as the film handles this part of the story well enough
while being bolstered by some solid voice work from its cast, headlined by the
A-list duo of Jennifer Carpenter as Sonya Blade and Joel McHale as Johnny Cage.
It’s just that, for a film that’s named after the
franchise’s most famous character, it often feels like Scorpion is more of a
supporting character in this story despite his plotline being the most
narratively interesting. As you’ll see throughout this retrospective, I’d argue
that the Mortal Kombat Legends series is truly at its best when it’s
allowed to explore other facets of the franchise rather than just sticking to
its traditional tournament-based narrative. Still, for what it’s worth, Scorpion’s
Revenge stands as a highly respectable starting point for what was soon to
be a major animated film franchise. If you go back to the Mortal Kombat retrospective
that I did in 2021, you’ll notice that my initial reaction to this film was
somewhat muted, with me ultimately giving it a 3.5/5 rating. As I
noted in the intro to this section, a lot of this can be attributed to me not
being that much of a fan of the franchise back in the day. Now that I am, I’m a
lot more appreciative of this film’s undeniably dedicated efforts to be as
faithful an adaptation of Mortal Kombat as it could possibly be.
Sure, it suffers from being a bit too narratively unfocused at times, but in a
time before the release of the 2021 live-action reboot, this was easily the
definitive onscreen adaptation of one of video gaming’s most historic
franchises.
UPDATED Rating:
4/5
MORTAL KOMBAT
LEGENDS: BATTLE OF THE REALMS (2021)
(Quick disclaimer: Apologies
in advance, but due to this film being a direct sequel to Scorpion’s Revenge,
I will have to spoil that film’s ending to start talking about this one.)
At the end of Scorpion’s Revenge, the forces of Earthrealm
successfully defeated sorcerer Shang Tsung and the forces of Outworld in Mortal
Kombat, thus preventing their world from being conquered. Meanwhile, Scorpion,
having learned that Quan Chi was ultimately the one responsible for the death
of his family by posing as Sub-Zero, killed his treacherous master, thus
allowing him to finally find peace. But, just like the games, this was only the
first part of a larger story as our heroes now find themselves facing the wrath
of Shang Tsung’s master, Outworld Emperor Shao Kahn. Threatening an endless war
against Earthrealm, Shao Kahn proposes another Mortal Kombat tournament, held
this time in Outworld, to finish the realms’ eternal conflict once and for all.
Raiden agrees on behalf of Earthrealm, with him even willingly giving up his
godhood to participate in the tournament himself, as Liu Kang, Sonya Blade,
Johnny Cage, and newer recruits such as Sonya’s superior officer Jax Briggs and
Liu Kang’s fellow Shaolin monk Kung Lao now find themselves facing down some of
their toughest opponents yet. Meanwhile, Scorpion finds himself threatened by Quan
Chi’s master, Shinnok, who commands him to find an ancient artifact that would
allow him to destroy the world. In doing so, Scorpion crosses paths with a
vengeful Kuai Liang, the second Lin Kuei warrior to take on the mantle of
Sub-Zero after his older brother, Bi-Han, whom Scorpion had killed in the
previous film believing that he was the one who had killed his family before learning
that he was innocent in the ordeal.
Battle of the Realms is a classic case of your
typical cinematic sequel that brings in new characters, goes all in on
additional bits of worldbuilding, and narratively raises the stakes.
Admittedly, this film is ultimately a bit overcrowded character-wise, with some
fan-favorite characters like Kung Lao not getting that much to do in the grand
scheme of things, but from a narrative standpoint, it does succeed in feeling
far more epic in scale than its predecessor and conveying exactly what’s at
stake for the world should Earthrealm’s champions lose the tournament while
also showing how truly formidable of a pair of villains Shao Kahn and Shinnok
are. Like Scorpion’s Revenge, however, this film also suffers from a
narrative imbalance as it shifts between two separate plotlines; only in this
case, it’s a reversal of what happened in the previous film where, now, Scorpion’s
subplot is the one that feels extraneous when compared to the tournament. The film
also ends in a weird way where the final battle feels somewhat tacked on after what
felt like a relatively conclusive ending to the point where, in the opposite case
of what happened with the live-action adaptation of The Hobbit, it feels
like this story could’ve easily been split into three separate films without
feeling narratively drawn-out. Despite this, however, I would ultimately say
that Battle of the Realms is a superior sequel that successfully expands
upon the solid foundation of Scorpion’s Revenge with even better action
and character beats, despite it still feeling like it’s trying to do too much in
just a single film.
Rating: 4/5
MORTAL KOMBAT
LEGENDS: SNOW BLIND (2022)
With Battle of the Realms effectively serving as a
conclusion to its epic two-parter plotline, the Mortal Kombat Legends series
went on a major narrative detour with its next installment, and as fate would
have it, this change is also represented from a behind-the-scenes perspective. Snow
Blind is, to date, the only Mortal Kombat Legends film not to be
directed by Ethan Spaulding; instead, directorial duties go to the series’
longtime producer, Rick Morales. Like Spaulding, Morales’ background as an
animation director includes plenty of DC projects; most notably, the duology of
2016’s Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders and 2017’s Batman vs. Two
Face, a pair of full-on love letters to the iconic Batman TV series
from the 1960’s right down to them having the likes of Adam West (the second
film being his final film before his passing in 2017), Burt Ward, and Julie
Newmar reprising their roles from the original series. In Snow Blind,
much of Earthrealm has been ravaged by the Mortal Kombat franchise’s version
of the undead, Revenants. As a result, the world has become a post-apocalyptic
wasteland where the few cities that remain are regularly tormented by the
vicious Black Dragon clan led by their king, Kano. In this unforgiving hellscape,
a young warrior named Kenshi Takahashi is one of the few brave souls willing to
fight back against them. But, when a chance encounter with Kano’s advisor,
Shang Tsung, results in him being blinded, left only with a mystical sword
known as ‘Sento’ that can help guide him, it is only by way of the guidance of
an elderly Kuai Liang AKA Sub-Zero that Kenshi can potentially stand a chance
against the powerful forces that threaten them all.
Of all the Mortal Kombat Legends films, Snow Blind
is the best in recognizing the series’ potential to narratively expand the Mortal
Kombat franchise beyond its typical tournament plotlines. Sure, it’s easy
to just simply refer to this film as being what happens when the Mortal
Kombat series decides to do an unofficial crossover with Mad Max: Fury
Road, but at the same time, Snow Blind’s post-apocalyptic setting
allows for some fun visual variants on some of our favorite Mortal Kombat characters
while a key cameo during the film’s action-packed finale and a notable twist
that ties everything back to the games (specifically 2019’s Mortal Kombat 11)
do their job in making it feel like a proper Mortal Kombat story even
with the complete lack of the modern games’ X-Ray fight moves that were so
prevalent in the previous two films. The film also lets lesser-known characters
from the franchise get their chance to shine without having to solely
rely on long-standing fan-favorites. For this installment, notable cast members
include Manny Jacinto of The Good Place and The Acolyte fame as
Kenshi, who has a solid arc of starting out as an arrogant greenhorn who,
partially by way of him being blinded, evolves into a far more noble warrior,
David Wenham (AKA Faramir from Lord of the Rings) getting to have a lot
of fun hamming it up as the utterly psychotic Kano, and Ron Yuan, who voiced Scorpion
in MK11, getting to play Hanzo’s iconic equal Sub-Zero and bringing
plenty of gravitas to the role of an elderly Kuai Liang, the archetypal gruff
yet wise mentor to the film’s protagonist.
There’s only one thing about this film that keeps it from
being a perfect piece of Mortal Kombat media: its animation. After the
first two films were produced by Studio Mir, a South Korean animation studio
who’s done everything from The Legend of Korra to X-Men ’97, Snow
Blind would get another notable behind-the-scenes change as its animation
was done by another South Korean studio, Digital eMation, whose work includes
the likes of numerous Scooby-Doo shows and direct-to-video films and hit
shows like Family Guy and Futurama. While their background work
is genuinely great in how it brings the film’s post-apocalyptic setting to life,
there is something… ‘off’ about their character animation. I can’t quite
explain what this is, whether it’s the characters’ rough outlines or the
brighter color palettes that they sport, but overall, the character animation
in Snow Blind ends up feeling cheaper compared to the previous two films
and it doesn’t visually sync up all that well to the hostile wasteland that these
characters inhabit. Despite this, however, Snow Blind easily stands as
the Mortal Kombat Legends series’ finest installment because it truly delivers
on its potential as a proper franchise spin-off. Sure, spin-offs are something
that Mortal Kombat has infamously struck out on in the past thanks to
notorious duds like Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero and Mortal
Kombat: Special Forces, but a project like Snow Blind proves that it
can work for a franchise like Mortal Kombat because its world and
characters are interesting enough that they can be explored in ways that don’t
have to revolve around a fighting tournament that can effectively determine the
fate of an entire world.
Rating: 4.5/5
MORTAL KOMBAT
LEGENDS: CAGE MATCH (2023)
How would you feel about a Mortal Kombat spin-off
that’s one big unabashed love letter to classic 80’s action flicks? One that’s
defined by its bright neon visuals, a soundtrack full of synth rock tunes, and
by having it follow in the narrative sensibilities of one of the decade’s most
prominent writers, Shane Black, by having it all take place during the
holidays? Well, folks, as crazy as it may sound, everything that I just
mentioned perfectly applies to the final film in today’s retrospective and the
most recent Mortal Kombat Legends film to date, Cage Match, which
saw Ethan Spaulding return to the director’s chair after only serving as a
storyboard artist on Snow Blind. Naturally, as you can guess from the
title, this film revolves around Mortal Kombat’s resident A-lister,
Johnny Cage, with Joel McHale returning to reprise his role from Scorpion’s
Revenge and Battle of the Realms in this ’80s-set prequel that follows
Johnny’s rise to fame in Hollywood. As he works on what is shaping up to be the
breakout hit of his career, Ninja Mime, he learns that his co-star
Jennifer Grey (yes, THAT Jennifer Grey, who does voice herself
here) has gone missing. Aided by his loyal assistant Chuck, Johnny sets out on
a wild journey across the City of Angels to locate his co-star, unknowingly throwing
himself deep into a larger conspiracy plot by a sinister cult to summon their
god, Shinnok, and conquer Earthrealm.
Like Snow Blind, Cage Match works well as a singular
piece within the larger Mortal Kombat world, but unlike Snow Blind,
it’s a far more confined story to the point where, to some, it may not even feel
like a Mortal Kombat film at times, especially given the limited screentime
of some prominent franchise characters. And yet, in this instance, this
admittedly straightforward plotting is not an absolute deal-breaker because this
film is more focused on maintaining a full-on 80’s aesthetic throughout and, to
be perfectly blunt, does so perfectly. You’ve got gloriously over-the-top
action sequences set to energetic rock tunes and an overall visual style that
perfectly represents the excessively neon-soaked aesthetic of the era. Once
again, Cage Match sees the Mortal Kombat Legends series go with a
new animation studio (this time, South Korea’s Studio IAM, notably started by former
members of Studio Mir and responsible for a lot of recent DC Comics shows like Harley
Quinn and Creature Commandos), and after Snow Blind’s
inconsistent animation ended up being its only weak spot, this film’s animation
is a lot more consistent on all fronts. And then, to top it all off, you have
arguably Joel McHale’s best turn as Mortal Kombat’s cocky yet
charismatic action star, with additional strong turns from Jennifer Grey
satirizing herself in some entertaining ways that can’t be delved into here for
spoiler reasons, and one of the last major appearances of beloved comedy icon
Gilbert Gottfried as Johnny’s foul-mouthed manager David Doubldy. In short,
while it’s by no means the best of the Mortal Kombat Legends films, the
reason why Cage Match works as well as it does is because it’s not even
trying to be its series’ best. Instead, it relies solely on its simple yet
satisfying charms to be a pleasantly easygoing 80s-style blockbuster merged
with its source material’s gory yet epic mythos.
Rating: 4/5
This concludes Rhode Island Movie Corner’s retrospective on the Mortal Kombat Legends series. Now, despite what I said in the intro about reports of a potential fifth installment, subtitled The Fall of Edenia, I’ve learned through the research done on this post that, apparently, this was just a fake internet rumor, with several of the series’ creatives confirming that there are currently no plans for future films. As a result, Cage Match is, indeed, the last installment of the Mortal Kombat Legends series. Nevertheless, be sure to sound off in the comments below with your own personal thoughts on these four films… and who knows? Maybe I’ll do a review of the newly released Mortal Kombat 2 to match the review that I did of the 2021 Mortal Kombat film back when it came out. Stay tuned!
