Mortal Kombat Legends - Series Retrospective

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!