#Legends: Scorpions Revenge and Battle of the Realms were great too

[ritartistside]

I just had a mortal kombat: legends marathon (with my cat lol I have no friends who love mk sadge)

and oh my God, Snow Blind and Cage Match was soooo good.

idk how they have a 37% approved raiting

LIke, Snow Blind I can somewhat understand, the sands of time was probably weird for old school fans (tbh it wasn't for me, I like anything mk lol im cheap like that) and people who don't really know the lore. Also Kenshi being SUPER YOUNG compered to anyone lol

But Cage Match was perfect idk how not many more people liked it.

That animation was cheap as hell tho. Like I personally don't have a problem with visibly cheap animation (also, I hope the artists were treated good and paid well) if I see the heart and soul behind it, and here I think they did a super job with what they had and probably in a very short time frame.

But, like WB animations used to be so gorgeous. For example the animated Suicide Squad movie, just fantasticly animated and also a great story.

So even compering the first mk: legends movie's animation quality to that...there is a difference, but as I said, not a deal breaker for me

Anyway, if you haven't seen the movies, watch them, they are good, idc what people say. They are not ground breaking by anymeans but they are super fun.

[officialotakudome]

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New Post has been published on https://otakudome.com/mortal-kombat-2021-review/

Mortal Kombat (2021) Review

Mortal Kombat is back in live-action with the beginning of a planned franchise of films. Following a slightly altered storyline to the lore new character Cole Young is a descendant of legendary warrior Hanzo Hasashi. Upon coming into contact with an old clan enemy he is forced into the Mortal Kombat tournament with the Earth and his family at stake.

 Mortal Kombat is a 2021 video game film, it is produced by New Line Cinema and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. It is in theaters now and HBO Max until May 23.

Editor’s Note: Near complete to complete spoilers for Mortal Kombat and potential spoilers for the source material may be present in this review.

Mortal Kombat pays respect to it’s deep lore.

Video game movies are making a wild comeback and the latest among them is Mortal Kombat. While the film follows most of the plot of the video game it also inserts additional lore and characters. On the surface this isn’t too much of a problem in of itself. However it more often than not feels like the film chickens out of said originality midway through. 

Historic characters take a backseat to new ones.

THE GOOD: Mortal Kombat opens with the historic war between Scorpion & Sub-Zero’s families in 1400s Japan. Sub-Zero kills Hanzo Hasashi’s wife and son leading to a battle in which the former wins. As Hanzo dies Raiden retrieves his surviving child in an effort to preserve the Hasashi bloodline for the future of Earth realm. The film then cuts to Cole Young, a family man and former MMA World Champion. Now he’s fighting in smaller independent circuits where he routinely loses. After his latest fight Jax introduces himself to Cole questioning his decision to fight in underground MMA scenes. While out with his family Cole is attacked by a very much alive Sub-Zero. Who has become much stronger since we last saw him. 

Jax saves Cole and his wife & daughter and informs him of the truth of the Dragon imagery on his chest. He allows Cole and his family to escape while telling them to find Sonya Blade who has more details. As Cole & his family leave Jax fights Sub-Zero, but is easily beaten to near death with his arms severed. Cole sends his family off to a cabin as he meets Sonya. Sonya who has captured Kano (a black market criminal for hire) reveals to Cole that the symbol is an invitation to Mortal Kombat a deadly tournament with worlds at stake. She also states that Kano earned his invitation by luck killing the previous invitee. The three are attacked by Syzoth, but Kano kills him with Cole and Sonya’s help.

The trio travel to Raiden’s temple where Liu Kang awaits. He explains that the Mortal Kombat is an ancient tournament where control over worlds were put on the line. With each world having a team of Champions defending them. He introduces them to Kung Lao who like Liu is also an Earth realm Champion. Liu Kang tells the others that they need to train to unlock their unique power which will aide Earth realm. Sonya and Cole are reunited with Jax who’s healing from his injuries. During dinner a hostile Kano unlocks his power after being egged on by Kung Lao. 

Raiden expresses doubt for the Champions being successful and Cole who’s worried for his family gets sent home. Returning to the cabin his family was held up in he’s suddenly attacked by Goro one of Outrealm’s Champions. Meanwhile, Shang Tsung the leader of Outrealm arrives at Raiden’s temple with several of his Champions. Including Sub-Zero, Milenna, Nitara, Reiko, and Kabal. Kano betrays Earth realm joining Outrealm and fights Sonya. She & Jax unlock their powers during battle with the former defeating Kano. Kung Lao kills Nitara with his hidden blade hat and Cole after unlocking his power kills Goro returning to the temple. Raiden reveals that Cole is a descendant of the Hasashi family angering Tsung & Sub-Zero. 

Kung Lao sacrifices himself to save Cole as Raiden teleports Earth’s Champions to a safe zone. Cole suggests a plan in which Outrealm and Earth have a pre-tournament. Outrealm’s Champions are killed and Cole & Sub-Zero face each other at the MMA gym which Sub-Zero has incased in frost including his kidnapped family. Cole’s blood resurrects Hasashi who now goes by the moniker of Scorpion & they work together to defeat and kill Sub-Zero. Scorpion leaves telling Cole to keep their bloodline safe. Shang Tsung vows revenge taking the corpses of his warriors back to Outrealm. Raiden states that he is gathering more Champions for Earth and tasks Cole with finding Hollywood actor Johnny Cage. 

Josh Lawson’s Kano is a scene stealer & it’s one of the film’s biggest issues.

The action of Mortal Kombat is some of the coolest you’ll see this. I may be reaching a bit, but there were times when the normal hand-to-hand combat reminded me of some of the fights in films like The Raid. I didn’t mind Cole’s character it made sense for the movie’s direction. Cole being an MMA expert was a nice modern touch up for the martial arts aspect of the franchise. The special effects were excellently done too. You know how these lower budgeted type of films tend to have CGI that looks noticeably like CGI (aka bad)? Even at a budget of $50 Million, of which I can only imagine went to the CG I never really saw any of it that just looked awful or wonky. Except for maybe a single instance with Syzoth. It’d have been easier to just use a humanoid ninja version of Syzoth honestly. 

The story is fine, I like the idea of the unique powers having a backstory instead of just existing. That’s a neat layer that adds some sense into the world. Granted, it’s not necessary to do so, but the fact that they did it is kind of appreciated. And yes Kano ruled in this movie. His quips and jokes were almost always on. I do feel bad for most of the cast who felt like they were playing catch up with Lawson’s energy. I also have to commend the writers for going out of their way to feature Scorpion & Sub-Zero’s backstories. They were spread across several games and it was done fairly well here for a two hour film. 

All the Mortal Kombat gore you can handle and then some.

THE BAD: Mortal Kombat some some good ideas, but it seems the movie loses confidence in itself quit a bit. For example, I mentioned earlier that I like Cole in the sense that him existing doesn’t bother me. However, Cole’s character direction kind of falls flat. Like him being there is cool, but there’s literally no reason why his role couldn’t have been given to Scorpion or Johnny Cage like in the original film. The former probably would have made for a much better movie honestly. Lawson as mentioned is awesome here, but it gets to the point where he completely outclasses the rest of the cast. And it really makes them look bad and dry. I also feel I have to say this respectfully as a fan of the source. I don’t like the idea of turning Liu Kang and Kung Lao who are arguably the main characters of the first handful of the games background characters. They could have given Jax’s role of informing Cole about the legend of Mortal Kombat to Liu, and they oddly do in the second act. It was also weird for the film to be called Mortal Kombat, but not feature the actual tournament. They do some makeshift pseudo-tournament. 

Mortal Kombat is a decent video game movie that still has time to be a great one.

OBERALL THOUGHTS: While on the surface Mortal Kombat is probably what you’d expect from most video game films there is a lot to like about it. It follows the story closely enough even with the original direction effecting it. The action, fighting, and special effects are strong and well done. Unfortunately, the film suffers from unbalanced character direction and the impact said original story has on the future of this reboot’s franchise intentions. If the issues can be looked on in earnest I think Mortal Kombat has a genuine shot of being a good video game movie franchise. And I say that, because we’re undoubtedly getting at least one sequel. Otaku Dome gives Mortal Kombat a 70 out of 100.

[jp-hunsecker]

Like 2020’s Scorpion Revenge, Mortal Kombat Legends: Snow Blind is an unflinchingly violent, uncompromisingly brutal, traditionally animated little romp. Unlike Scorpion’s Revenge, though, Snow Blind — a western-flavored samurai tale (traditionally, it’s the other way around) complete with a six-fingered (pointer, middle, and thumb in each hand) blind swordsman (he doesn’t start out, mind you, either blind or six-fingered) whose face has quick-healing powers (it’s either that or lazy animators) — deviates enough (that is to say, quite a bit) from the MK formula to sustain viewer interest beyond the limb-ripping, skull-crushing splitting action. It’s also supremely silly — a character says “your souls are mine!” to what already is a whirlwind of souls (does he mean the souls’ souls?), and the hero’s training is equal parts Star Wars, Karate Kid, and Rocky (complete with the Chasing of the Chicken) — , but altogether a successful reinvention of the Mortal Kombat mythos.

Mortal Kombat Legends: Snow Blind Review - IGN Mortal Kombat Legends: Snow Blind is a movie that only die-hard Mortal Kombat fans are likely to appreciate. It's…www.ign.com

“But where Battle of the Realms presented itself as a straightforward battle royale between some of Mortal Kombat’s titans, Snow Blind feels like more of a Mad Max-styled post-apocalyptic thriller than an extension of a richly detailed video game universe.”

Like I mentioned in the overview, distancing itself from the video game is the best possible choice for this movie — and the wisest, considering that every MK film that follows the game’s blueprint has been an utter failure. Also, if you want “a straightforward battle royale between some of Mortal Kombat’s titans,” why not just play the damn video game? Overall, this review is contradictory in that it decries the movie for straying from the MK path while claiming that it “won’t resonate with audiences that aren’t die-hard fans,” when at least in my case it was the other way around.

REVIEW: Mortal Kombat Legends: Snow Blind Delivers a More Intimate Martial Arts Adventure A bold vision of the Mortal Kombat franchise began with 2020's Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion's Revenge, an animated…www.cbr.com

“For those looking for the Mortal Kombat Legends series to scale back down to a more manageable story, Snow Blind absolutely delivers without compromising what makes the franchise great.”

I wasn’t like, actively looking for that in particular, but since I found myself watching the film, I’m glad that’s the way they went.

Mortal Kombat Legends: Snow Blind (2022) Review - Voices From The Balcony Mortal Kombat Legends: Snow Blind, is the third and latest installment of the Warner Bros. animated franchise following…www.voicesfromthebalcony.com

“Snow Blind unfortunately does have a cheap look to it in many scenes.”

Be that as it may, at least it’s not computer animation (which looks cheap even when it isn’t).

“If you don’t mind the occasional lapses in quality and a script that feels a bit too much like a generic post-apocalyptic thriller rather than a Mortal Kombat film at times, then there’s plenty of over-the-top fun to be had here. Franchise purists however may find it all a bit disappointing though.”

See, that’s more in line with the general impression this film makes. And again, not only do I not mind “a script that feels a bit too much like a generic post-apocalyptic thriller rather than a Mortal Kombat film,” but I believe that’s the movie’s main strength.

'Mortal Kombat Legends: Snow Blind' Review: Action-Packed and Refreshing Directed and produced by Rick Morales, the 2022's 'Mortal Kombat Legends: Snow Blind' takes place in the…fictionhorizon.com

“Like in video games, Shao Kahn [Sir Not-Appearing-in-this-Film] is nearly immortal and has defiled death multiple times.”

I knew there were necromancers in MK, but I didn’t know there were also necrophiles (I guess they meant to write ‘defied death’). Typos aside, I’m glad they bring up that “there are no tournaments,” as a result of which “The characters themselves push the plot forward.”

“Although the movie had some beige tones, it is redeemed by the fight scenes being full of life.”

Or, in this case, full of death (as it should be).

Review: Mortal Kombat Legends: Snow Blind - Bubbleblabber With Earthrealm now an apocalyptic wasteland, the greedy and power-mad, half-cyborg overlord King Kano (David Wenham)…www.bubbleblabber.com

“Predictably in stories like this, it plays into the typical relationship dynamics of Kuai Liang and Kenshi as master & student with Kuai teaching Kenshi to rely on his four remaining senses.”

And, later on, his six remaining fingers.

“ … the by-the-numbers training montage with Kenshi felt cliche at times.”

Yup, that’s pretty much what ‘by-the-numbers’ means.

“Overall, if you have already sat through the first two Mortal Kombat Legends movies, then go ahead and check this one out.”

Well, that’s encouraging.