Released: April 2020
Director: Ethan Spaulding
Rated R
Run Time: 80 Minutes
Distributor: Warner Bros. Animation
Genre: Action/Fantasy
Cast(voice):
Jennifer Carpenter: Sonya Blade
Joel McHale: Johnny Cage
Ike Amadi: Jax Briggs
Steve Blum: Bi-Han/Sub-Zero
Patrick Seitz: Hanzo Hasashi/Scorpion
Artt Butler: Shang Tsung
Robin Atkin Downes: Kano
Dave B. Mitchell: Raiden
Jordan Rodrigues: Liu Kang
When Mortal Kombat hit the arcades back in 1992, it sent shock-waves throughout the entire gaming industry. It became a pop culture phenomenon. For those who may not know(unlikely, but I digress), Mortal Kombat is a 2D fighting game featuring digitized actors. It was fantasy-based fighting game about a group of fighters being selected for a tournament which would determine the fate of the world. Mortal Kombat’s main competitor was Street Fighter II. The one real thing that Mortal Kombat had over the other game was….fatalities. When you beat an opponent, you had the option of using a command that would kill the opponent in various ways. It was this particular feature that not only made Mortal Kombat the phenomenon it was, but it also pissed off a lot of people, namely parents and politicians. It led to the creation of the Entertainment Software Ratings Board(ESRB, for short) which would help determine whether or not a particular game was appropriate for kids or not. The level of violence in that original game is NOTHING compared to the likes of Mortal Kombat 11, the latest entry into the fighting game franchise. But over the decades since MK’s initial release, we’ve seen it be translated into comics, movies, books, and TV series. While MK has had its ups and downs in both the gaming and film departments, the popularity of the franchise hasn’t withered at all. In fact, it’s gotten stronger with a new live-action film in production and a new animated feature that was recently released. That animated feature is what I’ll be covering today: Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion’s Revenge.
Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion’s Revenge follows Hanzo Hasashi, a master of the legendary Shirai-Ryu ninja clan as he and his son return home to find his clan massacred by the Lin Kuei, a rival clan of warriors, led by Sub-Zero. After brutally dispatching a large number of the clan’s assailants, Hanzo and his son are killed by Sub-Zero. Hanzo is sent to the mythical Netherworld where he makes a deal with sorcerer Quan-Chi in order to have revenge. Thus, Hanzo is dead and Scorpion is born. Mean-while, thunder god Raiden has recruited Sonya Blade, a special forces soldier in search of a notorious criminal. He has also recruited Liu Kang, a monk of the White Lotus Society and Johnny Cage, a disgraced actor looking to make a come-back. Together, they had to the island of the mysterious Shang Tsung to compete in Mortal Kombat, a tournament that will determine the fate of the world. The world of Mortal Kombat has grown exponentially since the original game’s release in 1992. The lore and the stories in this brutal alternate universe are really quite interesting. Scorpion and Sub-Zero are two of the most recognizable video game characters ever, but it’s Scorpion’s story that is most intriguing. This guy is a tragic character in that not only does he lose his family, but he’s also tricked into servitude because of his need for revenge. While the film takes place during the initial Mortal Kombat tournament, the film’s real focus is on Scorpion and his journey, and it’s a very violent one. Getting to see how and why Scorpion became what he is, is quite compelling.
Adapting Mortal Kombat for something other than a video-game has been….problematic, to say the least. In 1995, we got our first live-action film, which while it was entertaining and relatively faithful to the game in terms of characters and overall story, people weren’t happy with it, because it was a PG-13 movie. Because of that, the violence that the franchise was famous or infamous for, was severely subdued. I didn’t think it was a bad movie at all. In fact, it was, and still remains, one of the best movies based on a video game. The sequel: Mortal Kombat: Annihilation was a complete disaster in nearly every way with bad special effects, horrendous acting and weak fight choreography. Mortal Kombat would also get a live-action TV series with Conquest, which only lasted one season and was to be a prequel to the original film. Scorpion’s Revenge isn’t Mortal Kombat’s first foray into the world of animation. The first one was Mortal Kombat: The Journey Begins which somehow ended up being a hell of a lot worse than Mortal Kombat: Annihilation. There was also a short-lived children’s cartoon called Defenders of the Realm which didn’t last very long, either. Where Scorpion’s Revenge succeeds where all others have failed, is that Revenge truly embraces what Mortal Kombat was all about. This is not a cartoon for children. This is a proper ultra-violent flick that made me wince on more than one occasion. It is SAVAGE. People are eviscerated left and right. Decapitations, disembowelments, and plenty of stabbing action are par for the course here. It doesn’t hold back. In fact, it also embraces what the last couple of games introduced, the X-rays. This is when an opponent is hit so hard that you see the internals of the character get busted up. It’s visceral and the film is all the better for it.
I honestly can’t believe it took them 20 years to do a proper animated Mortal Kombat movie. The artwork is absolutely amazing with some really great character designs. You can clearly tell who is who. Not only that, but the backgrounds are also really slick. The animation is as over-the-top as the concept of the film and it really works. When people get diced(that’s putting it politely), you get to see all the gory details. The action is constant and it rarely slows down. If you’re a fan of Mortal Kombat, you get to see many of your favorite characters here. How many of them will actually survive by the end of the film? Well, you’ll just have to see for yourself. The characters in the film are all unique and fairly well-developed, but it does bring me to one my issues with the film: For a film titled Scorpion’s Revenge, the film shifts the focus away from Scorpion for quite a bit, covering the actual tournament. I would have been okay with it, had the tournament aspect of the film been kept to a minimum. It’s an important part of the lore and it certainly is an important aspect for Scorpion’s story, but his focus was on getting revenge. For the film to deviate from Scorpion for large chunks of the film was kind of unwarranted.
Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion’s Revenge isn’t the greatest film, or even the best animated film that I’ve seen. It definitely has issues, but for me, those issues don’t outweigh the strong elements that the film delivers. It delivers on the action and outside of the opening 7 minutes, it doesn’t take itself seriously. It’s as over-the-top as you would expect from a Mortal Kombat movie. You’ve got some pretty solid voice-acting overall and the animated action is really good. When it comes to recommending this film, that’s another issue that came up. If you know nothing of Mortal Kombat or aren’t a fan, this isn’t for you. This is a film for the fans, first and foremost. A lot of the elements that you see here are only going to be noticed by people who have been playing the game for years, like me. If you ARE a fan of the franchise and animated films, this one is worth checking out.
My Final Recommendation: For fans only. 8/10.