About time I did another First Impressions blog right? Yeah, I have been way behind on these and I do apologize, so to kick things off (Heh heh), let's look at the latest in the long line of Mortal Kombat pieces that are not main series fighting games. Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion's Revenge.
Okay so, first things first I am, kind of a fan of Mortal Kombat. I haven't really played very many of the games rather than Deception, I'm not really good at fighting games to start with, but I do love the lore and characters of the series, and of course the fatalities, but that's a given. I've been on a bit of a Mortal Kombat kick recently, so I figure, why not satisfy my blood lust with the new movie? Bonus for me is that this movie is animated so it won't look as bad as Annihilation did.
So, let's get that out of the way then, the animation is spectacular in this movie. It is very anime inspired, but it's hard to find an animated product that isn't anime inspired in some way now, it's either anime or comics that are trying to be emulated, but I digress. The animation was really good in showing off the pure carnage of the action. You can almost feel the weight and force of each punch, each kick and each body part being ripped off. They also included the X-Rays from the recent games which, in the games I'm kind of on the fence about, but in this movie, it was perfect. I think a part of it is that, the X-Rays in the recent games just look like they slow down the fighting, but I could be wrong since, again, only really played Deception, but since this is a movie, and not an interactive media like a video game, it can actually serves its purpose of emphasizing each blow much better.
So what about the plot? Well, it's kind of a retelling / retcon / complete overhaul of the first video game. A bunch of champions are brought to an island to fight in a tournament that will determine the fate of the Earthrealm, but their are a few things different. First, they changed who killed Scorpion, in the video games it was clear that Sub-Zero, Bi-Han in the first game, killed Scorpion, and that was confirmed in the spin-off Mythologies. I guess it was changed to better fit the narrative, but it isn't too big a deal. Jax also looses his arms in this movie, even though in the games he didn't have his robotic arms until Mortal Kombat III, but I don't think anyone is really going to care.
I don't think the changes are too major, I mean, the games themselves are diving into alternate timelines and the main boss is named Kronika, you know, Chronos, so this is really not that much.
I will say, as someone who knows a lot about the games, I did fanboy a little at the minor cameos they slipped in. My favourite was Nitara, she was only playable in two games, I really wish they'd do more with her, but I digress. Seeing characters that could have been Baraka and Motaro (Though probably weren't) was also really cool, and Kitana, she was just great, I hope they do another movie and really flesh out her character, they obviously set up a relationship between her and Liu Kang... yes obviously it was from the games, but still.
Actually, one random side note, but the minute I saw Shao Kahn I knew I wanted a sequel, I didn't care if this movie sucked, but I wanted a sequel to see more Shao Kahn.
On that note, this movie kicked ass, it isn't going to really wow anyone who is going in expecting something deep and philosophical, not that there aren't elements of that here, but it's more of a bloody action flick. If you're a fan of Mortal Kombat, you're going to get a kick out of this movie. If you want a satisfying action flick, you're going to get it, and if you want a good movie, I think you'll find it. This movie was entertaining and highly satisfactory, a solid recommendation from me.
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