Hello everyone I'm Jack Red, I recently seen through HBO Max thanks to my brother. Two more recent Mortal Kombat movies. I will start the review with Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion's Revenge since it came out first also because Scorpion is my favorite MK character. I will say this right off the bat, I absolutely love both these movies.
1. Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion's Revenge (2020)
This is technically the second animated Mortal Kombat movie but third overall because of the cartoon show. This quickly blows both Mortal Kombat: The Journey Begins & Defenders of the Realm away. For starters, the animation alone is way better. They didn't hold back on the amount of violence either. I felt every character was much better represented.
The movie is sorta like what they attempted many years ago with the game Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero. Both their concepts centers on a popular MK character's origin stories. I can safely say this is way better than that horrible game. The voice acting is good enough to get pass. The logo surprise was one of my favorite things about the movie.
This follows Scorpion's death that led to him eventually getting even with his family's murder. This plot twist was from the games of course. Obviously, the tournament wasn't a major part of Scorpion's story. Yeah he won a few matches as well as stolen a victory in another match he wasn't even a fighter in. One of the sickest kills in the entire movie.
I do liked how they went about parts of the tournament we do get to see. It's just not as fun to watch as the original 1995 movie. I'm not saying they're boring because they aren't. You just want have such moments like Cage punching Goro in the balls lol. Oh come on you knew that was coming. I am also not saying they play it safe because this movie clearly didn't.
I absolutely loved how menacing Netherrealm looked as well. Just notice I'm saying a handful of stuff that happens since it's not that old of a movie. Honestly, I would rewatch this movie again. We needed another decent MK movie after the abomination that was Mortal Kombat: Annihilation. One particular character I may have to reference again is mostly a cameo here.
I felt every character looked great for this. I was very happy how this movie played out from the beginning. This is how you do a proper animated take on the concept. Mortal Kombat is one of the biggest game franchises in the world. I do recommend this movie especially if you love Scorpion as much as I do.
2. Mortal Kombat (2021)
Alright you waited long enough let's get to it. Mortal Kombat is more of it's own unique take on the concept. Due to a major twist late into the movie, a lot of people simply don't like it as much as the 1995 movie. Oh trust me there's a few other reasons including a particular character. But end of the day, I respected both those movies for giving us a different take on the same concept.
Honestly, they did a decent job with some characters while characters doesn't have much going for them other than a few moments that's it. I won't fully spoil every character that appears in this. Simply because that's very rude to anyone who really wants to see this movie. I will tell you a handful of them did surprise me to even be in the movie.
If you seen some of the memes, Nitara is in the movie. Great how did she get in both recent MK movies is beyond me. But she has more rememberable scenes this time around. I do like most of the cast in this movie especially Kano. Oh you also knew this was coming. Out of respect for the actor who passed away from the 1995 movie's take of the character.
I do respect both actor's portrayal of the character. I ended up preferring the newer one a lot more. He does steal the show with some of the funniest lines ever in anything MK. Like season 2 of Mortal Kombat: Legacy, they do bring back that concept how they're able to do their powers. But they also added another concept I quickly became a fan of.
I won't spoil that but it will make a lot more sense than well you're chosen lol. They added a new character Cole whose essentially this movie's Shujinko. Shujinko was an attempt by the developers to giving us a replacement for Liu Kang who was the main hero of the series. Not to be rude to the actor who plays Liu Kang in this movie, if you seen the trailers you already knew he's in the movie.
I kinda felt Robin Shou who played the character in two movies was much more what I expected here. I felt most of the cast does a great job representing their characters well. I kinda felt a handful of them was slightly done better in season 1 of Mortal Kombat: Legacy. Yes, there's a couple fatalities again I won't spoil which ones.
I am so happy we got fan service with that. Scorpion was done beautifully in this movie. He came off more menacing than I expected. Considering the internet already spoiled the big surprise. I guess I'll talk a little on that. Most of the movie was before the actual tournament. Which means the next movie is the tournament.
This by itself turn a lot of people off. But you got to consider stuff like how Outworld tries to cheat. Also they didn't officially start the tournament but rather getting ready for it. Therefore, this would give the writers more room in the sequel to work with. Personally, I became fine with this because a couple takes on the concept does start fully with a tournament.
You usually don't get to see the matches before the actual tournament. So it was interesting, we got to see that to a degree here. Also, I am glad they aren't going to rush in the tournament to try making people happy. When in truth, it could've ruined the movie itself if they done so. Not to mention, a lot of characters died in this movie.
Which likely angered some people who were huge fan of those characters as well. Now knowing they might not return or maybe in a way they didn't expect. Honestly, it's just a movie don't take that personally people. This movie does stay very true to the mythology this franchise was built on. They made it clear, they don't want to rush something unique like this.
I do understand why some people prefer the 1995 movie over this. In terms of Sonya Blade, I kinda agree slightly the original actress. Technically the replacement of the original actress did nail parts of the character a bit better. But I do respect both their performances over the actress in Annihilation, that's not Sonya!!!
Which is technically worse than the actress from Defenders of the Realm show & The Journey Begins. I do agree Goro looks better but I still kinda prefer the 1995 movie Goro more. Again that unexpected low blow by Cage, easily one of the funniest moments of that movie. Most of the fight scenes are well done in my opinion.
This really felt like a true representation of the franchise. I also loved they started with Scorpion early on. Raiden comes off more strict than you would expect. I would say as more of a representation of the newer Raiden character, he does a great job. I still prefer the 1995 movie Raiden a bit more. Yeah he had a few lines that were alright.
Let's be honest, he nailed the character so well. Most actors in other forms of media doesn't even come close to those two actors at all. Yes, they do show Outworld to the degree. I just felt the way they shown it late into the 1995 movie simply stands out a bit more. I didn't say I didn't like it because I do. Honestly, I do prefer the 1995 movie Shang Tsung as well.
In his defense, the new actor does a decent job being the character. It's just difficult to be even mention to that guy's performance or those in MK11's Story Mode for that matter. Obviously I'm talking about the dlc portion of it. Both movies has a great soundtrack, I just felt the 1995 movie especially the theme songs knocks it out the park.
Honestly, I do recommend this movie a lot. Any MK fan needs to drop what they're doing to watch it now. Right now, you can go to a movie theater or get an HBO Max account to watch it. I prefer the later since you can take as many breaks as needed plus you can rewatch it all you want. This movie is well done video game movies wise.
Out of respect however, I do kinda prefer the Sonic movie since it's even more it's own thing. Thus, it can bring in it's own crazy possibilities. I will say this is one of the absolute best I ever seen. I do prefer this over the 1995 movie in a few ways. Even with things I do prefer from that movie more. Regardless, it's way better than both live action Tekken movies, both live action Street Fighter movies and Dead or Alive movie.
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