Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion’s Revenge 4K/Blu Ray Review (Warner Bros)
Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion’s Revenge is a 2020 direct-to-video adult animated film directed by Ethan Spaulding (Scooby-Doo: Return to Zombie Island, Justice League: Throne of Atlantis, Batman: Assault on Arkham, & Son of Batman). It’s based on the video game franchise & it’s a loose remake of the 1995 film. It was written by Jeremy Adams (Supernatural, Justice League Action, Scooby-Doo: Return to Zombie Island, & Teen Titans Go! Vs. Teen Titans). It was produced by co-creator Ed Boon (The Mortal Kombat franchise & video games), James Krieg (Justice League Dark: Apokolips War, Superman: Red Son, Batman: Hush, & Wonder Woman: Bloodlines), & Sam Register (Constantine: City of Demons, Justice League Dark, Batman vs Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay, & Batman: The Killing Joke). Believe it or not, it’s the very first Mortal Kombat film to be Rated R. A sequel to this is already in the works & a live action reboot for Mortal Kombat is in development!!!!
In Japan, Shirai Ryu grandmaster Hanzo Hasashi (played by: Patrick Seitz from ThunderCats Roar, Justice League Action, Mega Man Star Force, & Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe) & his young son Satoshi (played by: Grey Griffin from Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox, Batman: Gotham by Gaslight, Bumblebee, & Batman: Year One) are ambushed on their way home by several ninjas from the rival Lin Kuei clan. Hanzo kills them all after discovering that the Lin Kuei have slaughtered the rest of the Shirai Ryu including his wife Harumi. The Lin Kuei’s Grandmaster Sub-Zero (played by: Steve Blum from Critters Attack!, Young Justice, Mortal Kombat 11, & Transformers Prime) appears, uses his freezing abilities to restrain Hanzo in ice & then murders Satoshi. He then impales Hanzo through the neck with an icicle that kills him. Deep below in the depths of the Netherrealm, Hanzo is mysteriously resurrected & meets with the sorcerer Quan Chi (played by: Darin De Paul from Miami Vice, Ice Age, Robots, & The Phantom of the Opera) who persuades Hanzo to fight for him in the Mortal Kombat tournament so that he can exact his revenge on Sub-Zero. Hanzo agrees & calls himself Scorpion. The thunder god Raiden (played by: Dave B. Mitchell from Mortal Kombat 11, Peter Rabbit, Castlevania, & Gormiti) & the Shaolin monk Liu Kang (played by: Jordan Rodrigues from The Fosters, L.A.’s Finest, Camp, & Home and Away) make preparations to defend Earthrealm by participating in the Mortal Kombat tournament hosted by the aging warlock Shang Tsung (played by: Artt Butler from Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Her, & Star vs. the Forces of Evil).
The tournament’s victor will battle Tsung to decide the fate of Earthrealm. The pair are accompanied by out-of-work Hollywood actor Johnny Cage (played by: Joel McHale from Community, The X-Files, Ted, & Stargirl) & Special Forces agent Sonya Blade (played by: Jennifer Carpenter from Dexter, Dragged Across Concrete, Batman: Gotham by Gaslight, & Quarantine) with both having their own reasons for participating: Sonya is in pursuit of Black Dragon crime syndicate leader Kano (played by: Robin Atkin Downes from DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, The Flash, Suicide Squad, & Batman: Bad Blood) & Johnny believes that he is participating in a film project. Johnny, Liu & Sonya witness Sonya’s partner Jackson “Jax” Briggs (played by: Ike Amadi from Trollhunters: Tales of Arcadia, Electric City, & Mortal Kombat 11 being grievously injured by the tournament’s champion Goro (played by: Kevin Michael Richardson from Masters of the Universe: Revelation, The Simpsons, Family Guy, & Young Justice) until Raiden intervenes. Johnny barely claims victory over Baraka. Sonya successfully defeats Reptile. Liu fights & beats Kitana (played by: Grey Griffin from DC Super Hero Girls, Scooby-Doo and Guess Who?, Scooby-Doo! and the Curse of the 13th Ghost, & Batman Ninja). Each competitor is closer to getting their revenge on their enemies & achieving their goals. Will they have to kill each other to win it all? Nothing is going as planned so Shang Tsung has to answer to the angry Shao Kahn (played by: Fred Tatasciore from Scoob!, Batman Ninja, Mortal Kombat X, & Power Rangers) for these shocking results. Who will prove themselves as the best while fighting to the death????
Warner Bros has been killing it lately with these direct to video animated releases, Thanks to the popular DC Comics adaptations that were actually Rated R, they could take Mortal Kombat to the next level. Mortal Kombat is one of my all time favorite video game franchises & I grew up on it. When I was younger, I was already a huge fan of Big Trouble in Little China & when this new game came out with characters that resembled roles from that film I was instantly hooked on it! I couldn’t believe how violent & brutal they were back then especially with the fatalities. Unfortunately, it took until now to actually get a feature from that universe that wasn’t watered down like all the other previous efforts. Annihilation was a complete mess & Conquest was hit or miss. I didn’t even bother with the other animated film. Don’t get me wrong, I actually really enjoyed the first film despite it’s rating & I thought the somewhat recent Mortal Kombat mini-series Legacy was going in the right direction finally but Scorpion’s Revenge was perfect! It’s exactly what MK fans have been waiting for since 1995 & it does the MK universe justice without compromising for a bigger release. It has foul language with some hilarious dialogue, bloody action, & creative deaths without holding back at all. It manages to bring most of the major characters for this project which includes Baraka, Reptile, & Kitana plus some easter eggs/references to a few others besides the leads in this. It actually had a few known actors doing the vocal work like Jennifer Carpenter & Joel McHale but I did respect the fact that they used a few from the actual video games which made it all feel more natural when it comes to the series. The script knew exactly what it was doing here. It had everything that you would expect & want for this type of feature. Funny one liners, full of homage with winks from the past, great fights, & gruesome outcomes. This the best animated feature that I’ve seen or reviewed in a long time, HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!!
Let’s talk about the high definition presentation from Warner Bros! This 2160p (1.78:1) transfer with HDR10 looks stunning in 4K & the world of Mortal Kombat has never looked better when it comes to the visuals. For the few extra bucks, this version is definitely worth getting over the standard blu ray or outdated DVD. Each character has their own little universe here with their intros & specific fighting locations. It has a few audio options which includes English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, French: Dolby Digital 5.1, & Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1 on this UHD disc. As expected, this one is loud & hits hard in your speakers. All the dialogue is very clean, the music blasts through the sound system, & the battles roar as they reach a bloody result. It also has English SDH, French, & Spanish subtitles.
Let’s discuss the special features from Warner Bros! “Audio Commentary” with producer Rick Morales & writer Jeremy Adams. They go over the development of the project. They chat about the opening & logo for it. They talk about the visuals, Mortal Kombat in general including the previous films, the cast, giving the characters more of a background, their favorite scenes, & the violence. They seem to be having fun here plus it has lots of information about the feature. The rest of the bonus material is located on the blu ray. “From Epic Game to Extreme Animation” is almost 5 minutes. It has interviews with co-creator Ed Boon, writer Jeremy Adams, director Ethan Spaulding, producer Rick Morales, & senior artist Tony Goskie. It has clips from a few of the more recent games. They chat about wanting to make it fit the games but being more cinematic in their shots. They go over story & how important it is to Mortal Kombat. They bring up the look of the battles in Scorpion’s Revenge. “The Weapons, Wardrobe and World of Mortal Kombat Legends” is a little over 7 minutes. It has interviews with co-creator Ed Boon, writer Jeremy Adams, director Ethan Spaulding, producer Rick Morales, prop designer Cary Lockwood, background painter Tim Szabo, background designer Hakjoon Kang, & senior artist Tony Goskie.
It goes over the costumes & look of some of the main characters. They highlight some of the weapons used for it. They talk about & focus on a variety of locations used for the feature. They chat more about the action & violence from it. “Mortal Kombatants” is almost 5 minutes. It has interviews with some of the participants listed above plus a few new ones like actors Jennifer Carpenter & Joel McHale. They breakdown all the major characters featured in this Mortal Kombat Legends animated film including a few villains that had cameos in this. They go a little over their history & what made them stand out in Mortal Kombat. “The Savage Sound Design of Mortal Kombat Legends” is almost 4 minutes. It has interviews with some of the participants listed above plus a few new ones like Rob McIntyre & DJ Lynch of Sound Rebels Post Production Sound Services. They go over remembering all the sounds & effects from the video games. They chat about how important sound is to Mortal Kombat. They talk about what added & advanced to make Scorpion’s Revenge a better experience. It also includes a slipcover, a digital code, & a blu ray copy of the release. This is already one of my favorites of the year & this is a must own for your collection. There’s an exclusive 4K & blu ray version that comes with a mini Scorpion figure. It’s available everywhere right now, CHECK IT OUT!!!!
