Mortal Kombat Legends:
Scorpion’s Revenge
review by Bobby Blakey
In 1995 the popular video game Mortal Kombat hit theaters bringing all the action and fun to epic life. Since then there have been numerous new takes including a not so great sequel, a pretty cool web series and an all-new film hitting theaters in 2021. Thankfully fans aren’t going to have to wait until then for more martial arts fun as Warner Bros is debuting and all-new original animated feature Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion’s Revenge featuring the voice talent of Joel McHale, Jennifer Carpenter, Steve Blum, Kevin Michael Richardson, Grey Griffin, Fred Tatasciore and more. Could this film due the classic game justice or will it be a fatality?
Scorpion’s Revenge follows the once-in-a-generation tournament between the champions of Outworld and Earthrealm, a competition that will ultimately determine the fate of Earth and all its citizens. Lord Raiden, protector of Earthrealm, must gather the greatest fighters of his realm to defend it from the evil Shang Tsung in the battle to end all battles - Mortal Kombat! I love the original live action Mortal Kombat and even got to do a martial arts demo at a theater to promote the film when it was originally released. Like most I used to also love playing the original arcade game so was pretty excited to see where they were going with this new animated feature.
With Warner Bros churning out the DC Universe pg-13 and R rated features I was hoping this would be along those lines and it was so much more. Right out of the gate it showcases an insane amount of blood and violence that delivers way more than I expected. This movie is all kinds of badass fun. There are so many call backs to the game to keep the integrity of the source material intact while still bringing something fresh to the franchise. As the film movies forward it continues to keep the blood flowing and body parts flying in some great action.
The animation is pretty standard and not bringing anything all that new to the genre, but the full on deep dive into the R rated helps to take it to the next level. I hope this is the start of yet another animated series of films that continue to bring the fights and blood because I am all in. If not we at least have the next live action film coming to go along with it. If you are a fan of the franchise then you need to check this film out.
In addition to the new film this release offers up bonus content including commentary and featurettes on bringing this famed tournament to animated life. Enter the tournament and grab your copy of Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion’s Revenge available now on digital and then on 4K Ultra, Blu-ray and DVD on April 28, 2020 from Warner Bros Home Entertainment.