Mortal Kombat: Legacy Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

Mortal Kombat: Legacy Blu-ray Movie Review

Get over here!

Reviewed by Kenneth Brown November 8, 2011

It never ceases to amaze me when someone with a credit card, an open weekend, a few connections and some cinematic know-how earns the full attention of a major studio, drums up tremendous buzz and support, and pulls off something like Mortal Kombat: Legacy. It doesn't happen very often and it doesn't always work, but when it does, it can be very, very exciting. Legacy isn't perfect -- some of its shorts have proven to be as divisive as they are daring -- and director, man with a dream, and fanboy on a mission Kevin Tancharoen doesn't exactly make an airtight case for resurrecting Mortal Kombat on the big screen. That said, the sheer passion and potential on display in Legacy's nine episodes is, at the very least, intriguing and, if all turns out well, an experiment in project-pitching and studio green-lighting that will pay off big for Tancharoen, fans of the videogame series, and the Mortal Kombat franchise as a whole.

Not exactly a Flame Kiss Fatality, but it'll do...

What began as a self-financed risk (Mortal Kombat: Rebirth) spawned a nine-episode "season" of Machinima.com shorts (Mortal Kombat: Legacy) and, as of September, has officially become a movie-in-the-making (the as yet untitled Mortal Kombat reboot film, due sometime in 2013). Favorite fighters face off to the death (or near-death), fun character cameos await diehard videogame players, and some genuinely surprising (and crafty) twists, turns and tweaks to the MK formula keep things fairly fresh and fierce. Not every short beats and bloodies its kombatants as brutally and beautifully as the next, nor does each one stack up as well as the last. But Legacy doesn't suffer any shortage of ideas, and Tancharoen succeeds on almost every level, even when he drifts farther and farther away from the relative safety of the long-standing Mortal Kombat mythos. Episodes include:

• Jax, Sonya and Kano, Parts 1 & 2: Solid but a bit paint-by-numbers, Legacy's first two episodes make its gritty, grittier, grittiest intentions crystal clear. It also features more notable actors than other shorts, with Jeri Ryan slipping on the boots of Sonya Blade, Michael Jai White punches and pounds as a pre-bionic-arm Jax, Darren Shahlavi sneers, leers and, eventually, leers with a red eye as Black Dragon baddie Kano, and Tahmoh Penikett appears, ever so briefly, to drop an F-bomb as Lieutenant Stryker. The problem, of course, with "Jax, Sonya and Kano" is that Tancharoen and co-writers Todd Helbing and Aaron Helbing have to come up with so many excuses to ditch the firearms littering the setup and give its chief kombatants opportunities to show off their fighting skills. Otherwise, the opening two-parter kicks things off nicely, weaving together three reimagined origin stories into one concise, smartly shot actioner that boasts enough dust-ups, fist fights and clever Mortal Kombat nods to deliver on its own hard-hitting terms.
• Johnny Cage: Knuckle-busting superstar Johnny Cage (James Franco doppleganger Matt Mullins) is probably the easiest MK bruiser to repurpose for a film or short, and Tancharoen and the Helbings don't really bring anything new to Johnny's table. Instead, they settle for an entertaining but largely expected Where Are They Now? mockumentary take on Cage's fall from Hollywood grace and the desperation that makes him more susceptible to the kind of Faustian offers made by Outworld devil Shang Tsung (Johnson Phan). Legacy, as it turns out, is a series of origins and introductions; a slate-wiping pitch that sometimes feels as if it's promoting Tancharoen more than the videogame itself. Not that I'm complaining. Tancharoen had to sell himself here. The videogame franchise is wildly popular and has a built-in audience. The trick to creating Legacy wasn't convincing the rabid MK audience that their favorite characters and universes still had value, it was in convincing them that the man behind the camera had the vision, the guts and the spine to do it right. The Johnny Cage episode does just that and is the first of many shorts to suggest Tancharoen has way more tucked up his sleeve than he's letting on.
• Kitana and Mileena, Parts 1 & 2: After teasing fans with shape-shifting wizard Shang Tsung in "Johnny Cage," Tancharoen finally dispenses with some of the real-world grit and grime and dives headlong into Edenia and Outworld, leaving Earth (and live-action on occasion) behind. "Kitana and Mileena" ups the VFX ante, opens the portal for some patented Mortal Kombat mysticism, and tells the rather tragic tale of princess Kitana (Samantha Tjhia), raised by Shao Kahn (the somewhat lunky Aleks Paunovic) to be an assassin after her father, King Jerrod, was murdered by a vicious creature named Baraka (Fraser Aitcheson) and her mother, Queen Sindel (Beatrice Ilg), sacrificed herself to save her daughter. But Kahn isn't the devoted daddy he claims to be and Kitana finds herself on a crash course with the truth. Her "sister," a bestial clone named Mileena (Jolene Tran), is involved in Kahn's treacherous scheme as well, and Tancharoen does a fine job nurturing all the elements a future Kahn-family squabble might require. It's Mortal Kombat by way of Shakespeare, if you can believe it, and somehow, by some strange bit of Edenia magic, it sort of works, even if production values falter from time to time and the visuals aren't nearly as seamless as those in other episodes. (Love the animation. Not so fond of its implementation.) Considering Tancharoen's budget, though, I found myself willing to forgive most of the missteps he makes on his first foray into Outworld.
• Raiden: Make no mistake, "Raiden" is one of Legacy's most divisive segments, a fact that doesn't escape Tancharoen (who's rather candid in the disc's featurettes) but instead makes him more enthusiastic about everything he's working to do. Personally, I think it's one of Legacy's best, if for no other reason than it doesn't stick to the Mortal Kombat playbook. It captures the power and preeminence of God of Thunder Raiden (Ryan Robbins), but gives him a human quality as well; a messiah-bound-to-Earth vibe that, fans be damned, hints at just how revolutionary and, frankly, rejuvenating a Tancharoen-helmed MK film might be. Franchise overmind Ed Boon and his fellow Mortal Kombat gamemakers have reinvented and retooled their classic characters so many times over the years, the God of Thunder included, that "Raiden" should energize most everyone and really shouldn't shock anyone.
• Scorpion and Sub-Zero, Parts 1 & 2: The best of the nine-episode bunch is "Scorpion and Sub-Zero," not just because it involves Mortal Kombat's quarter-sapping dueling ninja duo, but because it's the most well-written, sharply executed, visually arresting story Legacy has to offer. Yes, those blasted mouth pieces are still ludicrously oversized and bobble whenever a ninja has something to say, but compared to the Scorpion and Sub-Zero fans had to endure in the original Mortal Kombat films (particularly Annihilation), Tancharoen's take on the two iconic videogame rivals is exactly what MK junkies have been waiting for. Before he was an undead agent of vengeance, he was Hanzo Hasashi (Ian Anthony Dale), master of the kunai and general of the Shirai Ryu clan. Here, Tancharoen and the Helbings plant the seeds of Scorpion's hatred and lend backstory and real momentum and emotion to his ongoing quest to kill rival clan assassin Sub-Zero (Kevan Ohtsji). This is Legacy at its best, mixing familiar character beats with fresh material to create something greater than the sum of its parts (or predecessors).
• Cyrax & Sektor: CG cyborgs unite! Easily my least favorite Tancharoen short, "Cyrax & Sektor" nevertheless addresses any just get to the action impatience Legacy malcontents might be feeling. It's decent, sure, but it amounts to three CG robo-ninjas wailing on one another amidst a story that plays more like a videogame cutscene than a carefully plotted Legacy short. Cards on the table, though: Cyrax and Sektor (Shane Warren Jones and Peter Shinkoda, respectively) have never struck me as anything more than a cheap, re-skinning trick Boon and his team used to fill out the fighter count of early Mortal Kombat sequels. There just isn't anything to toy with when it comes to their origins, and Tancharoen struggles to pull it all together in a compelling short. Still, it doesn't sully anything Tancharoen has accomplished and doesn't cast much doubt on his future MK endeavors. If anything, Legacy leaves me wondering what Tancharoen could do with a bigger budget, a better cast, higher production values, more striking visual effects and even more freedom to kick up some sand in the Mortal Kombat sandbox.

Mortal Kombat: Legacy Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Legacy's 1080p/AVC-encoded video presentation looks much better than I expected it to. Between Tancharoen's budgetary constraints and the series' home on Machinima.com's YouTube channel, I have to admit didn't exactly have high hopes. Fortunately, Warner doesn't seem to have spared any expense, bringing Mortal Kombat: Legacy to Blu-ray in spectacular fashion. Colors are as bold, bloody and, when the forces of Outworld press in, as bleak as they should be. Skintones are nicely saturated, primaries sizzle, the sticky red stuff has a suitably visceral pop, and black levels are nice and deep (albeit a bit overpowering at times). Detail is quite good too -- textures strike fast, edges draw blood, and delineation obscures and reveals with filmic ease, even if some VFX-heavy sequences are prone to several inconsistencies, some softness and an assortment of (presumably inherent) digital anomalies. (All of which is at its worst in the "Kitana and Mileena" episodes.) The encode itself, though, appears to be sound. I noticed a few instances of errant artifacting and banding, but nothing that struck me as terribly distracting. And any other issue, again, is attributable to the series' source, nothing more. Legacy looks great, better than it ever did online. Sit back, press start and play... ahem, watch away.

Mortal Kombat: Legacy Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Warner's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track holds its own as well, punchy sound design and all. Dialogue is clean and clear, without any lost lines, battered bellows or wilting whispers to speak of. Low-end output has kick, body blows and uppercuts connect, gunfire blares and the occasional explosion makes its presence known. The LFE channel favors volume over finesse, sure, but the series' action already trumps its drama, so no one should be surprised. Likewise, rear speaker activity is more aggressive than it is legitimately involving, but for a modestly budgeted web series, it packs more heat than most might expect. And, really, that's what Legacy and the majority of its AV presentation hinges on: expectation. So long as you're willing to shrug off a few missed opportunities along the way, Mortal Kombat: Legacy's lossless track won't disappoint.

Mortal Kombat: Legacy Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Expanding the Netherrealm (HD, 10 minutes): The first of five solid featurettes, "Expanding the Netherrealm" delves into the process of adapting, tweaking and resurrecting the Mortal Kombat movie franchise for the small screen (and potentially the big screen).
• Fight (HD, 16 minutes): Round one... fight! A look at the martial arts, fight choreography, shooting style, battles, brawls and blood Tancharoen injected into Legacy's nine episodes.
• Fan Made (HD, 5 minutes): Learn what inspired Tancharoen to sink his own cash into making Mortal Kombat: Rebirth and the goals he had for Legacy and has for future MK projects.
• Gear (HD, 4 minutes): Guns, blades, spears, fans, chains, costumes, prosthetics... the gear of Legacy.
• Mysticism (HD, 5 minutes): The magic, the lightning, the ice, the fire... the mysticism of Mortal Kombat.

Mortal Kombat: Legacy Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Mortal Kombat: Legacy could have been a bloody mess. Instead, Tancharoen pulls off a devastating combo and keeps his head firmly attached to his shoulders. Some shorts are much better than others, but Tancharoen's passion bleeds through again and again, making Legacy well worth watching. And while you can certainly watch it all for free online, there's simply no better way to experience Mortal Kombat: Legacy than on Blu-ray. With a strong video presentation, an able-bodied DTS-HD Master Audio track, and a small but satisfying selection of featurettes, Warner's Blu-ray release justifies the cost of high definition admission.