A gore-filled journey sure to entertain any fan of the franchise!
Disclaimer: Warner Bros. Home Entertainment provided us with a free copy of this Blu-ray/DVD that we reviewed in this blog post. The opinions we share are our own.
“When Shao Kahn’s Outworld barbarians terrorize Earthrealm, Lord Raiden is determined to put an end to the carnage once and for all. This leaves one option: a final Mortal Kombat tournament for the future of Earthrealm – win it or lost everything. Raiden’s elite fighters Liu Kang, Johnny Cage, Sonya Blade and a few new faces kick the action into overdrive as they go head-to-head with Outworld’s most bloodthirsty warriors. The stakes could not be higher. But deep in the Netherrealm, an unspeakable scheme by the malevolent Shinnok unfolds, threatening to obliterate existence as we know it. The universe is watching, and it’s winner take all!”
I’ve played every Mortal Kombat game there is, yes, even Mythologies. Throughout them all, the story had always fascinated me, perhaps more so than the fighting part of the games. The Warner Bros. Animation release of these Mortal Kombat Legends series, the first being Scorpion’s Revenge, is quite possibly everything my younger self could have ever asked for. These cartoons, like the games, are brutally graphic and don’t hold back on the cartoon gore that made the games so controversial and so fun to play.
Mortal Kombat Legends: Battle of the Realms is a direct sequel to Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion’s Revenge. If you haven’t seen the first, that’s okay, as the story itself is set up to be able to follow regardless, which does mirror events from the games as well. Raiden and Shao Kahn make an agreement between each other and the Elder Gods to do away with all future tournaments and have one final Mortal Kombat tournament that will decide the fates of the realms once and for all. It’s now up to Raiden, who’s given up his godhood to participate in the tournament, as well as his other fighters to win the tournament and save the realms from merging together. The other portion of the story follows the original Sub-Zero’s brother, who has taken on his mantel to protect the Lin Kuei. Along with his friend Smoke, they discover a plot by their Grandmaster to turn the Lin Kuei into Cyborgs, to complete a task given to them by Shinnok to retrieve an ancient artifact that will undo creation.
Perhaps one of the most exciting things, for me, is the attention paid to some of the lesser-known characters in the series. The Lin Kuei cyber initiative was always such an interesting part of the Mortal Kombat story, and seeing this embodied on screen was really cool. Stryker is even in it, one of the worst playable characters of all time, but it’s still great to see him get some recognition as being part of the MK Universe. With all the cool cross-over characters we’ve gotten to play as in the MK games, one of the biggest petitions online was to get Shaggy from Scooby Doo made into a playable character. Although that will most likely never happen, there is a bit of an easter egg at the beginning with Shaggy popping out of the WB Animation logo. It’s a fun nod to the petition.
The voice acting is quite good. Most of the characters are the same from the first, with even some of the cast appearing in previous Mortal Kombat games. While it’s an interesting choice to have Joel McHale voice Johnny Cage, especially given the sarcastic and brash nature of both of them, I personally couldn’t separate the two. To me, it was like the future of Earthrealm boiled down to Liu Kang, Sonya Blade, and Joel McHale. I think he’s a talented actor, but he doesn’t act different enough from himself or any other character he’s portrayed to make me believe he’s Johnny Cage, which got in the way of a lot of sequences between him and Sonya.
The animation is spectacular, as are some of the ways they integrate fatalities and combat into the story. If you’ve played a recent version of the game, the X-ray vision that happens when you land a particular brutal blow is also used in the cartoon. Not only are we subjected to some brutal combat featuring this interesting way of showing the results of the action, the actual fatalities performed on some of the characters are wildly graphic and over-the-top, perfect to bear the Mortal Kombat name.
Video
The film is presented in 2160p 4k Ultra High-Definition Widescreen 1.78:1. This 4k set looks great, with the HDR providing those bright and vivid life-like colors and deep darks. The colors in particular is what outshines the Blu-ray version of the film, as you’re subjected to tons of bright reds, obviously, but also a wide array of other vivid fight sequences that really highlight what the 4k can do.
Audio
The audio is presented in DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1. This mix sounds really good, perfect balance between the surrounds and center channel. The film really utilizes those surrounds, especially in the fight sequences, entirely immersing you in the action.
Special Features
The extras are located on the Blu-ray disc only, including the commentary track, which seemed an odd choice. However, it gives some interesting information on the behind-the-scenes work done on the picture. The set comes with a slipcase and a digital code.
- The God and the Dragon: Battling for Earthrealm
- Audio Commentary
- Voices of Kombat
- Kombat Gags: Gag Reel
Mortal Kombat Legends: Battle of the Realms is sure to give fans of the franchise a look back at the characters they grew up playing. Although it has a short running time of 80 minutes, there is plenty to enjoy about this set. If you’re a fan of the first animated film, or the franchise in general, it’s highly recommended you check this out!
