Mortal Kombat: Legacy (Live Action) Web Series Review

I just watched this at the weekend after the series second season trailer came out (wow!). So apparently to adapt a video game into anything remotely good you have to launch a live action web series. Granted this web series isn’t perfect but it was much better than I thought it would be and definitely better than the last film they made of Mortal Kombat. I knew a little of the back stories from the games but not much and it was fun to see them played out as a prologue to the game. The fights in this are great and really fun to watch, my only complaint is I want more! The visuals are also strong in this series, costumes and settings where impressively realistic in their appearance. The acting and dialogue was a little all over the place but wasn’t too bad, some were actually good but not most.

Mortal Kombat: Legacy brings to life the complex and rich history of the gaming world of MORTAL KOMBAT. Shao Kahn and Shang Tsung are obsessed with reigning over various realms (parallel universes) and the winners of Mortal Kombat competitions are granted supreme control over these worlds. The Earthrealm (Earth) is an unconscious participant in this competition and only a few select humans understand the consequences of losing Mortal Kombat and what it will mean to Earth. In a universe with powerful evil sorcerers, cyborgs, Gods and movie stars, this Mortal Kombat digital media series drives a cohesive understanding of what this Universe is all about.

Tim’s Film Reviews Recommended

Story: 75%       Acting: 65%      Characters: 75%      Dialogue: 60%

The Action/Fantasy-Sci-Fi: 85%      Style/Sound: 80%      Visuals: 85%

Total: 75%

The story is set before the game and the tournament that the game is set around. The series covers the back stories of about eight of characters, the story tells the story of how each of these characters gets involved in the tournament. Now the problem with anthology stories is that you get hit and misses. For example some of the stories where great like Scorpions and Sub Zeros but others where weak and stupid like Johnny Cage’s story. The dialogue was alright but where laughable in some of the stories, a part of me thinks it’s because some of the actors didn’t take it seriously. I hope that in the second season they cover a little more about the characters and gets a smarter dialogue going in the script, to be fair to the series writers they don’t have much dialogue to go off in the first place.

The action was really kick ass in this and we don’t just get a few Kung Fu moves, we get loads of different styles and characters fighting each other. The first episode really starts off with a bang as we explore the characters Jax, Sonya and Stryka. The team assault a gang affiliated warehouse to rescue Sonya who had been captured. Guns, fist fights and bombs going off left right and centre, it’s the best way to start off a violent combat fighting series. The series also explores some fascinating takes on the different characters for example some characters have magical powers and other technological but this was done with subtly to add realism (and no budget). We go around a lot of different places and times so the visuals and sound had to change a lot as the series progressed. The most notable would be the otherworld story of Kitana and Mileena that one’s even got monsters or the Shogun era of Scorpion and Sub Zero.

The First Season:

The best reviews I found would be these “While it may not be the big-budget, gore-soaked Mortal Kombat movie that we will hopefully be getting in 2013, Mortal Kombat Legacy is a satisfying, experimental look at the mythology that will certainly please fans of the franchise” Fear Net. “Every frame of Mortal Kombat: Legacy reeks labour of love. As a result of the positive feedback, New Line has greenlit. At the very least, I’m thankful Mortal Kombat: Annihilation isn’t the last word cinematically on this beloved brand” Bloody Disgusting. “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” Kenneth Brown.

My favourite scene would have to be Scorpion vs. Sub-Zero. it’s just fantastic to see. We get to see some powers in use, the fight is great to watch and the costumes looked great. The two part episode was actually my favourite because it gave a great deal of detail into the back story of the two and not only why the two enter the competition but why they hate each other. Dark as well, wife and kid K.O’d!

Lastly we have the second season trailer which is quite frankly amazing and I can’t wait until this is out. Expect good things from this series and I like what I have seen so far.

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