Mortal Kombat Legends: Battle of the Realms (2021)

Directed by: Ethan Spaulding | 79 minutes | animation, action | Original voice cast: Jennifer Carpenter, Joel McHale, Ike Amadi, Artt Butler, Bayardo De Murguia, Robin Atkin Downes, Gray Griffin, Matthew Yang King, Matthew Mercer, Dave B. Mitchell, Paul Nakauchi, Emily O’Brien, Jordan Rodrigues, Patrick Seitz, Fred Tatasciore, Debra Wilson

In the 1990s, the video game ‘Mortal Kombat’ created a shockwave. The American counterpart of the wildly popular Japanese ‘Streetfighter’ was characterized by brutal ultra-violence. Games have never been so cruel and grotesque! Gallons of blood flew across the screen and the winner humiliated the loser by brutally killing him or her. Think of tearing out the spine, burning alive or a spicy decapitation.

The shock value ensured brand awareness. Hollywood saw the growing popularity of the games and released a number of movies and series around the franchise. After a nice (but corny) first part, the quality of what was offered dropped considerably. The games never became so legendary again. In recent years, the games saga has been making a comeback and the video games are again scoring well with fans and critics. Hollywood also sees this and that resulted in a live action film and an animation film. A year after the release of that animated film (2020’s ‘Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion’s Revenge’), a sequel is out. So that has become ‘Mortal Kombat Legends: Battle of the Realms’.

In addition to showing blood tsunamis, Mortal Kombat stands out from the competition with an unnecessarily complicated story that expands with each part. To enjoy ‘Mortal Kombat Legends: Battle of the Realms’, prior knowledge is required. This film cannot be viewed without any background information. The characters are not well presented, come and go for no reason and have no expressiveness whatsoever. Loyal fans know who did, does or will do what. This is true fan service. There is nothing wrong with that in itself, but even diehard fans will find the lack of content disturbing. It’s nice to see your favorite character, but it’s a shame if it’s barely mentioned.

Many characters have been chosen and that is at the expense of character development. What remains is a reasonably animated cartoon with a few entertaining, extremely violent brawls. If that’s your thing, then this empty film is a good look away. It’s cinematic wallpaper.