Mortal Kombat Legends: Schneeblind

I sat down to watch the 2022 animated movie "Mortal Kombat Legends: Snow Blind" with my son. And I have to admit that I was not familiar with all the characters in this storyline. But then again, I haven't been playing the games for a long, long time, so I don't keep up with who is in the franchise.

I have seen the 2021 animated movie "Mortal Kombat Legends: Battle of the Realms" and the 2020 animated movie "Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion's Revenge" as well. And of these three, then this 2022 is the weakest addition to the "Mortal Kombat" franchise, simply because the storyline is all over the place, and there isn't really much to keep your attention to the various characters. So writer Jeremy Adams didn't exactly impress with the storyline here.

Visually then "Mortal Kombat Legends: Snow Blind" is good. You know what you get when you sit down to watch something like this; an abundance of fighting and over-the-top violence. And yeah "Mortal Kombat Legends: Snow Blind" offers that as well, and that is one of this particular animated movies strongest aspects. But it is hardly enough to make it worthwhile watching.

The art and animation style used in "Mortal Kombat Legends: Snow Blind" is adequate. It does look and feel like it belongs in the "Mortal Kombat" franchise.

The voice acting, since this is an animated movie, is adequate, though there wasn't a single familiar voice on the cast list, aside from David Wenham. I didn't recognize his voice though, and it was only when I perused the cast listing on IMDb that I realized it was him.

"Mortal Kombat Legends: Snow Blind" is something for the hardcore fans of the "Mortal Kombat" franchise, for sure. For a casual viewer, then this is adequate enough for a single viewing, then you forget about it and move on.

My rating of "Mortal Kombat Legends: Snow Blind" from director Rick Morales lands on a bland five out of ten stars.

Although not as action-heavy as the previous part, it still performs reasonably, primarily because of how organic the narration is.

I love how they had given proper time to Kenshi, one of those characters in this Mortal Kombat universe, which I believe has always been sidelined because of other prominent personalities, underappreciated, in spite of possessing a remarkable set of powers and skills!

He finally got his due recognition, and I couldn't be happier.

Now as far as the film is concerned, it is an enjoyable ride with fair amounts of bloodshed to entertain your yearnings, to satisfy your innermost appetite. Still, somewhere the story comes across as very routine, with the same arc we have encountered thousands of times! I wish the writer here had taken more risks instead of playing a safe hand!

'Mortal Kombat Legends: Snow Blind (2022)' takes place in a post-apocalyptic future, presumably decades after the events of 'Mortal Kombat Legends: Battle Of The Realms (2021)'. A cyber-enhanced Kano rules over the desolate realm with an iron first, his Black Dragon clan viciously raiding the few remaining settlements to mercilessly kill, maim or capture whoever they can find. Enter Kenshi, an arrogant up-and-comer whose desire to prove himself the best fighter of all puts him in the unfortunate position of not having any eyes. After he's wounded and left for dead, he crosses paths with a mysterious cold-shouldered individual who nurses him back to health and shows him how to survive - and fight - without his sight. The story is simple and to the point, setting up its world and characters before shifting its focus to an extended training montage and a brutal final battle. Its pacing drags in places and feels rushed in others, with some plot points even coming across as completely uncooked. However, it's generally entertaining and features a number of exciting, blood-soaked set-pieces that do justice to the notoriously violent nature of the games it's based on. Speaking of which, the cast is comprised of several characters who've appeared in various entries in the series and there are several references to the games sprinkled throughout. Fans of the source material will surely find a lot to appreciate here, and it's interesting to see how the post-apocalyptic aesthetic is transposed onto characters we've previously seen. The piece has a different look to its predecessors, with their harsh black shading being replaced with softer colouring and their blocky outlines being replaced with sharp yet slightly sketchy line work that overlaps in unexpected places. The visuals are distinct and effective, especially during the high-octane action. It's during these sequence that the animation really shines, remaining fast and fluid yet snappy and impactful. The blows are all crunchy and the gore is all grisly, leading to a series of scenes in which pain is almost palpable. Sometimes, the violence seems over-the-top for the sake of it, designed to shock rather than support the action or the atmosphere, but it generally enhances the experience rather than distract from it. It's one of the picture's unique selling points, too. The 'X-ray' elements aren't present, but I'd be lying if I said I actually missed them - or even noticed their omission prior to writing this sentence - despite the fact that they were fairly effective in the previous movies. Ultimately, this is an enjoyable and typically exciting action flick. It's a fair bit of fun throughout.

After the convoluted and rushed mess of a predecessor, Mortal Kombat Legends: Snow Blind is a huge step up in quality that offers a more contained story that wisely focuses on the insanely gory action and character beats opposed to the convoluted lore.

Although it does indulge in a few of the more frustrating impulses that the franchise just can't seem to escape from but thankfully they are still fun and unexpected but definitely not necessary for this smaller, self contained story.

Manny Jacinto is a really good Kenji, bringing the misplaced confidence that transitions into a wiser maturity. David Wenham is a solid Kano, the humour and viciousness is still there even if he doesn't rival the best versions of the character.

The animation is really good even if it struggles with movement, swapping from the old DC style to the one utilised in newer, rebooted ones which also works here as everything looks a little more vibrant and striking, especially the character designs.

The MK timeline is just forever all over the place now huh? I'm not mad about it though, it's just an observation. The titles for these animated movies are "Mortal Kombat: Legends" so it's not an issue but this is the first one that really feels like it's doing something completely non-canon. Surprisingly, they actually did try and tie it back to the games at the end but I won't spoil that here.

The movie is an alternate origin story for Kenshi, a popular PS2 era Kombatant. Of the more "modern" games, he was easily one of the best new editions, so it doesn't surprise me that he's the first to get his own solo film. Not quite solo though because Sub-Zero is also here and ends up being the one to train Kenshi.

The real change was having Kano be the main bad guy, that was kind of cool to see. Kano and his Black Dragon thugs are terrorizing villages all over a Mad Max-esque wasteland and they must be stopped. I loved the nerdy cameos in his crew, there were bad guys from the awful video game "Mortal Kombat: Special Forces, Drahmin and Jerek even had a cameo! Good stuff for MK nerds like myself.

The fighting and violence are all well done but there were a few iffy spots of animation. The plot is very generic but still fun to see play out. Feels like an adult Saturday morning cartoon in many ways. It moves by really fast and I was never bored. I liked some of the ways they changed the characters up and Scorpion in particular gets a really cool redesign.

If you are an MK fan, you'll enjoy it. If you are a fan of animation, you'll most likely enjoy it. If you are a huge plot person, you may not love it. It's an easy recommend to action and MK fans though.