Mortal Kombat Legends: Battle of the Realms

Well, another foray into the cinematic variety of the "Mortal Kombat" franchise in 2021? Sure, why not? But this time it is an animated movie, for better or worse.

Of course I had to sit down and watch "Mortal Kombat Legends: Battle of the Realms", as I have been riding along on the "Mortal Kombat" wave since playing the very first game when it came out. And yeah, the movies that they have been putting out, aside from the 2021 version, have been cheesy and dubious at best. So I wasn't exactly harboring much of any expectations for "Mortal Kombat Legends: Battle of the Realms".

But I will say that writer Jeremy Adams and director Ethan Spaulding actually managed to put together an animated movie in the "Mortal Kombat" franchise that actually was entertaining to watch, while at the same time capturing the essence of the fighting games. And by that, of course, I mean all the mayhed, gore, mutilation and over-the-top violence. Yup, it is all here, in all its gory glory. And believe me, this is pretty gory.

Storywise, then it is "Mortal Kombat" in every aspect, Outworld vs. Earthrealm. Yeah, just as every other single foray into the "Mortal Kombat" franchise, so there is nothing new to be experienced here really, aside from the fight scenes and whom gets pitted against whom in the fights.

The visual presentation of "Mortal Kombat Legends: Battle of the Realms" was good. The art style used in this 2021 animated movie is something that feels like a mixture of the classic 1980s style and newer styles seen in animated movies. And guess what? It actually works out quite well for "Mortal Kombat Legends: Battle of the Realms".

The animation in "Mortal Kombat Legends: Battle of the Realms" is good and smooth, and it is definitely fast paced and looks great. So if nothing else, just lean back and enjoy the adrenalin-filled fights. And true to the "Mortal Kombat" blueprint, this was essentially just fighting from start to end. Sure, there was a pinch of storyline crammed in between the fights, classic "Mortal Kombat".

They had ensured to put in a good amount of characters from the franchise, including characters that have been along since the beginning, and also characters that found their way into the franchise as the years went by. So yeah, indeed there is something for everyone here.

I found "Mortal Kombat Legends: Battle of the Realms" to be entertaining.

My rating of this 2021 animated movie lands on a six out of ten stars.

'Mortal Kombat Legends: Battle Of The Realms (2021)' is the follow-up to 'Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion's Revenge (2020)' that sees the heroes of Earthrealm take part in one final Mortal Kombat tournament in order to prevent Outworld from merging with their home and utterly destroying it. The piece starts out depicting the first meeting between Liu Kang and Raiden, seeming to suggest that Kang is its protagonist. Though he takes a major role towards the picture's finale, he's actually just one of the ensemble and this lack of focus makes his eventual rise to main character seem unearned and, even, unplanned. The film, in general, struggles to know what it wants to be. It's incredibly unfocused, with several plot strands (which usually reference events from the games) occurring at once and each detracting from the other. There's very little sense of character, too - so much so that most of the major deaths lack any real impact. Hands down, the biggest issue with the piece is its third act. Honestly, this segment would've been better off as an entirely separate movie, with the set-up that precedes it acting as a cliffhanger. As it is, it feels tacked-on, messy and, ultimately, underwhelming. It's actually rather unnecessary and takes the steam out of the narrative. Despite the movie's issues, though, it's still entertaining overall. It has plenty of energetic, exciting and extremely violent fight scenes that should satiate fans of the video-game franchise upon which it is based (which includes me, by the way). It's really fun to see the characters kick one another's butts in brutal ways, even if the carnage lacks any emotional weight (and it sometimes really ought to pack a punch). The flick is animated impressively and it has a strong aesthetic. The voice-work is good and the pacing is breezy enough that you'll never get bored. Though it isn't perfect, it's an enjoyable slice of animated action. It's one of the better video-game adaptations out there, even if it isn't as good as its predecessor. 6/10.

I really liked the movie, violence and a very good animations, what bothered me is the plot, clearly incoherent and somehow not logical, the last 10 minutes are not that great too, it reminds the end of the Matrix revolution, good but could be better, overall it's a good movie especially for MK fans!.

This movie was so fun at the beginning but was messed up trying to introduce too many villains to the movie. Should have kept simple and would have been as epic as the first movie. This may do well as a hbomax series.

The first one "scorpion revenge" was better, this tried to tell different stories all at once and did a clumsy job doing it but still good.