Mortal Kombat Legends: Snow Blind

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.

This is coming from a true fan of the video game franchise created by Ed Boon and John Tobias. Reverse anagram Boon and Tobias to get the character Noob Saibot(I wonder why he hasn't been featured in any of the storylines so far in the franchise).

The story seems to be inspired by the MK11 video game with characters introduced in MK Armageddon (for those who are not familiar with some of them).

The plot has a very beautiful unusual concept of a Mad Max inspired dystopian future, the art style is very beautiful and stylish, voice acting is decent and of course there is the characteristic over-the-top gore. It's strongest point is the action which is fluid and contributes to the overall entertainment.

Character development is good, even though it's focus is on the two main characters. Could have done with more details into Kenshi's training and development into the blind swordsman. It's lengthy but still not properly handled. That part of the plot was a bit all over the place. The movie's plot twist involving Kenshi's relationship with both Shang Tsung and sub zero threatens to affect it's faithfulness to the source material.

Pretty decent action which is not lacking in entertainment value.

I'll start by saying I'm a fan of Sub-Zero (especially Kuai Liang) so giving him central focus obviously sways my preferential treatment of this movie. Additionally, I always enjoy his team up with the grandmaster of his rival clan so yeah this works for me. It's removed from the klassic Mortal Kombat storylines but we have (several) other movies about that so this one is a nice supplementary story to the franchise. Favorite part is when Kuai Liang teaches Kenshi about "...nothing more poisonous than 'I can't.'"

The only thing I'm not sure is whether this connects fully to the previous installments "Scorpion's Revenge" and "Battle of the Realms". As a stand-alone it works thanks to MK11 timeline shenanigans. Best to take it as an individual offering.

Having watched the previous two film in this Mortal Kombat Legends trilogy, Snow Blind feels quite different. There are different characters and the graphic animations here is vastly more gruesome, violent and brutal. Right from the opening scene, it sets the tone for the rest of the film.

The story is a step up from the second film Battle of the Realms and overall more engaging throughout. The animation and color is just as good. There could have been more developed work for the characters.

At times, there are confusing scenes as but in general this film seems more fitted for hardcore fans of the franchise.

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.