I have a confession to make: I didn't watch season 2.
I just couldn't. The first season was so bad, and now that KTanch has left, I doubt it would matter, anyway. Plus, I figure it's for the best; for every good idea, the man had about 5 bad ones.
Thankfully, though, we have a NEW game to look forward to, and as you can see from the video above, it's looking GOOD!
But did you notice something odd? They played rap music during a Mortal Kombat fight scene. Don't get me wrong, I like rap music, but it just... doesn't fit with MK. Of course, people online attribute it to "taste", and if you don't think it fits, that's just your taste. No. I love black metal, but I'm not gonna just shove it into MK as hard as I can if it doesn't fit. Should have kept it cinematic, like they've been doing. No reason to veer so far off-course.
Well, if you didn't like the rap background, then check out the audio redub on Youtube, where the background is replaced by The Soul Chamber music from MK3. In my opinion, this fits a lot better (mostly because it uses what already works).
This episode concludes the story of Kitana and Mileena. While hunting down the King of Edenia's former decoys, Kitana starts learn about her real past, as Mileena continues to scorn her quietly.
The Good
The Fight. Though it was incredibly short, the fight was very well choreographed and executed. The only shame is that there was only one fight.
Sam Tjhia and Jolene Tran as Kitana and Mileena. Despite not having a lot of screen time, both Kitana and Mileena were superbly portrayed by Sam Tjhia and Jolene Tran, respectively. Especially during where Kitana confronts the final doppelganger.
The Animated Segments. While the animated segments seemed to take up more space than the live-action segments, they're very good nonetheless. They're colorful, expressive, and of course, very violent.
The Bad
The Long Recap. What is it with this series and the recaps that seem to take up half of the episode? It's not like these episodes are very long to begin with; if someone needs a recap, they can just watch the other episode first. It's Youtube, not TNT.
The Short Episode Length. I would say maybe two minutes of the entire episode progressed the story, which is more that I can say for episode 2, where the only scene that progressed the story was the ending. Youtube has recently started to phase out video length limitations (which I believe is not a problem for Machinima to being with, because they have a Partner account), so these two episodes could have easily been edited together. It still would have been a short story, but at least watching the short wouldn't feel like a waste of time (which is what these two-parter episodes are starting to feel like).
The Narrator. The two female leads in this short are obviously Asian. So, why does the narrator have a British accent? Having a female narrator with a British accent made it seem more like a faery tale, instead of a story associated with Mortal Kombat.
Shao Kahn. Aleks Paunovic did not shine as Shao Kahn. His performance seemed more hammed up than it was supposed to be. Outside of his performance, the character was sitting down in every scene he was involved in.
The OutWorld. The actual setting of the OutWorld in this short doesn't even resemble, in the slightest, the OutWorld in the games. Especially in the fight scene. In fact, none of the locales in this short fit their counterpart at all. Kahn's throne room in the animated scene and the real-world set didn't even match up. The throne room actually seemed smaller and less-impressive than you'd expect a conqueror of whole worlds to have.
The Story. While the entire story is not bad, there was one point that didn't make sense. When the King was killed by Baraka, Kahn lied and claimed that it was a double. Why? For what reason? He's going to capture Sindel and the baby anyway, the lie makes no sense. He doesn't even begin falling in love with Sindel until later, so what ends would there be for that lie? Kahn is still taking over her realm and brutally murdering half of her people, the lie still has no rhyme or reason. There is also a hint of the final double being the King himself. The twist doesn't work if it barely makes sense to begin with, not to mention opening up more questions, like if that's him, then why did he abandon his wife and daughter? The other plot points, including Mileena's struggle with her Tarkatanity, were entertaining, though.
The Dialog. There's no way to describe it, you'll just have to watch it for yourself.
Summary
Despite some good points here and there, the series is starting to show its true colors. With these multi-part stories, the actual story doesn't progress until the very end, and when it's over, it makes you feel like there should have been more. It's all hype, with no real payoff. Outside of that, it doesn't feel like you're watching Mortal Kombat. What is supposed to be a universal ruler is portrayed as an Earth-born king during the middle ages, with cartoons and British narrators filling in the blanks. It begs to question, why isn't the entire webseries animated? Obviously a $2-million isn't enough to portray Mortal Kombat the way it's supposed to be portrayed, that is, unless it was fully animated. Sure, there were MK cartoons in the past, but they were all targeted at children. If Mortal Kombat was animated (in either 2D or, more preferably, 3D), it could fully express Mortal Kombat with the weight, length and universal space it deserves (and with the extra money, possibly hire better writers).
Maybe then the fantastical aspects will be given some justice, instead of spewing out episodes that are generally on par with Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero and Mortal Kombat: Conquest, at best.
Of course, it's not the actual Mortal Kombat story that's to blame; it's the filmmakers, who can't seem to learn from mistakes made in the past.
If you found something you liked or didn't like about the episode, comment below and tell us all about it.
In this episode, the realm of Edenia is taken over by Shao Kahn and destroyed. After the king's death, Kahn marries the queen, Sindel, and becomes step father to Sindel's daughter, Kitana. Fearing she will grow to betray him, Kahn commands Shang Tsung to clone Kitana; he does so with Tarkatan blood. As the two girls grow up, they're trained by Shao Kahn as assassins, and Mileena struggles with her Tarkatan urges and rage.
The Good
Baraka. Surprisingly, my prediction has turned out to be false. Baraka is in fact a Tarkatan, and the general of the Tarkatan horde (with who we guessed as Reptile being an unnamed Tarkatan). While he's not game authentic, the character is still there. From different angles, you can see minimal change had been done to his appearance outside of his teeth, with more detail put on his face to show battle scars and tribal piercings. Our only real complaint is that he didn't growl, but we can get over that.
And he's worlds better than an overly-emotional plastic surgeon.
The animation. This short had a lot of Kill Bill-style animated shots illustrating the history of the conflict and in a few instances, serving as the background. It did get a bit overdone after a while, but it was a nice change of pace when it began.
Mileena. They stuck with the story. And while the baby has the mutilated mouth, the adult Mileena having a Glasgow smile is still kind of shoddy.
The Bad
Shao Kahn's hair. While Aleks Paunovic was a good pick for Shao Kahn, he still looks way too human. And that awkward hair style isn't helping things. Of course, Shao Kahn is without his trademark helmet, but even without it, he looked pretty monstrous regardless. Even Aleks himself thinks that Shao Kahn should at least be bald.
The Episode Length. Youtube is starting to become lax about video length. The producers of this series should keep that in mind, because while they are looking for suspense with their sudden endings, all they are getting is frustration because the episodes aren't that long to begin with. It's not a good sign, and it could very well start deterring a good number of people from following the series.
Summary
It's not the best Legacy short, but it provided some good eye candy. The review for part 2 should be a bit longer because unlike the Jax/Kano/Sonya episode, it seems like something significant might happen.
If you found something you liked or didn't like about the episode, comment below and tell us all about it.
In this episode, aging TV star Johnny Cage scrambles to impress two network producers with a pitch to a new show revolving around himself, out of character, fighting crime akin to Steven Seagal Lawman and Dog The Bounty Hunter. Despite the time and money spent working on the projects, the producers show very little interest in even watching each one. Cage later finds out they've been taking his ideas and pitching them to other celebrities.
The Good
Matt Mullins as Johnny Cage. Matt Mullins was a great choice for Johnny Cage. He looks the part, he has a background in martial arts (with his impressive kick from Rebirth making a cameo) and he was able to keep up with the versatile role of this story's Johnny Cage.
The Dialog. This time around, it seemed a lot more real and less hammed up. They made sure the only cheesy line was, "You got Caged!" Despite the fact that there was a lot of profanity in the short, it wasn't overemphasized, and felt natural considering the stress that the character (Cage) was going through.
The Fights. Of course, the choreography was spot-on. Whether it was a "staged" fight or a "real" one, the choreography was fine-tuned to show you what was "fake" and "real", and did it perfectly.
The TV Show Intro. The intro genuinely looked like an intro to a documentary TV show, with someone important to the franchise making a special appearance.
The Bad
The Ridiculous Color Correction. That's right, it's back. Ironically during all of the "real life" scenes, making the TV programs in the short look more natural by comparison. Good color correction could definitely complement a scene, but when its flat and not matching natural skin tones, it makes the scene look bad.
The Censored Dialog. As mentioned before, there was a lot of profanity in the short. This time around, it was all censored, apparently to land a TV-14 rating. First, since this isn't broadcast TV, why give it a rating in the first place? And second, this is a short based off of Mortal Kombat. Censors shouldn't even be allowed or involved in the first place.
The Cinematography. There were a few long shots in the dialog that made the actors look smaller in comparison to the frame. The only time it looks right is when something bigger is around them. Other times, blank wall fills up most of the frame, taking the subjects out of focus.
The Weird
Johnny Cage as a Power Ranger. In this story, Johnny Cage is a former Power Ranger; a franchise that came to the US almost a year after Mortal Kombat was created. It's not a good or bad thing, I just felt it was weird enough to mention. Kinda funny, but weird.
Summary
This is by far the best Legacy short distributed. Director Kevin Tancharoen was able to take Johnny Cage and make us care about him in a way that we never have before instead of depending on him for some kind of shallow comic relief. And he did this while barely changing the character at all. He gave us a Cage that was more human and in the long run, it helped make the story more intriguing.
Our only hope is that Tancharoen makes the monsters into "monsters", and not "humans" (à la Rebirth).
If you found something you liked or didn't like about the episode, comment below and tell us all about it.
Before the next episode airs, I figured that we should take a look at the trailer that was posted before the first episode. It shows clips from the entire series, and gives us a look at what the characters will look like.
Of course, it looks different. Again, in adaptations, it is to be expected. However, there's something to keep in mind when observing changes: changing one important character trait can completely change the character all-together, good or bad. This counts visually, as well. In instances like in The Dark Knight, where The Joker is changed from a criminal who suffered from an intense chemical reaction into a psycho who was given a Glasgow smile, it doesn't count because "The Joker" was still a "clown" who committed crimes and fought Batman. But that's only one case.
In the case of this webseries, they seem to have went completely bipolar: some characters have little to no change, while others have almost complete 180's (or 90's, at the least).
Now mind you, these are only a few instances caught from the first few times watching this trailer. And this, like the trailer, is only the first impression.
Almost Unchanged
Scorpion and Sub-Zero
While they don't look 100% game authentic, they are still the same characters: assassins who both use strange weapons in battle, and who will inevitably be killed by eachother. They still have their masks (though the look has changed) and the same color schemes (although Sub-Zero's black has been replaced with gray). All in all, it's minor wardrobe change; nothing major.
Quan Chi
Again, he's not game authentic, but almost no change has been made to the character or his appearance. He still seems to be a necromancer from the Netherrealm that raises Scorpion from the dead to exact his revenge. In fact, the black eyeballs make him look even more diabolical.
Changed
Mileena
This right here is taken right out of the Christopher Nolan Book of Cosmetic Character Change: need a new look? Give them a Glasgow smile! Changing her mouth from a Tarkatan's into a regular pair of lips with clean scars (the OutWorld must have dynamite health care judging by the work done) changes the character completely.
Original Character: A clone of Kitana fashioned by Shang Tsung using Tarkatan DNA. Our Prediction: Kitana's overlooked younger sister looking to prove herself to The Emperor.
Baraka
Ironically, this (originally) Tarkatan character looks more like a figure that was magically bred than belonging to an actual race existing in the OutWorld. Early shots show him with the trademark wrist-blades, but outside of that, he's virtually unrecognizable.
Original Character: The leader of a nomadic race of bloodthirsty warriors who serve the ruling party of the OutWorld. Our Prediction: The reanimated corpse of a General or spy in the OutWorld.
Shao Kahn
Finally, we get to the Laughing Emperor himself. Instead of appearing as a large, dominant figure who can crush a man's skull with one sharp blow to the head, he appears as a calculating tribal leader, looking incredibly out of place with his bowl haircut.
I know there are a lot of fans whose biggest complaint of this incarnation is the loss of the helmet. But without it, at least he looked like this:
Just by making the character look more human (especially when it's a character who rules an entire world) weakens the original impact that the game's character has, and makes him seem like a different character entirely.
Original Character: Universally strong. Our Prediction: Mega weak.
Remember, these are just the first impressions from the trailer; only by seeing the episodes that these characters are featured in can we determine what their real deal is.
What was your first impression of the trailer?
And by the way, who the hell is this?
We're guessing Reptile, however we've heard people guess that it's Baraka after visual effects done in post. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.
The first and second episodes of the series covered Mortal Kombat characters Sonya Blade, Kano, and Jax. In the first episode, Kano is overseeing a team building cybernetic suits for (presumably) black market use. Sonya is on location recording footage to send to her partner Jax, looking to move in as soon as possible. However, she is quickly captured and chained up in a dark and damp room. Jax and Stryker get the message too late, they move in and are ambushed. The second episode ties up the loose ends left by the first, concluding in Kano getting his trademark eye, and alluding that Jax will soon be getting his metal arms.
The Good
The Fights. The fights were by far the best part of this short series of episodes. Yeah, there were cheesy sound effects every time a hit was landed, but you wouldn't have noticed unless you were specifically looking to nitpick.
Darren Shahlavi as Kano. One thing that definitely stood out was the performance of Darren Shahlavi as Kano. While his look doesn't scream "arms dealing assassin", he did a great job of portraying one the best way he could. His scene with Sonya chained up was the best moment of dialog out of both of these shorts.
The Bad
The Length. The length of each episode was definitely an issue, and the second episode's long recap at the beginning did nothing to help the issue. There was definitely stuff that was left unexplained, and not in the mysterious, plot twist, wait-for-the-sequel kind of way, either.
The Dialog. The dialog was incredibly cheesy and there was way too much emphasis on the two times that the word "fuck" was said. Director Kevin Tancharoen has said that he wanted the short to be more mature, but how mature can you get when the vibe you're giving off in your dialog is, "Oooooo, he said a bad word!" Gore isn't the thing that makes movies "mature".
The Characters. In these shorts, both Jax and Sonya seem to be cops, and not Special Forces. It's okay; change in translation. However, Stryker first appeared as a supervisor more than he did as a riot cop (like in the games), then later on, he's part of the team that pacifies the Black Dragon warehouse. Nevermind the fact that they barely introduced Stryker in the first place.
The Ridiculous Color Correction. If you saw Mortal Kombat: Rebirth, you'd notice the use of intense color correction, most likely looking for that Saw moment-in-the-bathroom look. The crazy color correction returns, amped up. Especially in places where it doesn't fit, like the police station. It doesn't give the sense of "realism" that Kevin Tancharoen has claimed that he was looking to capture.
Unrealism Inside Of Promised "Realism". Kevin Tancharoen has said he wanted to make Mortal Kombat more realistic, and grounded in reality. However, one well-placed punch from Jax, and Kano's eye literally flies out of his face. I'm not going to mention the futuristic tech showcased in the shorts because Mortal Kombat always gave out hints that it took place in the future.
All Build-Up, No Resolution. The whole short felt like it was building up for something bigger, but by the time the end came, the only thing to happen was Kano getting his eye. We all knew that was going to happen.
Summary
These shorts are billed as "the stories that Mortal Kombat fans know, but never saw in greater detail". With the incredibly short runtimes of the episodes, they didn't have time to get into any real detail, but more-or-less giving us a summary version of a story that we already know in a way that looks to kill time more than it does to entertain. If these first shorts are a taste of what's to come from the series, then the rest of these episodes will get into little-to-no new detail about the characters we know and love, instead giving fans a rundown of a story they already know, laced with short, well-choreographed fight scenes. And at the end, leave fans asking, "Okay, so the fuck what?"
If you found something you liked or didn't like about the series, comment below and tell us all about it.
If you're a fan of Mortal Kombat, then you're well aware of the Mortal Kombat: Rebirth short that sparked the internet last summer. It was made by Kevin Tancharoen, a director whose only current motion picture credit is directing the remake to Fame, a musical. While his movie impressed a great deal of Mortal Kombat fans, his film's deviation from the video game's principal storyline couldn't be ignored. Instead, he set the film in an alternate universe in the Mortal Kombat canon, most likely because it was a weekend project with a limited budget.
The attention soon reached WB, who bankrolled a Mortal Kombat webseries for Mr. Tancharoen to direct. Written by Tancharoen, Ed Boon, the creator of the Mortal Kombat video game, and two writers from Spartacus: Blood and Sand, Mortal Kombat: Legacy premiered on Monday, April 11, 2011. Tancharoen professed that the webseries is not so much an adaptation as it is the prequel to the entire franchise. And so far, while he says that, his actions on screen prove different.
It's no secret that video game adaptations deviate from their respective franchises, whether small or large, visually or canonically. Most visual changes are usually seen as acceptable, since changes to the story change around the story altogether. But when important physical traits are changed to where they change the story, that's where things can get complicated. Which is the case here.
Visually, Legacy is putting a new spin on Mortal Kombat, and as evident from the look of Scorpion, Sub-Zero and the cyborgs, it seems that they're doing a good job. However, they've also changed important physical properties of a few characters, which in turn switches the character's motivation (if not changes the character almost entirely) and threatens to change the overall story as a whole.
Tancharoen is a Mortal Kombat fan. And while adaptation filmmakers claim to be fans of the video games they're adapting, Tancharoen seems more genuine. He has said that this series is faithful to the entire franchise, and as he is a Mortal Kombat fan, he should be expected to treat the franchise's story and characters with the utmost of respect, visually and canonically, no matter how insignificant anyone considers them to be.
Prequel to the entire franchise? No. Tancharoen put his foot in his mouth by making this claim. While making the expectations higher, anyone can compare the latest Mortal Kombat game and Legacy, and see that it's just another adaptation via television, whether it is good or bad.
This blog is a message, from a couple Mortal Kombat fans to another, that if you happen to land the motion picture, that you'll take these following issues and put them into consideration during pre-production. It's a franchise you love; show it the love by giving it the respect it deserves, in its entirety.
