First and Second Episode: Jax & Sonya vs. Kano

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.