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.
I have to say that based on what I've seen of Kahn, Baraka, and Mileena..I really want Kevin Tancharoen to take our criticisms into account before doing the movie so we can end up with the best results possible and not split the fanbase or have too much of a polarising reaction of any kind towards this film since MK needs to be done as much justice as it deserves after the rut MK:Annihilation put the franchise in.
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