Mortal Kombat Legends: Snow Blind (2022)

A third entry in this pretty decent adult animated Mortal Kombat movie franchise? Who knew! Well I didn't for sure so as eager as I am I was quick to view this pronto, stay tuned to find out what I thought. Oh wait, I mean have a gander down below at my humble scribbles.

Long after the Defeat of Shao Khan Earthrealm has come under the control of 'The Black Dragon Clan' and their now cybernetic leader Kano. The entire realm has, somehow, become a massive desert wasteland strewn with death, destruction, and isolated cities. Out of nowhere the young warrior Kenshi pops up to try and defeat Kano and his clan. But Kenshi will need the help of an aged Sub-Zero (now a humble farmer) and a magical mysterious sword called Sento.

So this third entry takes a distinct different route in terms of visuals. First off, the hand-drawn style is very clearly different from the previous two outings and offers a more lowkey appearance, dare I say slightly cheaper animation. Or at least that's how it appears to me. The art on display definitely has less detail and looks a bit more like a Saturday morning cartoon, albeit a decent one. The actual animation, while respectable, is a bit more choppy or jerky, not as fluid as the previous two movies (both of which had a very Genndy Tarkakovsky-like style). Overall the visual presentation is solid but not as good as the previous offerings. Unfortunately the CGI in the finale of the movie is pretty terrible, was that on purpose? Cos it seriously stuck out that bad.

The setting for this movie also has a distinct vibe about it. Set in a desert wasteland, outback/western looking locations, people dressed in various barbarian-esque style attire, the mad vehicles etc...Yup, it's clear as day to anyone that the folk behind this have taken a big page out of the 'Mad Max' franchise, with a little bit of 'Star Wars' thrown in. That's not a bad thing, in fact it works really well, but it is obvious.

Of course continuity wise this third movie is still a thoroughly adult affair with blood and guts flying all over the place...and that's a good thing. In fact, I might actually hazard a guess and say this movie is possibly the bloodiest of the three movies. In fact, I'd say the lowkey animation actually kinda enhanced the violence and gore on display because it looks much more gritty and somehow more nasty. Naturally being Mortal Kombat you'd also expect there to be more characters involved, and you'd be right. This time we get a nice roster of old and new with the likes of Tremor, Kobra, Erron Black, Kabal, Jarek, Drahmin, Dairou, Ferra/Torr (total Mad Max rip-off character), and Kira. Whilst at the same time we have stalwarts like good old Scorpion, Sub-Zero, and Shang Tsung.

Story wise there is nothing specifically unique going on here, we've seen this sort of thing all before. But I can't deny that the gang of bad guys are suitably evil in their deeds and it is certainly satisfying to see them get their comeuppance via various blades. Kano is also a top sadistic villain here with his (I think) Aussie accent, again makes you think of that desert-set Aussie cult classic. All the sequences of Sub-Zero training Kenshi are also somewhat generic, think of any hero training moment in any other movie. But essentially this is most definitely your standard Western Clint Eastwood revenge thriller set within a violent cyberpunk/Mad Max world with sprinkles of Far East mysticism thrown in, and that's no bad thing. 

At first I thought this was gonna be complete poo as the visuals were somewhat jarring after watching the slicker earlier movies. But blow me down this was actually really good, in fact I'd go as far as to say this is the best of the bunch, so far. It helps being an adult animated feature I think, had this been a live-action movie it would probably disappear into obscurity amongst tonnes of other wannabe action fantasy flicks. The plot moves at a nice clip but never feels convoluted or slow. The voice acting is again on top form across the board (at least for me). The characters are great fun and the violence is gooey and disgusting. The only downside for me is the silly movie subtitle, Snow Blind? Really?

9/10

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (2024)

 

Say it once, say it twice, third time's a charm! Or so I was hoping.

The long awaited sequel to the 1988 Tim Burton surprise hit? I would argue that a sequel was not really required and if it REALLY was then it would have to be on point. Afterall there is actually quite a lot one could do with this spooky creation from Burton, no denying that. But as with many many other late-in-the-day sequels of classic movies, Hollywood rarely gets it right. Alas in my opinion they still haven't really broken that trend.

Right from the get go this movie is a convoluted mess that jumps around all over the show. Lydia Deetz (Winona Ryder) now hosts a supernatural TV show, which makes sense, but is constantly haunted by visions of Beetlejuice. So far so good. Lydia now also has a daughter, Astrid (Jenna Ortega), who doesn't believe in ghosts and a potential husband, Rory (Justin Theroux), as her original husband died years earlier. At the same time we learn Charles Deetz (Jeffrey Jones) from the original movie has died in a plane crash. This leads to Delia (Catherine O'Hara) staging a huge funeral and wake at their hilltop house for Charles. 

Meanwhile in the afterlife, Beetlejuice's first wife Delores (Monica Bellucci) somehow manages to come back to life (her body was chopped up and in multiple crates) and begin her murderous campaign to find Beetlejuice (yes the dead can be killed apparently). We find out that when they were both alive Beetlejuice killed her after she poisoned him because she was in some weird cult or something. At the same time Beetlejuice is running an administrative office of bio-exorcists with a bunch of shrunken head guys, because in the first movie you had one shrunken head guy (ugh!).

Meanwhile in the afterlife, a dead actor who thinks he's a cop (because there are no real dead cops around?) is on the case of recent murders carried out by Delores. He later goes after Beetlejuice due to BJ bringing a living person into the afterlife. Astrid meets up with a boy who harbors a dark surprise leading her to the afterlife. Lydia must enter a pact with Beetlejuice meaning she must marry him...again. Jesus! Note, the Maitland's do not appear, they have ''moved on via a loophole''. Neither do we see Maxie Dean or Otho.

So here's the core issue with this movie, it's overly complicated, it's a mess of epic proportions. The first ten minutes or so I was sitting there asking myself what on earth was going on, what I was seeing didn't resemble a Beetlejuice flick. It seemed to take an age to actually get going with the numerous subplots and there's just no need! Why is this movie so complex?? We know the score from the first movie, this sequel should just be jumpin' right in.

Yes visuals wise this movie does uphold the originals (lack of budget) charm. I really appreciated that Burton and his team went with somewhat cheesy practical special effects that fell in line with the original so it felt like the same world. I really appreciated how they got the house looking just like the original both inside and out. I loved that the model town in the attic looked the same. The real town looked the same, the makeup for Keaton as Beetlejuice looked the same, the afterlife waiting room looked the same etc...They nailed it with all that stuff.

Twas also great that Burton got back all the original cast, albeit Jones who has some legal issues. Burton also added to the cast with some big names but this did not add to the actual movie, and here lies the problem. Beetlejuice himself barely pops up, although he didn't in the original this is true; but he doesn't really need to even be in his own movie! Any character could have done his job here. Willem Dafoe's dead cop actor Wolf Jackson was given too much to do going after two major characters. He needed more time for his plots. Dolores the ghost murdered didn't need to be there at all and her story just abruptly ended pointlessly, taken out in the blink of an eye when she seemed to be quite a threatening character. Her character could have been the whole plot.

Add to that the character of Jeremy, Astrid's potential boyfriend. This was a nice yet unoriginal little twist that could also have been used for the entire plot really. Alas his story also comes to an abrupt end outta nowhere when you half expected more to come. Delia Deetz did nothing of use other than be there for continuity. And Lydia's first husband, Astrid's dad, also pops up for a brief moment but doesn't really add much as does Rory who predictably turns out to be a creep.

This movie also suffers from the same issue other movies do with fanboy nostalgia for the sake of nostalgia, sticking stuff in because hey remember this! Like why are there so many shrunken-head characters now? Yes there was a single cool shrunken-head character in the original, and now there are loads of them? The movie also follows the same beats as the original to some degree. There's a weird musical set because there was one in the original (Day-o). Lydia enters the model town with Rory just as Adam and Barbara did. We go to the land of the sandworms again (what exactly is that supposed to be? Are they really on Saturn's moon Titan?). Beetlejuice does the same tricks he did before, and the ending is essentially the same revolving around saving someone from a wedding.

I also did not like how there are various different stages in the afterlife now. I always thought the afterlife was the afterlife, that was it, a kooky bureaucratic nightmare. Turns out there's a hell and a great beyond also. Then there's the whole 'soul train' gag. So every dead person is riding the train presumably to the great beyond (heaven). Every dead person is a soul, they're riding a train, so it's a 'soul train'...cue a constant gag with every dead person being a disco dancer from the 70's. Really? 

So the finale sees a literal clash of multiple subplots as they collide into one another resulting in not very much, a complete disappointment. I still can't believe the whole thing ends in almost identical fashion as the original, sheesh! This movie is terribly overblown with, what seems like, tonnes of different ideas from different people or Burton not being able to decide which route to take. There are virtually three or four potential full movies going on here, all crammed into this movie. Does Keaton steal the show? Yeah kinda, he's still got the juice as it were, not as rude or rambunctious as before but he's still got it. Does this save the movie or make it worth a watch? In my opinion no it doesn't save the movie. Is it worth a watch? Yeah, it's alright I guess, although I think a constant stream of poor to bog-standard movies has indoctrinated people into now accepting poor to bog-standard guff. This is mildly better.

5/10

Mortal Kombat Legends: Battle of the Realms (2021)

 

The inevitable sequel to 'Scorpion's Revenge' sees Shao Khan and his many many minions waging war on Earthrealm. At the same time another Mortal Kombat tournament kicks off, only this time it could be the final battle. Raiden enters the deadly tournament as a regular Human to help Earthrealm. Scorpion is still being used by the bad guys, this time Shinnok. Characters new and old pop up as expected...but is it enough this time?

Well the movie starts off really well with Shao Khan's forces of Netherrealm demons and Outworld warriors attacking a monastery being held by the good guys. This entire sequence is essentially a rip-off (homage?) from the 'Battle of Helm's Deep' in the classic 'The Lord of the Rings' franchise. Thick towering stone walls lined with arrow-wielding monks fending off legions upon legions of demons both on land and in the air. Beasts of burden dragging huge wooden siege towers loaded with Tarkatan warriors all hell-bent on killing anything Human. Hordes of demons marching mindlessly into incoming arrow fire and just stepping over fresh arrow-ridden bodies. There's even a very similar wall breach moment in the thick of the action.

Naturally we see all the usual faces back again. Hero regulars Jax, Sonya, Cage, and Lui Kang are present and correct. This time they have assistance from Stryker and Kung Lao. On the baddies side we get new appearances from Kintaro, Reiko, D'Vorah, Jade, and Baraka, with cyborgs Sektor, Cyrax, and Smoke also. Gotta say the choice of characters for this sequel is odd and seemingly random. There are still many regulars missing yet they pick someone like D'Vorah from Mortal Kombat X? I do like how well-known characters are killed off, makes things more interesting not knowing who will make it to the end, to a degree at least.

Story-wise it's a bit convoluted really and things aren't really addressed. Sub-Zero and Scorpion are STILL battling it out in their little subplot but with the cyber Kin Kuei thrown into the mix. This doesn't last too long before the plot fixes everything and moves on. Kitana (Mileena anyone?) isn't really explored whereas Jade is a mere cameo. Shao Khan is still invading Earthrealm with no consequences from the Elder Gods? Yet they know about it? They just allow another tournament and Khan to carry on with his clearly evil plan. Shinnok still manages to carry out his plan to unleash a super being that will destroy all existence (why would you want to do that?). Personally, I didn't really like the finale of the movie with everyone fighting this Marvel-esque super God-like being and Liu Kang morphing into a huge dragon because he has the power of Grayskull or whatever. Meh just went off the rails and became some generic superhero-type crap.

But anywho, the visuals are on par with the first movie with the same animation style (obviously all made at the same time in one go). This is a good thing of course. Likewise all the brutal violence is still here and just as gooey if not more so! We get some nice tournament fighting within the classic MK arena showcasing some nice nods for the fans (although they still leave out SO much). All the action is just as kinetic as before and again the voice casting is spot on (same cast from the first movie obviously). Both this sequel and the first entry have followed the Mortal Kombat blueprint to a tee, no question about that. Highly enjoyable and engaging but still just lacking the final killer blow that would knock this out of the park making it a full-blown classic.

6/10

Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion's Revenge (2020)

 

There has been quite a lot of material thrown out surrounding the infamous Mortal Kombat franchise, most of it has been mediocre to say the least, but with this little gem it looks like they finally got it right, or close to.

For me personally I put this full-length animated movie alongside the now classic Genndy Tartakovsky animated Star Wars Clone Wars series. And by that I mean both seem to be unique standouts that, surprisingly, most people tend to forget about. Both have a similar attractive art style, and both took a much more serious approach to their respective franchises at a time when that was lacking, or in Mortal Kombat's case, most other things had just been plain bad.

This animation basically introduces Scorpion and how he became the skull-headed fire-breather. Spoiler alert: He and his family were massacred by another clan, so in the Netherrealm, he makes a deal with Quan Chi to come back from the dead and get revenge. It's a tale as old as time. At the same time, the regular gang of MK heroes (Sonya Blade, Jax, Lui Kang, and Johnny Cage) are off to Shang Tsung's island to compete in the Mortal Kombat tournament to try and save Earthrealm. It's a tale as old as time.

So the most noticeable element of this animation is of course the fact it's an adult animation stuffed with lots and lots and lots of Mortal Kombat gore. Aside from the stories that are mildly engaging the rest of the movie is obviously seeing various characters fight to the death showcasing familiar moves, stages, and quips. Naturally that's what people are mostly here for and the movie doesn't disappoint too much. Don't get me wrong I was satisfied but certain well-known characters are killed off surprisingly quickly whilst others don't show up at all. I kinda expected a lot more, there could have easily been a lot more characters and fights, some montages perhaps.

Have to mention that I've always had a bit of an issue with MK characters in movie/TV form because so many of them are so powerful. It definitely feels like there are too many main villains with Shang Tsung, Quan Chi, Goro, Khan, Shinnok etc...You also know certain characters won't die for obvious reasons and other characters are sidelined. Reptile gets a pretty raw deal in this movie methinks. But this tends to lead to many characters just slamming their way through busloads of henchmen/thugs/ninjas as if they're in invincible mode. Gets a bit stupid really because how useless can these guys be??

I liked that the movie focused on Scorpion (it had to focus on one of the big names really) and his story was fine if predictable, cliched, and generic. As said the other main plot line was the simple tournament as you would expect really. The standouts were of course the brutal violence where we finally get to see some fatalities on the 'big screen' so to speak. The animation was lovely and much in the same vein as Tartakovsky's Clone Wars, a wise choice. They also give us the slow-mo X-ray damage hits with certain moves. The voice casting was spot on in my personal opinion and the small touches of humour with Johnny Cage were a pleasant addition.

In general overall this was a solid step forward in the Mortal Kombat franchise and probably the best thing to come out up to this point. All the live-action movies and TV shows have been so-so, never really hit the mark for me. But this animated entry certainly kicks all sorts of ass with electrifying high-paced action, thick gloopy buckets of claret, and top visuals to boot! The only problem is it all feels a bit by the numbers.

7/10