Mortal Kombat Legacy

[McDirty]

I'm actually a very big Mortal Kombat fan . I love the games, the fighting, the blood/gore, and I also love the characters. So I was pretty happy when I learned news that a web series was being filmed of the story of Mortal Kombat.

For those not familiar with what Legacy is, here's the wikipedia description:

Mortal Kombat: Legacy is an American web series that debuted on Machinima.com's YouTube channel on April 11, 2011. [1] The show is an adaptation of the fictional universe of the Mortal Kombat video game franchise. The show's premise originated with director Kevin Tancharoen's short film entitled Mortal Kombat: Rebirth, portraying the original game's story in a realistic way, a concept he eventually submitted to Warner Bros. seeking the green-light for production on a re-imagined Mortal Kombat film.[2] Warner Bros. refused to back the film, despite the attention and positive fan reception,[3][4] but Tancharoen did receive the go-ahead to shoot the web series.[5]

Mortal Kombat: Legacy takes place before the events of the first tournament and tells the background stories of several characters from the franchise, culminating in their reasons for participating in the upcoming tenth Mortal Kombat tournament, on which the first game was based.

So far, there have been 4 eps so far. Each ep is released every Monday. In my honest opinion, I really don't know what to think yet because maybe it's too soon. Sadly, I'm so far more disappointed than I am pleased though. Probably due to majority of the casting. Sonya looks like she's 40 and not attractive, Kitana & Milleena don't really feel like Kitana & Mileena, and Shao Kahn is a non-intimidating white guy. It also feels more like a CSI episode. But that's just my opinion and this is really the beginning of the show.

On the plus side, the show does have a lot of potential and I hope it turns into something good. Who knows? What do you guys think? Do you like it or not like it? What would you like to see from this show in the future?

List of Episodes:
Episode 1 - Jax, Sonya, and Kano part 1
Episode 2 - Jax, Sonya and Kano part 2
Episode 3 - Johnny Cage
Episode 4 - Kitana & Mileena part 1
Episode 5 - Kitana & Mileena part 2

[dj_ultima_the_great]

My brother sent me a link to the first one a while back, and I've been following it, although I haven't gotten to the fourth episode yet. I do like Mortal Kombat, but only the old school stuff, so if they start to take too much from the newer games, I'll be lost. I don't actually mind the casting so far. The only one I know is Jeri Ryan anyhow, and I'm actually glad that they aren't playing up to her sex appeal after the disastrous Seven of Nine role on Star Trek: Voyager. Besides, I never thought of Sonya as a sexy character, and so I don't believe she should be portrayed as such here. She's a strong female, and it's a nice change for JR as an actress.

Anyway, for a web series, I think it's pretty darn well-produced thus far. I do think that the first episode used gratuitous slow motion, and the second one had nearly as much recap as it did new episode material, but the third one seemed to brush away both of those things. Glad to see that the supernatural elements are starting to make their way in. It's a little slow right now, but remember that there has to be some exposition of the plot and characters if they intend for us viewers to give a damn about them. Since the episodes are quite short, it's going to take several of them to achieve that effect.

All in all, it's been plenty long enough since the crappy movies, and so I'm willing to give any revival a shot. This is seeming a lot better than I anticipated, really.


- Jen

EDIT: okay, caught up now. I don't see why people on YT keep complaining about the animated segments in the last two episodes. It's a new world; why can't it use a new style? I'm wondering if all of these people hated Kill Bill's animated section just for being different as well.

[Niotex]

Have been watching it. That's pretty much it.

[Hathor Liderc]

They just released Raiden this week.

So far, they do a pretty decent job with adding their own rendition of the games, while keeping to the source material. Johnny Cage's episode was just sad.

[guy07]

This is new to me. Thanks.

[dreamawake]

Raiden episode was boss.

[guy07]

Not bad. Really different from the original mortal kombat plot tho.

[Kitsuner]

I can dig it. Definitely looking forward to seeing more of Mr. Cage.

EDIT: okay, caught up now. I don't see why people on YT keep complaining about the animated segments in the last two episodes. It's a new world; why can't it use a new style? I'm wondering if all of these people hated Kill Bill's animated section just for being different as well.

The issue I had with the animated section wasn't the animation itself. I thought it looked really cool and fit the otherworldly mood. The cutting between animated and live-action felt disjointed to me. I didn't see any pattern to when it was drawn instead of filmed or vice-versa. Both versions looked good, but without a reason for the alternate perception, it isn't difficult to confuse the audience.

Side note: did anyone else expect (hope) that King Jerrod would spend the entire show eating Subway sandwiches?

[Hathor Liderc]

Side note: did anyone else expect (hope) that King Jerrod would spend the entire show eating Subway sandwiches?

Not really, but I geeked out when I found out who played Jarrod.