Hello, my friends. As we push our way towards the massive blizzard that is our uncertain future, we all must continue to maintain our sights upon the best that humanity can be towards ourselves & for all that’s around us. While we make that trek, let’s revisit a famous franchise that’s now looking to step outside its usual contest settings as I once again welcome you to another entry of…
Over the first two chapters, Earthrealm’s chosen protectors had to endure a pair of major tournaments hosted by Outworld’s deviously finest. During this, a familiar ninja lost his original life and became reborn as a fiery specter whose own battles saw him cross paths with two different, yet similar ice-powered ninja brothers. Now that we’re past the familiar trappings of the franchise’s humble beginnings, it’s time for us to cast our vision upon a new problem that’s stirring. On that note, let us now place a critical eye upon…
Originally released on October 9, 2022, for Blu-Ray and digital download, this movie sees Rick Morales take over as director, while Jeremy Adams maintains his spot within the writer’s chair. So, what kind of new perils await this continuously chaotic world? Let’s embark on this journey and find out.
We open within a mountainous village with its own thriving population where they even have a statue dedicated to Earthrealm’s greatest protector: Liu Kang. Within the nearby wasteland however, a ravenous group is driving its way towards the town before it ultimately smashes through the main gate. From there, they proceed to run over and impale a few citizens before the gang members hop off to attack the people.
Among those delivering the bloody slaughter is the masked hook sword-wielding Kabal (voiced by Keith Silverstein) a silent gunslinger named Erron Black, a vicious young woman named Kira (voiced by Courtenay Taylor), a tough punk named Kobra (voiced by Yuri Lowenthal), and a flamethrower-wielding fiend named No Face.
With the village falling completely under their control, they proceed to tear down the Liu Kang statue before the citizens get addressed by an elderly Shang Tsung (voiced by Artt Butler). He tells them that their town will now become an outpost for the gang known as the Black Dragon and that the group will actually offer some protection, just as long as they pledge their loyalty to them along with “a small tax”. With the people hesitating to respond, Shang Tsung then introduces them to the group’s leader known as Kano (voiced by David Wenham) who emerges within his own cybernetic body. He then proceeds to tell the crowd a story where they happily lived in peace until certain “wars” emerged and forced them to retreat into “little corners of the world”. However, a certain terror known as the Revenants persisted upon them until their resources continued to dwindle. He then tells the people that under his rule, he’ll give them all a renewed sense of purpose. After he tells the citizens that all they have to do his pledge their loyalty to him, they proceed to get threatened by the Black Dragon members as they wind up bowing down to him as a result. From there, he welcomes them to his group while Shang Tsung curiously watches over him from afar.
Following the title card, we then have Kuai Liang a.k.a. Sub-Zero (voiced by Ron Yuan) running through a frozen wasteland while being pursued by an ominous blizzard. After he trips and falls over, he’s met upon by his older brother named Bi-Han. From there, it’s revealed to be a nightmare as an older Kuai wakes up and gets dressed before he ultimately takes care of some chores upon his farm. He then gathers some home-grown food and heads out on his wagon-drawn steed.
While he travels through the wasteland, he soon hears an engine in the distance and spots an incoming vehicle. Realizing who the approaching company is, he orders his donkey to run as fast as it can go. Unfortunately, the Black Dragon members are easily able to catch up and stop him. From there, Kira hops onto his wagon and informs both Kabal & Kobra that he’s carrying fresh produce. Kobra demands to know where he got it, but Kuai refuses to talk and kicks him away. Kabal then steps in and calmly asks Liang where he acquired his food, as well as where he’s taking it. Once again, Kuai doesn’t utter a word. As such, Kabal yanks him off of his wagon and proceeds to kick him, all-the-while becoming amazed by the man’s refusal to retaliate. Afterwards, Kabal tells his fellow gang members to take whatever food they want. Once Kira & Kobra manage to do so, the latter member then joins Kabal in tipping the wagon over before they all head out.
Later, the group is in the middle of their drive across the wasteland as Kabal has decided to go find out where Liang was delivering his food to. He even ignores Kira’s request for them to head back to their gang’s base, despite Kobra’s own warning about how Kano is “made of something” that’s “bad” and “powerful”. They ultimately come across another village that’s not under the Black Dragon’s rule as they walk through it. While Kira and Kobra realize that this is another perfect place for their group to establish their growing operations, Kabal isn’t entirely interested in telling Kano about it before he steals some produce and shoves the shopkeeper over.
Just as Kabal tells his cohorts that they could break away from Kano’s rule and easily capture the village in order to form their own group, they’re approached by someone who’s noticed them from the moment they arrived. As the citizens clear the streets, the young man says that he wants to challenge them. However, they don’t take him seriously as Kobra decides to rough him up. To their surprise, the guy defeats him with a single kick to his face. Kira then steps in, but she gets ultimately bested. From there, Kabal engages the man, only to get smacked around before he gets defeated with a knee strike that hits his mask hard enough to partially shatter it.
Kira and Kobra then warn the guy that he’s just made a huge mistake before they drag Kabal out of the village. Despite having saved the townspeople, the shopkeeper tells the young man that he’s just engaged some members of the Black Dragon. As such, they’ll be returning to unleash their wrath upon the town. However, the young guy sees this as the perfect opportunity to seek a greater challenge as he decides to stay put.
Later, night has fallen within K-Town as Kano and his numerous gang members oversee a cage match between two women. Ultimately, the fight ends as Kano orders the victor named Kindra (voiced by Sumalee Montano) to deliver the deathblow. However, she refuses to kill her opponent named Graji (voiced by Debra Wilson) as Kano decides to execute both of them with a pair of brutal headshots.
Afterwards, Kabal and his comrades return as they inform their master about the recently discovered outpost. Despite it being “well-defended”, they offer to go back and execute every last person there. However, Kano decides to have them be accompanied by Tremor (voiced by Imari Williams) in order for him to take care of the person responsible for embarrassing his top members. He then calls for Shang Tsung, only to discover that he’s disappeared.
Soon enough, it’s revealed that he’s within his boss’ office delivering an alcoholic beverage before he spots a curious door within the room. Just then, he’s approached by Kano who proceeds to guzzle the entire drink from his decanter. Afterwards, he tells Shang Tsung to follow Tremor towards a small hidden city in order to make sure that he and his comrades don’t try to defect from the group, as well as reporting his findings back to him.
We then cut to Kuai having the same nightmare before he wakes up in order to take care of his farm chores. He then heads out to deliver his produce to the free village before he arrives at the market and begins to unload his food.
Meanwhile, the young man sees him from afar and notices a familiar tattoo on his arm. From there, he heads over and talks to him about his plentiful crop before he then mentions the Lin Kuei, to which Liang pretends to have never heard of them. The young guy then smacks a box of produce out of the wagon, to which Kuai uses his sharp reflexes to catch the crate along with its tomatoes.
Liang then asks the young man what he wants, to which he finally introduces himself as Kenshi Takahashi (voiced by Manny Jacinto) and that he’s eager to become a great fighter. As such, he wants to learn from Liang about everything that he knows, yet Kuai turns him down. He also refuses to accept any payment and that he only wishes to be peacefully left alone. Just then, Kabal and company return as Tremor offers Kenshi a chance to join the Black Dragon. Takahashi refuses to do so before Tremor orders him to “apologize and kneel”, causing the patrons to flee and hide. The clerk tries to intervene but gets assaulted by Kobra as Shang Tsung oversees the confrontation from afar. Takahashi then tells the opposing thugs that the only way he’ll apologize is if they make him, to which Shang Tsung recognizes his last name.
Kuai tries to defuse the situation, to which Tremor says that he and his cohorts will only leave if someone kneels before them. Liang proceeds to do so, only to get kicked in the face as the clerk helps him out.
From there, Kenshi proceeds to challenge Tremor as a fight breaks out. Takahashi is initially able to hold his own, but Tremor begins to turn the tide as he hits the ground, causing some molten rock to rise up. Kenshi then gets his feet caught within them as Tremor proceeds to unleash a severe beatdown upon him.
He then picks up the battered figure and demands for an apology, but Takahashi simply spits some blood onto his face. Tremor then attempts to deliver a fatal stomp upon him, but Shang Tsung silently orders him to refrain. Tremor then tells the citizens to prepare themselves for Kano’s arrival before he and his comrades head out.
Shortly after Kuai also takes his leave, Shang Tsung approaches Kenshi and helps him up while he introduces himself as Song. He then tells Takahashi that he’s been in a similar situation as him and that despite his own unique skills, no one is able to confront powerful beings as those from the Black Dragon. From there, Song proceeds to mention about a sword that’s potentially more powerful than Kano and his entire group. Kenshi wants to be led to it in order to finally become the champion that he sees himself as, to which Shang Tsung decides to help him.
Later, they embark on their journey as they ultimately arrive at their destination before they proceed to enter an underground chamber. Kenshi then approaches a central structure and discovers that he can make out the language that’s carved onto it, which reads “Here in the Well of Souls, the power of the Takahashi dwells”.
He then realizes that his ancestors created this, but he’s unable to open it with his regular strength. Song then realizes that it’s protected by Blood Magic as he cuts Kenshi’s palm and tells him to place it onto the seal. From there, it proceeds to open as Takahashi looks inside and initially doesn’t see anything. Just then, a green light emerges and proceeds to rush out, striking him in the face. Kenshi then discovers that the green energy has blinded him as he calls out to Song for help, but the elderly man tells him that his true name is Shang Tsung.
Despite losing his position of power to Kano, he finally has an opportunity to enact his vengeance upon him as he proceeds to absorb all of the newly freed souls and restore his youthful appearance. Afterwards, Takahashi begs to be killed as Shang Tsung drops him into the Well of Souls before teleporting away.
Later, Kenshi lies blind, bloodied and beaten before he hears a voice calling out to him. It turns out to be the fabled blade known as Sento (voiced by Lei Yin) as Takahashi manages to wield it, allowing him to partially see again. From there, he’s able to climb out before he ultimately returns to the surface. He then proceeds to wander through the wasteland before he eventually stumbles down a dune and collapses from exhaustion.
We then shift to the morning as Kuai is about to begin his usual round of farm chores before he discovers Kenshi lying just outside of his property. Liang then approaches Takahashi and discovers that his sight has been taken from him.
Back in K-Town, Kano is practicing his ax throwing skills upon a bound gang member. Suddenly, Shang Tsung appears as he easily fends off several opposing Black Dragon goons, including Kabal. Just as Kobra & Kira are about to fight him, Kano calls them off and reveals to Shang Tsung that he was already aware of the Well of Souls, thus revealing that the only reason he sent the traitorous spellcaster to the outpost in the first place was that so he could eventually become a worthy challenger to him.
From there, they proceed to fight each other as Kano uses his gang members to dodge Shang Tsung’s magical attacks, with Kobra ultimately finding himself amongst the mystically slaughtered. Shang Tsung ultimately subdues Kano with his dark magic and tells him that he had no right to rule before he begins to absorb his soul. To his surprise however, Kano doesn’t have an actual soul within him as he uses his cybernetic enhancements to rip off half of Shang Tsung’s arm before he strikes back with a vicious pummeling. During all of this, Kano tells him that he hoped to receive a better challenge before he calls out the battered spellcaster for constantly underestimating his opponents. From there, he finishes Shang Tsung off for good by ripping his head and spinal cord out of his body.
Back on Kuai’s farm, Kenshi wakes up as Liang reveals his identity to him, confirming his connection to the Lin Kuei. Kuai then tells him that he’ll only stay here until he’s fully recovered before he then returns Sento to him. Kenshi then decides to just leave as his partial sight provided by his sword allows him to properly head to the exit, much to Liang’s amazement. However, Takahashi stumbles outside and loses his grasp upon his blade, causing him to grieve for being less than the man that he used to be. Kuai then tells him that he used to be prideful in their initial meeting, but now that he’s been robbed of his sight, Liang tells him that he ultimately knew nothing. During this, Kenshi manages to find Sento again and attempts to strike him in frustrated anger. Thankfully, Kuai dodges before he offers to train him on how to survive. In particular, he’ll help him hone his senses in order to properly live. From there, they head inside to rest up.
Once the morning arrives, Takahashi’s training begins as Liang tells him to use his enhanced hearing in order to catch a chicken. However, it initially proves to be too swift for him to do so. In another part of Kenshi’s training, he stands in the middle of a series of posts that each have a different item on it. Kuai proceeds to toss some pebbles in order to have Takahashi react and strike them, but the blind youth proceeds to wildly miss his mark. He then has another exercise where he must hop from post to post while balancing a pair of bucket-filled stones, which he ultimately fails since a single rock fell out.
With a day’s worth of training having come to an end, Kenshi patiently waits for dinner to be prepared. Just then, his partial sight helps him notice a familiar kunai spear as he proceeds to ask about it. Liang says that it’s “a promise” before he realizes that Sento is allowing Takahashi to see. Kenshi then attempts to explain what his sword’s partial sight is like before he accidentally begins to display some burgeoning telekinesis. Afterwards, Takahashi ends up falling asleep due to some sleeping elixir that was secretly added to his soup.
We then shift to Liang having the familiar nightmare, though there’s some actual flashes towards some impaled figures. Kuai is then approached by whom he assumes to be his brother, but Sub-Zero reveals that it’s himself before Kenshi wakes him up. From there, Liang resumes their training as he tells Takahashi to telekinetically summon his sword in order to slice a watermelon that’s falling towards him. Unfortunately, he’s not able to do so in time.
Later, they have a sparring session as Kenshi wildly charges towards Kuai, only to constantly miss him and fall down. Liang then tells him that he’s not believing in himself, to which Takahashi says that he used to believe that he was a great warrior despite the horrors of the outside world. Kuai then says that the only reason he agreed to train him is because he was also in a similar low point just before he ultimately discovered the self-drive to willfully change his circumstance. Ultimately, Kenshi is able to trust his senses as he successfully disarms Liang. Afterwards, Kuai tells him that he can be better as long as he continues to believe.
From there, we shift to a new day of training as Takahashi is able to use his continuously perfected senses in order to conquer his previously failed exercises. As they relax with some homemade sake, Kenshi then proceeds to ask Liang why he bowed to the Black Dragon, despite his own strength and skills forged within the Lin Kuei. Kuai then mentions that he used to be in the group before he delves into his past.
Long before the wasteland came about, he was the most feared and powerful ninja within his clan. Then one day, a vast outbreak of undead beings known as the Revenants came about as they swept across the whole world. In his prideful youth, he led a group of Lin Kuei ninjas into a city in order to properly combat them. However, there were too many Revenants for them to fight. With his fellow warriors getting slaughtered, he decided to unleash the full power of his Cryomancy and summon a vicious ice storm. However, he had lost control and ended up wiping out not just the Revenants, but the city’s civilians & his fellow teammates as well. With him being the lone survivor, he discovered the horror of being within the vicious cycle of violence. As such, he took an oath to never use his ice powers ever again, even if it was for a worthy cause.
We then shift to a new day of Takahashi’s training as he finally catches the chicken. Shortly afterwards, Liang notices a disturbing sight of smoke in the distance while Kenshi is able to smell it. It turns out that the Black Dragon has finally invaded and conquered the village as Kano tells its citizens that he’ll provide protection as long as they bow down to him as their king. From there, everyone but a single man proceeds to do so. Despite his life getting threatened from afar by Erron Black, he still refuses to kneel as he wishes to “die as a free man” upon his own feet. As such, Kano personally executes him via a headshot.
Meanwhile, Kuai observes all of this from afar as he informs Takahashi that the Black Dragon has made the townsfolk swear their allegiance to them. Afterwards, Liang decides to head out while Kenshi refuses to abandon those people. Takahashi even mentions how despite his lessons being focused on living, they ultimately extended towards helping others since Kuai helped him become the warrior that he is, even recalling the aforementioned teachings on how the phrase “I can’t” is the most poisonous of all and that men are capable of changing their circumstances. Despite all of that, Liang refuses to let him engage the opposing group as a brief scuffle emerges between them. Ultimately, Kuai offers to take him back to the farm in order to live a good life. However, Kenshi says that his teachings have made him realize an honorably heroic cause before he heads out to engage his foe as they both go their separate ways.
After night has fallen, the Black Dragon is mostly hanging out within the local tavern while some members remain outside. Takahashi manages to stealthily slice them up before dropping one of the slayed goons through the roof in order to get Kano and his group’s attention. He then demands for them to let the citizens go or else, but they don’t take him seriously as Kano orders a fellow member named Jarek to deal with him. However, Kenshi’s partial sight allows him to deliver a swift strike that slices the goon in half.
Kano then tells his gang members to get him, yet Takahashi is able to either beat them up or mainly cut them down. Even when Kabal, Kira and Erron Black join the fight, he’s able to fend them off. Just then, Tremor gets involved as he forces the fight outside.
Kenshi is able to take out a few more thugs and is able to hold his own for a while, but the central goons manage to deliver some key strikes and ultimately pin him down. Just as Kabal is prepared to execute their adversary, Kano stops him and tells the beaten hero that he’s impressed with his performance. Because he’s interested in knowing his foe’s story, he orders his comrades to take their opponent back to K-Town. All-the-while, they’re unaware that Liang has overseen this from afar.
He then returns to his farm and retrieves the kunai spear before he plants it into the ground and frees his animals. From there, he covers the compound with gasoline before setting the whole area ablaze. Shortly afterwards, the spear head gets retrieved as it turns out that it was used to summon Hanzo Hasashi a.k.a. Scorpion (voiced by Patrick Seitz) as he asks Kuai if he’s lost control, to which Liang tells him “Not Yet”. From there, he dons his Lin Kuei ninja outfit in order to become Sub-Zero again before they head out on their mission.
Over in K-Town, Takahashi has been strung up as Kano asks him how he was able to use his sword. However, he refuses to answer as Erron Black proceeds to deliver a pair of wounding shots (specifically to his pinkie and ring fingers) before taking aim for the kill shot. Just then, an ominous chill begins to form within the air as a massive ice storm starts to consume the area while Kenshi tells them that they’re about to meet the guy who taught him how to use his blade.
Suddenly, several more thugs meet their frostbitten end before Kano and company are met upon by Kuai. While Liang takes care of the goons, Scorpion manages to partially free Takahashi before he’s met upon by another notable member named Dairou (in a blink-and-you’ll-miss-him cameo).
Kenshi then uses his telekinesis to retrieve Sento in order to slice his remaining bonds before he’s met upon by Kira. She’s easily able to rough him up, but he ultimately manages to defeat her by stabbing her in the heart with one of her daggers before using his own sword to decapitate her.
Meanwhile, Sub-Zero makes his way through the goons before he’s met upon by Ferra and Torr. However, the former is able to swiftly stab him before Erron Black and No Face come in to hold him at bay.
Fortunately, Scorpion comes to his aid as he rips off Erron’s left arm and slaughters No Face before doing the same to both Ferra & Torr. Black responds by shooting Hanzo, but his shots were to no avail as Hasashi impales him with his signature chained spear before pulling him in to get stabbed by a sword. Afterwards, he uses another sword in order to slice Erron Black in half.
Kuai is then met upon by Drahmin, only for Takahashi to make quick work of him. The reunited duo then proceeds to execute some more henchmen before Hasashi joins them in their fight against Kano.
Despite being outnumbered three-to-one, Kano is more than capable of keeping them at bay. Eventually, Kenshi and Scorpion manage to hold him with their blades in order for Sub-Zero to deliver a fierce uppercut that rips the fiend’s head from his body.
To their surprise however, he’s able to reattach his cranium and escape into his base in order for Kabal to join him while the remaining goons stay behind to provide some brief cover, only for them to get easily slaughtered.
Just as our main group catch up, they’re intercepted by Tremor as Takahashi offers to fight him. They then get involved in a scuffle as Kenshi delivers several fierce strikes upon his foe, yet Tremor smashes through the floor as both of them fall towards a lower level.
Meanwhile, Kuai and Hanzo continue their pursuit before they’re met upon by Kabal. Hasashi manages to teleport away and gets Liang onto the other side of a closing door as he tells him to go get Kano. Afterwards, Kabal delivers some bloody impalements with his hook swords.
Back with Takahashi, he and Tremor have landed within the caged arena. With the expelled magma interfering with Kenshi’s partial sight, Tremor is able to grab onto Sento and heat it up in order to disarm his adversary before throwing the blade away. From there, he picks up Takahashi and tells him that he’s nothing without his sword.
Fortunately, Kenshi is able to free himself by delivering some fierce hits. Afterwards, he telekinetically summons his sword as it flies right through Tremor’s head before he delivers the final strike via a spinning slash.
Back with Scorpion, he manages to recover and engulf Kabal within his otherworldly flames, incinerating his foe before teleporting away.
Back with Kano, he reaches his main chamber and retrieves a certain skull from his desk. Just then, Sub-Zero bursts in as a brief firefight ensues before Kano uses the skull to access an unknown room as Kuai pursues him inside.
Liang then finds himself in an otherworldly room filled with rotating gears and a massive device within the middle of it all. It then proceeds to show him several images from his past before it suddenly reveals Kano’s rise to power. The fiend then tells him that this mechanism is called Kronika’s Hourglass and that he used it to “rewrite time and history”. It’s then revealed that he created the Revenants with it, which ultimately led to the vast wastelands and Kano becoming the devious ruler of them all. He then asks Sub-Zero what made him decide to finally stand up to him, to which he says that he realized that no honor could come from letting the world get destroyed around his foe.
Just then, Kano reveals that he plans on using the ancient device to finally deal with his adversaries as it begins to wipe the current Kuai from existence. Thankfully, he manages to fire off a precise ice shot to knock his foe off the platform and cancel the process, thus allowing him to get fully restored. Just as Liang is about to use Kronkia’s Hourglass to undo Kano’s devious work, the fiend uses his laser beam to blast him onto the rotating gears as a climactic clash ensues between them.
They then manage to make their way back to the massive device as they struggle to be the one who gets to rewrite history in their favor. Kano manages to deliver some vicious cuts and hits before he then pins Kuai and tells him to pledge his loyalty, so that he can get set up as a ruler of the South Pole (Antarctica, to be exact).
Fortunately, Liang manages to freeze his foe up & free himself (at the cost of his original right arm) before he then delivers several more hits and kicks him off the platform. From there, Kano lands inside the rotating gears before he gets crushed to death. Afterwards, he’s met upon by Kenshi and Scorpion as they exit the chamber.
From there, Kuai and Hanzo combine their powers to destroy Kronika’s skull as it sets off a chain reaction. After Hasashi teleports himself and his comrades to safety, the whole building proceeds to get destroyed by the ensuing implosion. Later, Takahashi tells Liang that the Wasteland is free from Kano’s rule and that they can team up to take out the remaining Revenants. However, Sub-Zero says that he can’t do that as he explains that even though Kenshi has helped him regain the sense of honor that he originally lost, he still broke his vow of never using his powers again. He then gives Takahashi the task of rebuilding the Lin Kuei in order to defend Earthrealm from future threats before he and Hasashi take their leave towards the Netherrealm. And so, the film ends with our hero heading out on his mission to reform the former ninja clan.
Now that this post-apocalyptic journey has come to a close, let’s delve into my character analysis. Starting things off, we have our featured swordsman in Kenshi Takahashi. When we first meet him, he has a youthful arrogance entwined with what he initially thinks he wants to become. Although he desires to become a good fighter, it’s only for the benefit of a naive and unrealistic personal goal. He does manage to demonstrate some sharp fighting skills early on, so he actually does have the potential to become a worthy figure. However, the Black Dragon (particularly Tremor and Shang Tsung) ends up shattering his worldview and they make him realize that he doesn’t have all of the answers to properly stand up against everyone that he faces. This is especially true when Shang Tsung as Song is able to deceive him with a scheme that’s masked behind a false sense of trust and ultimately leaves him blind, which is exactly what happened to him within the game that served as his official debut: “Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance”. After falling into his initial low point, it will take Sub-Zero’s strict, yet guiding hands to raise him out of his funk so that he can get molded into the proper swordsman that he’ll need to become in order to fight and survive within the ravaged Earthrealm. For Kenshi, his arc sees him finding his true calling after the trials and tribulations that he wound up in forced him to deviate from his originally superficial goals. His situation can also be somewhat similar to the regular human experience. In a familiar fashion to how Takahashi originally tried to become a top-tier fighter with his regular eyesight, the first few decades of a person’s life see us initially learning about the world around us and help us form a foundational idea of what we think it is. Once Kenshi loses his sight and goes through his initial struggles with it, it can be relatable to the moment in our lives where the world throws us a major curveball to our worldviews, and we’re forced to make some drastic changes in order to adapt & survive. In terms of Takahashi’s presented journey, his struggles were nicely handled, humbling and laid the groundwork for both his future development as well as his rebuilding of the Lin Kuei, should the powers that be ultimately decide that it’s a story worth telling. Manny Jacinto brought some nice youthful range to his role, allowing his performance to effectively present Kenshi’s youthful swagger, fearful frustration and steely confidence throughout the course of the movie. All-in-all, he presented himself with professional confidence and accomplished a lot with his part.
Moving on, we have our frosty ninja himself: Sub-Zero. When we first met him over in “Battle Of The Realms”, he was filled with vengeance towards Scorpion over his brother’s murder. Thankfully, Hanzo’s situation and the otherworldly forces surrounding them has allowed Kuai to realize the same revenge-filled flaw that initially fueled Hasashi and they ultimately make peace with each other in order to take care of a corrupt Elder God who was a bigger deal than their own personal situation. Once he gets to this point in his life, it’s initially a mystery as to why he never uses his ice powers. Not to mention, keen-eyed viewers would notice that when he’s getting dressed to begin his morning routine, Scorpion’s kunai spear head is discreetly shown on his wall. After initially refusing Kenshi’s naive offer to get trained by him, only to eventually show back up once Shang Tsung’s scheme manages to rob him of his sight, Takahashi (and by extension, the audience) is able to learn about the past events that led him to this point. It seems that based on his backstory, Liang also had some kind of youthful ignorance since he had become his ninja clan’s leader, and it’s led him to believe that he & his group could tackle any problem that came their way. Unfortunately for him, the Revenants became the one thing that he and the Lin Kuei were unable to deal with in a regular fashion. While we’re not shown or given a general idea of what his past experience with extreme Cryomancy was like before this moment, I assume that he’s had some training with this powerful attack and was able to somewhat control it well enough. However, he underestimated how much control he truly had, and it led to his fellow ninjas along with several civilians feeling the same frigid outcome that the Revenants did. This is what shook him to his core and ultimately led to him making his passive pact with Scorpion. Even though this act has ultimately led to him becoming more in control with himself while also restoring some semblance of self-balance, his personal passiveness and unwillingness to react against the outside world’s injustice has led to the most notable act of Kano making the key discovery that’s elevated him into a powerful ruler within Earthrealm. Little did Kuai know was that his eventual meeting with Kenshi and the eventual training that was originally meant to help the newly blinded swordsman survive within their harsh world has opened his eyes to the fact that his teachings actually managed to inspire someone into breaking out of their self-serving shell in order to do what’s right for others. As for why he decides to ultimately sacrifice his life to Hanzo and have them join forces with Takahashi in order to finally tear down the Black Dragon once and for all, it’s most likely that his discreet viewing of Kenshi’s initial duel against Kano’s high-ranking comrades has shown him that he’s inspired someone who could potentially help turn things around for the human race in order to return some much-needed hope upon the world. While it does seem odd that Takahashi isn’t the one who gets to finally defeat Kano since he’s actually the lead protagonist, this actually completes Kuai’s character arc of having to come out of his somewhat self-imposed exile in order to properly combat Earthrealm’s injustice one last time. Of course, his arc gets an added bonus of having instructed someone who can carry on his heroic inspiration into the future. Ron Yuan (who actually voiced Scorpion in the video game “Mortal Kombat 11”) does a good job portraying a world-weary, yet still nicely skilled ninja warrior who gets to pass on his influence towards a hopeful tomorrow. As he gets to take over the role from Bayardo De Murguia who portrayed a younger version of the character in the last entry, he’s able to share a solid vocal range depending on what his scene requires from him. As such, he was greatly effective in closing out the classic legacy of this famous fighter.
Finally, let’s get to our central antagonist in Kano. When we last saw him over in the inaugural entry of this series known as “Scorpion’s Revenge”, he was still leading the Black Dragon, yet he was also in service of Shang Tsung. By the end of that film, Johnny Cage, Sonya Blade & a fully-disarmed Jax managed to defeat him and even left him for dead, especially since Shang Tsung’s defeated departure resulted in his own island falling apart. Maybe that explains why his body was mostly decimated and Kronika somehow came along to restore him with some mechanical/cyborg parts at the cost of his soul. After all, his association with Kronika as well as her Hourglass comes from the game “Mortal Kombat 11” and gets implemented as a nice way for him to switch roles with the sinister spellcaster in order to finally become the big boss of Earthrealm. His path towards becoming a powerful ruler also involves him using an element that was originally introduced in “Mortal Kombat 9” with the Revenants, since it helps to decimate the human race to dangerous levels and also serves to tie into Liang’s initial reason as to why he no longer serves justice as Sub-Zero. As he reveals during the climax, his use of Kronika’s Hourglass allowed him to manipulate the timeline in order to set his iron-fisted rule in motion. Because he’s able to have time on his side, he ultimately gets to build the Black Dragon into a massive size that no one is able to properly take on through regular means. Despite his own sick displays of potentially brutal acts (ranging from executing fighters that either lose or refuse to execute their opponents to using one of his gang members to practice his axe throwing skills on with near-fatal accuracy), he mainly treats his members (especially his high-ranking lieutenants) with enough respect in order to make sure that they help him carry out his ruthless rule. It’s also a neat twist when Shang Tsung returns fully-restored and tries to absorb his own soul, only for Kano to turn the tables and beat him to death. While our main antagonist more than proves himself to be a powerful fiend and his primary cohorts also display some effectively ruthlessness, their rule only lasts as long as no one is able to properly go up against them and finally rub them out for good. There is an arrogant and cocky attitude on Kano that he’s able to flaunt since he doesn’t initially come across anyone who can properly challenge him, especially since he was able to fend off our three main characters at one point during the climax. However, his downfall occurs when Sub-Zero finally overcomes the same hurdle of inactiveness that allowed our foe to get his devious seat of power in the first place. The film does a neat job in allowing Kano to become a pretty solid figure of terror and David Wenham is having a good time delivering a deliciously ruthless personality for our main felon, especially since he’s taken the role over from Robin Atkin Downes who handled the part back in the series’ first entry. In the end, his performance wonderfully complimented a fiendish figure who succeeded within the villainous spotlight for this outing.
The story serves as a dual tale that involves an up-and-coming fighter who has to be molded towards a worthwhile cause in order to truly become the confident figure that he’s meant to be, alongside a figure who must regain his heroic purpose after being spooked into separating himself from his ninja past following a horrific turn of events. Both of them are wandering through life either without a fully guided purpose or an intended retirement from his Lin Kuei past. Just like the innocent people who’re either under the rule of the Black Dragon or are about to fall under said devious control, there’s no major drive towards some kind of grand goal. Because of the group’s fearful grasp upon the wastelands, there isn’t a shining example of anyone who’s allowed to strive for any meaningful purpose. Though both of our main characters never expected the drastic turn of events that would ultimately play out, their unlikely unification ultimately served to benefit themselves. For Sub-Zero, it’s a short-term perk that’s personal and redeems him of the heroic inactivity that unintentionally aided Kano in his rise towards some cruel command. For Kenshi, it’s a long-term gain since he now has an obtainable heroic drive and can potentially help turn things around on Earthrealm for the better while also returning the Lin Kuei to their former glory. After going through back-to-back entries that focused on a large cast of characters having to take part in Outworld-sponsored tournaments while Scorpion goes through his own unique struggle before ultimately finding himself dealing with the final conflict that the cruel contests has spawned, it’s a nice change of pace to have a far-more character-driven story within this line. Its theme of heroes being forged from unlikely places and with hopeful motivations as well felt very-well handled. Helping the narrative out in delivering these main motifs is its pacing, since the film takes the right amount of time to allow these events to unfold as effectively as possible. While there is a background detail or two that could be missed on an initial watch, the major information that its viewers would need for this tale are noticeable and shown within a coherent manner. Also helping these factors out is the animation, which manages to flow at a constant and effective rate. While there are a few moments of it being reused, mainly with Liang waking up to take care of his farm chores, there wasn’t any egregious moments of stutter or choppiness that I was able to notice. The biggest standout of all was the room that contained Kronika’s Hourglass, since the rotating gears that seemed to stretch out for eternity was three-dimensional animation that was wonderfully blended with Kuai and Kano’s models as they struggled upon them. Ultimately, they all compliment a story that’s executed as well as the crew’s able to. I’m not sure where the script could’ve been pumped up and tweaked in order for it to have stood out a little bit better, but the feeling throughout the entire entry expertly serves a more somewhat intimate character piece and allows a later-entry figure to take center stage in order to demonstrate his appealing skills that made him noteworthy towards the franchise’s fans.
Overall, this is a smaller-scale story that’s told in a highly entertaining fashion. The characters were well-handled, the story was engaging, the action was vicious & bloody as ever and the themes were delivered in a respectable fashion. While not necessarily a high-octane or expertly written entry, this still delivers a well-told tale where hope can shine within an otherwise bleak world, driven by those who’re strong in mind, body, soul and motivation. If you’ve already checked out the two entries prior to this, proceed to set your sights on this outing since it won’t leave you with a cold shoulder experience.
Next Time: Long before any of these Legends tales were told and even before he went through the developmental ringer alongside his eventual comrades, a familiar action movie star will embark on a rescue mission to save a notable actress while he also crosses paths with a devious group that’s looking to cause loads of harm towards Earthrealm. We’ll be delving into Johnny’s initial Shadow Kicks as he takes part in a solo journey called “Mortal Kombat Legends: Cage Match”.
Mortal Kombat (created by Ed Boon & John Tobias) is owned by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment.
