Hello, my friends. The moment of proving one’s worth can come up within either a small or grand scale. For one budding figure, his solo mission will take him towards a Tinseltown tussle unlike anything that he or anyone else could possibly have imagined. On that note, I welcome you back to another entry of a review series known as…
As we continue our look at this particular line, we once again set our analytical eyes upon individual tales. Within the time frame of this planet, we’ll actually be heading back to a time period before Outworld’s impending presence in order to focus on a certain man’s rise towards his own self-competence. As such, our featured subject has us engaged in a retro rumble called…
Released on October 17, 2023, for Blu-Ray, 4K Ultra HD Blu-Ray and Digital Download, it also saw an overseas release on DVD. With Ethan Spaulding reclaiming his spot in the director’s chair while Jeremy Adams maintains his writing duties within this series, how does this prequel story handle the initial adventure of a budding fighter prior to his otherworldly ventures? Let’s roll our critical cameras on this narrative and find out.
We open in New York City during the Holiday season as a thug named Tommy dashes and pushes his way through the crowd inside a subway station before he gets inside a train. After running into and then threatening a tall man into getting out of his way, the perp then reaches the back of the last car before he climbs onto the roof and tells himself that he’s safe since he believes that his pursuer will be unable to find him there.
Suddenly, a mysterious being briefly appears behind him and is seemingly climbing up an invisible ladder before he disappears and reappears near the thug. Soon enough, the slim mime manages to disarm Tommy with a swift kick before a fight ensues. The thug manages to pin his foe and demands for him to say something, but the mime manages to rebound and trap the perp before telling him to “Mime The Gap”.
From there, the fiend gets thrown off before we suddenly have some narration from our main character about how this is his big break and that it’ll catapult him from being a C-List action star into becoming an A-Lister. Just before he can mention his name, it’s suddenly revealed that this whole ordeal was a film shoot for an action movie called “Ninja Mime” before the director named Ethan (voiced by Matthew Mercer) barges his way towards our main man who narrates about him being something of a bully and that those are the kinds of people that he hates the most. The director criticizes him for changing his line at that moment, to which our main man named Johnathan Carlton a.k.a. Johnny Cage (voiced by Joel McHale) essentially tells him that it’s a terrible line. Ethan then says that he doesn’t need a “diva D-list action star improvising lines”, to which Johnny reminds him that he was discovered within the Thailand slums and worked there as an assassin while executing men with a single pinky. As such, he warns the director not to give him any more grief or else before he narrates about this being effective acting. Ethan then nervously agrees to use the new line in the scene before Cage reminds him that they have a single day to work with right before Christmas break rolls around as he heads into his trailer.
Following the title card, we see Johnny relaxing while he chats with his youthfully eager assistant named Chuck Golden (voiced by Dusan Brown) who’s signing autographs of several Cage pictures for his fans. Just then, his producer named Brian Van Jones (voiced by Phil LaMarr) comes in and tells him that they’re in serious trouble since his co-star named Jennifer has gone missing, especially since she has a scene to shoot and she’s suddenly nowhere to be found. With her not answering her phone and her assistant also disappearing, Brian says that the movie won’t get finished if she’s not found by the next day. He also mentions that the film was internationally pre-sold on her name and that she’s the project’s main draw for its audience. With both of their careers on the line, Cage offers to go to her house in order to provide her with some of his personal “charisma”. As Brian thanks him with a grateful hug, Johnny then briefly narrates how in hindsight, it was at this moment “where everything went sideways”.
Later, Cage is driving on the streets of 1980s Los Angeles with Chuck by his side. With Johnny looking to take a break for the Holidays while having his assistant still working during the season, Golden mentions how strange it is for them to celebrate Christmas without snow, to which Cage tells him that he prefers to celebrate within the comfortable L.A. weather. During the ride, Chuck asks Johnny how he became the confident person that he is now. With them being several minutes out from their intended destination, Cage decides to divulge into his backstory.
We then transition into his past where he was bullied during his time in school, especially during gym class where even the teacher didn’t care about one of his students purposefully getting a basketball thrown at his face. His mother tried to inform every single faculty member there about what was happening to her son, but they all disregarded it as boys being boys.
With this lack of proper adult oversight, young Johnny was forced to repeatedly suffer from the same trio of bullies.
Ultimately, his saint-like mother decided to go against her long-standing stance of fighting remaining exclusive to “Neanderthals” and enlists her son within a local martial arts dojo. As Cage would ultimately find out, it was a legit training center as he met his sensei named Master Boyd.
We then transition into a montage set to the actual tunes of Kevan Gallagher’s “Rise To The Top” as Johnny initially struggles with his training while continually dealing with the never-ending bullying.
Through time, Cage began to make some significant progress with his martial arts exercises. Then during one fateful gym class, Johnny narrates about how his greatest lesson didn’t come from knowing “how to kick or punch” and that it was actually “something else”.
The head bully then tries to throw a basketball at him, but he ducks in time as it hits the gym teacher and knocks him out. The goons then surround Cage before he narrates about how people say that being bullied is part of life and that it’ll get better, but he says that it can only improve if you fight back. The young Johnny manages to get out of the enclosed space before the lead thug attempts to punch him, to which Cage easily catches the opposing fist and retaliates with a fierce strike that breaks the main bully’s arm. As the goons flee, Johnny narrates about how it was worth getting in trouble for since it came with a valuable lesson. Specifically, “weak people bully” until “you push back” and they end up folding as a result.
Afterwards, he devoted himself into further martial arts training before Master Boyd ultimately teaches him everything that he knows and tells him that he’s “special”. However, it wasn’t enough for Johnny as he wound up travelling the world and learned several more fighting styles from other martial arts masters.
Eventually, he made his way to Los Angeles where he sees a thief robbing a guy for his wallet. He easily defeats the perp with a single kick and returns it to the man who then tells him that it’s his “lucky day”.
We then transition back to the present as Cage sums up the main lesson of his origin with a simple question: “What Would Johnny Cage Do?”. They ultimately arrive at Jennifer’s house where Johnny repeatedly presses the buzzer without getting a single response. Golden assumes that she’s left town, but Cage says that he’ll hop over the fence in order to look inside. He then gives Chuck his car keys and tells him to get his vehicle washed as Golden awkwardly drives off to do so.
Johnny then proceeds to make his way inside the house as he finds the place completely ransacked. Just as he notices a boomerang blade within the building, he suddenly hears some womanly moans and grunts coming from upstairs. He reaches the main bedroom and soon discovers a pair of women fighting each other as Ashrah (voiced by Kelly Hu) and Kia (voiced by Grey DeLisle-Griffin) struggle for the possession of a certain scroll.
Ultimately, it winds up within Cage’s grasp as he naively asks them where he can find Jennifer. However, he quickly finds himself within the middle of this confrontation as Kia reclaims the scroll and kicks Johnny into Ashrah before attempting to flee. Thankfully, she grabs an award and throws it at Kia which knocks her out.
Ashrah then tries to get the scroll, but Cage grabs her wrist and eventually kicks her hat off of her head as he becomes enamored with her stunning beauty. However, she responds by pinning him before he once again asks her where he can find Jennifer. Just then, Kia recovers and gets the scroll before heading out as Ashrah reclaims her hat and follows after her.
Johnny tries to follow suit before he discovers a bomb that’s about to go off as he gets outside and dives into the pool before the whole house explodes.
As their foot chase ensues, Kia manages to steal a car after yanking the driver out of his vehicle. Fortunately for Ashrah, she’s able to stay in hot pursuit as she kicks a motorcyclist off and rides out on his bike. Just then, Cage sees a tour bus approaching as he gets on and tells the driver to follow after her, especially since he has “connections” and promises to read his script.
From there, a three-way vehicular chase ensues as Ashrah manages to catch up to the fleeing car and leap inside as she reclaims the scroll and kicks Kia out where she meets her bloody fate via the tour bus slamming into her. After the driver helps him catch up to the car, Johnny then decides to leap out before he soon realizes that it was a bad idea due to Ashrah casually speeding up. Fortunately for him, he lands on his own car since Chuck managed to reach him in time (with him explaining that he saw Cage initially getting on the tour bus).
From there, they catch up to Ashrah before Johnny hops into the car and a brief struggle ensues. He manages to get the scroll before he tells her that he’ll hand it over after she informs him of where he can find Jennifer, but Ashrah says that she doesn’t know. Eventually, he’s able to get back into his own car while she manages to escape from her stolen vehicle before it plows into a construction site, drives off a truck and lands within a resident’s pool.
Back with Cage, he reveals his recently acquired scroll to Golden before they pull off onto a cliffside parking space in order to check it out. They soon discover that it has a map on one side along with some Greek text on the opposite side before Chuck reveals that he picked up on the language as a result of another producer sending him a contract written entirely in Greek for Johnny’s prior movie called “Gist Of My Fist”. While Golden isn’t able to translate the Greek text, he does mention that he has a Greek dictionary back at his home that they can pick up. With Johnny being certain that the map is the major reason for Jennifer’s disappearance, Chuck convinces him that they should go to the police as they proceed to head out.
Meanwhile, Ashrah informs her master that she’s failed since she lost the scroll. While she does mention that Kia was present, she also says that there was “another” as she describes him as “a most formidable warrior”. It’s soon revealed that her master is actually the Thunder God Raiden (voiced by Dave B. Mitchell) as he tells her that she still has time. He then learns from Ashrah that this opposing warrior goes by the name of Johnny Cage before he tells her to reclaim the map while also enlisting him into helping her out, especially since he reminds her how “a cord of many strands is not so easily broken”. Not only that, but he also believes that there’s possibly more to Cage than what’s on the surface.
Meanwhile, Johnny gets a call on his cell phone as it turns out to be his foul-mouthed agent telling him to come by his office right away. Cage mentions that he’s trying to save his current movie since Jennifer has gone missing, but his agent says that he’s got a huge offer and that a big-time director (whose name is purposefully censored in this movie) actually wants to work with him. Johnny then narrates about how this director (or “The Big Man” as he calls him) has made some highly-successful films before he tells his agent that he’s on his way. He then arrives as an assistant leads him up towards his agent’s office while Golden gets told by Cage to wait in the lobby. Chuck then spots an attractive secretary and remembers the phrase “What Would Johnny Cage Do?” before he decides to go talk to her.
Meanwhile, Johnny receives a script from his agent named David Doubledy (voiced by the late Gilbert Gottfried) as Cage brings up the fact that he’s the same guy whom he returned the stolen wallet to. He also mentions that David was one of Los Angeles’ biggest agents and that Cage’s foot-based heroic act helped convince Doubledy to take him on as a client ever since. From there, it’s revealed that David wants Johnny to perform in a superhero movie called “Adventures Of Superguy”. Cage disregards the genre as being exclusively liked by “nerds”, yet Doubledy says that “the Big Man” is also into it and that it starts shooting at the beginning of the year. David then mentions that he’s heard about his major client having just been present at Jennifer’s house and that there was also a scroll at the same scene. Johnny then says that he was on his way to the police in order to present it to them before bringing up how a “babe in a toga” tried to kill him and that Jennifer’s home blew up, to which Doubledy regards the latter being caused by a “gas leak”. Cage tells his agent that the scroll is their only lead towards finding Jennifer, but David says that she’s fine and that he should hand the scroll over to him. Johnny then asks him why he wants it, to which Doubledy informs him that he’s a member of a prestigious club that has their “fingers everywhere” within Los Angeles. He then tells Johnny that if he gets into said club, he’ll finally reach absolute superstardom. David assures him that he wants his client to become a member and that his induction would take place at the Magical Mansion tonight, just as long as he hands the scroll over. Cage then asks about “Ninja Mime” since that was supposed to be his ticket towards A-List stardom, but Doubledy tells him to forget about it. Not only that, but his career will also be over if he doesn’t relinquish the scroll. Johnny then snaps and chastises his agent for constantly sitting around while he’s getting “thrown through windows” along with being chased by the paparazzi. Not only that, but Cage is proud of his performance in “Ninja Mime” and that it’ll be the last film that David will get any kind of residuals on since Johnny also fires him.
However, Doubldy presses a button on the underside of his desk that locks his doors and prevents Cage from leaving. Not only that, but David takes out a gun and once again orders him to fork over the scroll. Fortunately, Johnny manages to disarm his former agent with a precise spin kick. Doubldy then says that he doesn’t need his weapon in order to deal with his former client before he suddenly displays some abnormal agility and attacks Cage.
A struggle ensues before Johnny ultimately bests him with a series of kicks, but David reveals his true form as he was actually a demon and says that his group runs this city. Cage responds by kicking him with enough force to get smashed through a wall before he falls down towards the lobby.
At the same time, Golden is getting a phone number from the secretary named Shelley right before the demonic Doubldy lands on a statue and gets impaled. Johnny then casually assures his assistant that David is fine, yet the demonic agent suddenly bursts into flames as the two of them immediately take their leave.
Meanwhile, a cult leader is met by her loyal servant who informs her that Kia was taken out by a White Lotus member. Not only that, but the scroll along with the “chosen one” are also gone. As such, the leader orders her to reclaim both of them as the servant reveals herself as Jataaka (voiced by Zehra Fazal).
Back over with Cage, his informative trip to the L.A.P.D. ended without any major success. He then tells Chuck that something bizarre is going down and that it’s up to them to discover it. When Golden asks him what their next move should be, Johnny essentially tells him that they should attend a particular “party”. They ultimately arrive at the Magical Mansion (a.k.a. the real-life Magic Castle) as Cage shows up in some proper attire while Chuck communicates with him via an earpiece and serves as his point man from inside the sound department’s van.
Johnny then makes his way into the building and approaches the front desk, but the head clerk tells him that he’s not on the list. Cage then tries to financially bribe his way in, but the clerk isn’t swayed from the establishment’s stance of being exclusive to its members and their guests as the guards are about to toss Johnny from the establishment. Just then, Jataaka appears and tells them that he’s actually her guest. From there, she opens a secret door disguised as a mirror as they make their way down to the private club.
As they walk through the main area, she then asks him what brought him to this establishment, to which he says that his agent suggested it. She then tells him that if he’s going to become a member, then she’ll gladly give him “a private tour”. As they head down towards a subterranean area, Golden warns him that his reception is breaking up as Johnny blatantly tries to describe where he’s at before the communication link goes out. Jataaka then explains that becoming a club member allows him to gain access to the city’s old subway tunnels.
As they walk past a torture chamber, he asks her if he’ll have to do something “weird” for his initiation before she tells him that he only needs a member to stand up for him.
Just as they start to get closer towards the central chamber, Ashrah jumps in and breaks them up. Cage manages to knee strike her into a wall before Jataaka suddenly changes outfits and reveals her sword before she launches an energy strike at him. Fortunately, Ashrah is able to save him from the blast before shooting her own energy strike into the ceiling in order to distract Jataaka while she and Johnny attempt to flee.
During their dash, Ashrah informs Cage that Jataaka is one of three assassins that work for a secret group called the Brotherhood of Shadow and that their main goal is to raise their God in order for the world to get destroyed. He then says that this is too much for him to take in since he was just trying to find his co-star and that he has nothing to do with this whole ordeal. Ashrah then agrees before she asks Johnny where he’s keeping the scroll, to which he says that Chuck currently has it as she tells him that they must reach his comrade before it’s too late. Eventually, they make their way back to the surface as they find themselves in the North Hollywood hills. Cage then contacts Golden and says that he needs to get picked up over at the NO-HO Sign.
Suddenly, Jataaka manages to catch up and uses her fire breath as Johnny and Ashrah manage to dodge the attack. From there, a fight breaks out with various moves and skills on display for this two-against-one tussle. Ultimately, Jataaka stabs her sword into the ground and unleashes a fiery blast that knocks both Cage and Ashrah over.
As she walks over to them, she tells Johnny that he’s “special” and that the Brotherhood needs him, even promising to make his dreams come true. Suddenly, Chuck arrives as he uses the van to ram into her with enough force in order to launch her into the burning hillside sign.
Afterwards, Golden says that he’s managed to translate the majority of the Greek text on the other side of the map. As for the map itself, Chuck explains that it’s actually showing Los Angeles along with some key sites within the municipality. Ashrah then says that the city is being secretly run by the “Disciples of Shinnok”, which she explains that he’s Netherrealm’s ruler and that he’s interested in “the destruction of all things”. As for the building that’s in the center of the group’s operations, it turns out to be “Dan’s World-Famous Oriental Theater” (a.k.a. Grauman’s Chinese Theatre) as Ashrah mentions that the Brotherhood of Shadow will be using that site to open the gate towards the Neatherrealm. Golden then brings up the Greek text that he’s mostly translated on the opposite side and explains that it’s an actual spell, specifically how the gate can only open with “special blood” or “the blood of a God”. Ashrah then says that Jennifer will be safe as long as they maintain possession of the spell and that they should retreat to the White Lotus Temple.
Suddenly, a mostly burned Jataaka leaps out towards Johnny as he responds by spin kicking her in the head hard enough to actually decapitate her. He then rips off her still-burning arm in order to burn the map and prevent Shinnok from making his apocalyptic arrival. Just then, a missile flies in and strikes the ground as the resulting shockwave knocks all three of them over. From there, a helicopter flies in before the cloaked leader emerges and takes the scroll. To his surprise, Cage discovers that it’s actually his missing co-star Jennifer Grey (voiced by the actress herself) before she kicks him in the head and knocks him out.
Later, Johnny wakes up and finds himself tied to a bed before Jennifer comes in. He says that they have to escape in order to prevent her from being sacrificed, but she reveals that she actually has him right where she wants him. He then says that she shouldn’t be throwing her occupation away on this cult, but she tells him that this group is actually the reason she has an acting career. She explains that the Brotherhood of Shadow sent her and several members to this realm many years ago, but they also wound up being cut off from the Neatherrealm for several decades as they desperately tried to find a way to get back. Eventually, they found the scroll as they discovered that it could bring their devious God to Earthrealm. As such, they traveled the globe in order to locate certain artifacts ranging from “a Holy Kris” to “a sacred chalice” before they finally acquired “the blood of someone special”. She then reveals to Cage that he actually has “the blood of Gods” and that he’ll be the key that will allow the portal to open. Afterwards, Jennifer reveals that her actual name is Sareena before she also brings up how she and her fellow demonic beings (specifically David and Brian) were responsible for helping Johnny achieve his film career as well as guiding him towards where they wanted him to go. From there, she summons some fellow cult members in order to prep Cage for his moment of sacrifice.
Meanwhile, Ashrah and Chuck are imprisoned before they’re met upon by Ethan. He proceeds to hold a knife up towards Ashrah and orders her to reveal where her master is located. After she refuses to talk, he then cuts her right cheek before giving her a lengthy cut down her left arm, to which he then decides to threaten Golden. Ashrah tells Ethan to leave the boy alone, to which he says that there used to be a time where she would’ve ripped someone like Chuck to shreds.
He then reveals to Golden that despite her appearance, Ashrah is actually a Netherrealm demon just like him. She then tells Ethan that she’s not like him, to which he mentions that she’s on her own redemption quest. From there, he holds his knife up towards Chuck and once again orders Ashrah to reveal where he can find Raiden. Golden then says that he won’t be easily intimidated due to him being usually “tortured for money”, to which he winds up getting stabbed in the shoulder. He then brings up the familiar Cage-centered question and proceeds to headbutt Ethan as the demonic director gets knocked back towards Ashrah before she uses her legs to snap his neck.
She then proceeds to rip her chains from the wall before freeing Chuck from his bonds while also removing the blade from his shoulder and even providing him with some admiration for his courageous act. Golden then brings up the fact that she’s not human, to which she assures him that she’s “working on it”. before they head out to go save their action star comrade.
We then shift over to the Brotherhood of Shadow’s central chamber where Sareena has gathered the group’s followers in preparation for bringing their devious God into this realm. From there, Johnny gets brought onto the main platform and strapped down before the cult members begin chanting while the Kris and chalice are also presented to their leader. Despite the growing tension, Cage still decides to make some wisecracks about the chants to which Sareena orders for him to be gagged.
Meanwhile, Ashrah and Chuck oversee this from a higher level as he wonders what they’re going to do. She says that she’ll get closer in order to free Johnny while he provides a distraction, but he tells her that he’s unsure as to the kind of diversion that he should give. She then reminds him of his Cage-centered question before she heads out, shortly before it allows Golden to get an idea. Meanwhile, Ashrah manages to discreetly subdue a cult member in order to disguise herself within their robe. Just then, Sareena uses the Kris to cut Johnny across his chest as his blood flows onto the platform while she’s delighted to discover that the procedure is working.
With the collected blood erupting like a geyser, she then collects some of it within the chalice and drinks it. Just as she’s about to murder Cage, Chuck gets the whole group’s attention before he swings in on the cult’s ceremonial sheets. However, he ends up wildly crashing into the group’s drum before getting captured.
Sareena then tells Johnny that no one will be saving him, yet he manages to recognize Ashrah from the crowd before he muffles “I wouldn’t say that”. Shortly after Sareena removes his gag in order to understand what he was saying, Ashrah leaps towards her and takes the Kris before slaughtering a pair of cultists in order to slice Cage’s restraints.
Afterwards, Sareena tells her “sister” that she’s too late since the portal is already opening as Johnny finally learns about Ashrah being a demon. Suddenly, the gathered blood begins to pour onto the platform as Cage and Ashrah leap off of it in time before a portal finally forms upon it.
Despite this occasion, several cult members get spooked out by this and flee as a giant pair of blood-soaked hands emerge from the portal. Fortunately for Golden, the pair of cult members that were restraining him were also among those that fled in dread as he rejoins his comrades.
As for the cult members that did stay, they proceed to worship the arrival of their corrupt Elder God as Shinnok (voiced by Robin Atkin Downes) gets respectfully greeted by Sareena. After being informed that he’s been brought onto Earthrealm, he says that he’s been eager “to feast on the bones of its denizens” before commending her for her efforts.
Meanwhile, our heroes overlook this as Ashrah is bummed over the fact that they failed to prevent Shinnok from reaching this realm. Fortunately, Johnny tells her that despite the power that their foe wields, they’re still the planet’s “best chance of survival”. He then says that the corrupt Elder God is merely “another in a long line of bullies” while also mentioning how refusing to give up is a part of being human. As such, he asks her how they could potentially defeat their foe. While Ashrah is unsure how they could prevail, Chuck says that they can force their adversary into the rift while he utters the spell written on the back of the scroll map, thus trapping the powerful being within the realm that he initially came from. Cage likes his plan before he tells Ashrah to retrieve the scroll from Sareena as they proceed to set their plan into motion.
Meanwhile, Shinnok starts to ascend towards the surface and begin his bloody destruction. Suddenly, Johnny gets his attention before he leaps up and delivers a spin kick. However, it doesn’t remotely phase the Elder God who proceeds to toss Cage with enough force to smash through the sidewalk and up towards the Oriental Theater’s outside architecture.
Shinnok then emerges from below as he approaches the surrounding citizens before firing some dark magic at them, slaughtering some of the unfortunate victims. Fortunately, Johnny recovers and proceeds to fight him.
Back in the Brotherhood of Shadow’s central chamber, Ashrah and Sareena are locked in a fierce tussle against each other before the former manages to take the scroll and toss it off to Golden. However, he’s then approached by a towering demon who turns out to be Brian and gets ordered to hand it over as he responds by fleeing for his life.
Over on the surface, Shinnok has thrown Cage into a nearby clothing store. Johnny then manages to recover and resume his tussle against his foe before his familiar abilities begin to manifest, much to his surprise.
Back down below, Brian ultimately manages to capture Chuck before demanding for the scroll. Golden is able to throw it away as it lands dangerously close to the edge of the portal. Brian manages to retrieve the scroll, yet his triumph is short-lived since Chuck managed to ram into him and get the scroll back while the demon falls into the entryway.
Over within Ashrah’s fight, Sareena criticizes her for her redemptive journey. Fortunately, Ashrah manages to retrieve the Holy Kris before she praises the human race for their ability to “care” and that it’s a strength that she shares with them. From there, she’s able to deliver several slashes upon her demonic foe. However, Sareena decides to rip off her human skin and unveil her true devilish figure before attacking Ashrah.
Back on the surface, Cage has been mostly beaten as Shinnok praises his “feeble attempt” at stopping him before he uses his dark God powers to unleash the apocalypse. As such, he summons his horde of demons as they begin to emerge from the portal.
Meanwhile, Sareena’s demonic might has allowed her to defeat Ashrah before she picks her foe up in preparation for the fatal strike. Fortunately, Golden managed to retrieve the Kris as he tosses it towards Ashrah who proceeds to catch the blade before stabbing Sareena in the chest.
Because of its holy makeup, she winds up being obliterated from existence. Ashrah then tells Chuck that they must help their comrade, but they soon discover the numerous demons that’re emerging from the Netherrealm.
Back with Johnny, a young boy begs for him to get up and make his smashing comeback. However, Cage narrates about how he’s not a hero, yet when he tries to also add onto the fact that he’s not “special”, he’s suddenly reminded of several allies and foes who’ve called him that as he becomes inspired to get up and fight back.
From there, his newfound ability kicks in as he delivers several successful strikes upon Shinnok, including his signature split groin punch. With the crowd cheering him on, Johnny manages to continue his assault before Shinnok finally catches one of his punches, picks him up by the neck and repeatedly slams his face into the sidewalk.
Back down below, Ashrah manages to slash through several demons, yet there’s too many emerging from the Neatherrealm for her to deal with.
Meanwhile, Shinnok has Cage pinned. Fortunately, the civilians proceed to pelt the corrupt Elder God with some rocks while Johnny notices the previously damaged structure right above his foe and gets an idea.
From there, he frees himself and delivers some bone-breaking hits onto Shinnok as the devious being gets hit with enough force up towards the weakened structure. Just as it falls off, Cage uses his Shadow Kick to force Shinnok towards the hole as the structure falls onto the corrupt Elder God and causes him to fall back down into the portal.
At that moment, Ashrah begins to get overwhelmed by the numerous demons. Thankfully, Golden reads the Greek text & casts the inscribed spell as it manages to capture every last opposing demon and drag them back to the Netherrealm before permanently closing the portal. With the day saved, Chuck then proceeds to burn the map.
Afterwards, they manage to climb up to the surface as they discover Johnny signing autographs to his fans. With the trio reunited and the crowd cheering them on, snow suddenly begins to fall upon Los Angeles. After giving Golden some much-deserved praise, Cage then tells Ashrah that she was “incredible” to which she returns the favor by thanking him for showing her what it means being human. They then proceed to share a kiss while Johnny narrates about what Chuck has gone onto ever since this moment.
Specifically, he took some martial arts lessons before his career path saw him becoming Cage’s stunt double for some video games while also going by his own codename known as Mokap.
As for Ashrah, she departed upon her ever-continuing quest to become human as she traveled the globe and sliced up several demons along the way. Lastly, Johnny finally made “Ninja Mime” before it became a film franchise and helped launch him into a successful acting career. However, the star-studded prosperity wouldn’t last as he would ultimately hit a downward slide before we transition to his beachside home in modern times.
With a paparazzi photographer capturing snapshots of him, Cage is packing up his jeep before he notices her. She then asks him where he’s heading off to as he mentions that he’s shooting a new film upon a “remote island”. When she then asks him if this will serve as his comeback, he simply tells her that he “never left” as the film ends with him driving off towards his eventual otherworldly adventures.
Now that this tubular set of tussles has come and gone, let’s get into my character analysis. Starting things off, we have our shining star of cinematic shadow drops himself: Johnny Cage. When we’re first introduced to him at this point in the series’ timeline, he’s been in the Hollywood system for a while and is looking for his big break towards reaching the big times. He’s been able to reach his initial status after having suffered through constant bullying during his time in school by deciding to learn martial arts before he continues with his training over the years, ultimately leading to a fateful L.A.-based breakup of a wallet robbery that helps him get his foot in the door. It’s only when he goes to search for his missing co-star does the familiar franchise elements slowly begin to dawn upon him, and he starts to learn about some outside elements that’re ultimately bigger than the situation he’s having with his career. His initial motivation towards embarking on the film’s events is that he wants to get “Ninja Mime” completed and released to the masses in order to finally get some A-List recognition, especially since he feels like he’s turned in a really good performance. As he progresses on his journey, he slowly proves his worth towards himself and to others, despite his personal hang-ups that includes the self-important delivery of his narrations and that he’s capable of being distracted by the initial looks of good-looking women. Just like what Raiden tells Ashrah during their lone meeting here, Johnny proves to be more than just a martial arts film star when his shadow-based powers begin to manifest during his climactic fight against Shinnok. Although the origin of Cage’s shadow powers from Mortal Kombat 9 isn’t deeply explained here, the mention of him having “the blood of Gods” can serve as a reference to him being descended from a Mediterranean war cult that bred warriors for their gods. As such, it ties into the several times where he’s referred to as “special” and can also connect into his characterization where he finds out that he’s potentially extraordinary. Although he’s only initially seen as special by the Brotherhood of Shadow as their means of bringing their corrupt Elder God onto Earthrealm, Johnny ends up displaying his own value when his final battle gets shifted to the streets (possibly in a reference to how fighters can get uppercutted from one certain stage to another in all three versions of Mortal Kombat 3) and he’s able to endure lots of physical turmoil in full display of the populace before finally defeating Shinnok and earning their respect. By the end, he gets rewarded with the successful star status that he’s been looking for before his career eventually enters an initial downward valley by the time the events of Scorpion’s Revenge rolls around, prompting him to go on a few more journeys that will ultimately transform him into changing his personal attitudes for the better while also forging his own self-worth within a relationship arc with Sonya. As such, it’s fitting that he still has some level of cockiness and self-importance by the end of this movie since it’s a problem that he’ll be ultimately dealing with in his next two outings. In terms of performance, Joel McHale slips right back into the role with professional ease. His intonations, delivery and energy allows him to present Cage with lots of youthful charisma in order for his character to effectively progress within this origin-esque story without much fuss.
Next up, let’s talk about a heroic demon with a noble intention of siding with the merry mortals in Ashrah. On the surface, she’s a Netherrealm demon who forgoes her previously devious intentions and is looking to repent for his prior sins in order to finally shed her evil past and become a human being. From researching her initial appearance in Mortal Kombat: Deception, there are a few minor tweaks that the movie makes with her in terms of her origin. In the game, she actually worked for Quan Chi and wound up being hunted by her demonic sisters due to questioning a single order from him. It would be during her escape that she came across the Holy Kris and upon slaying a single opposing demon with it, it helped her feel a purifying sensation thus leading into her redemptive quest. While the film does see her going up against the Brotherhood of Shadow’s three signature female assassins throughout the course of the narrative, the movie already has her on her journey by the time Johnny stumbles onto the main conflict. Not to mention, the Holy Kris is also presented as one of the main tools needed to bring Shinnok onto Earthrealm and she doesn’t acquire her signature weapon until after the ritual has already been set in motion. Despite those changes, Ashrah is still presented as steadfast with a tiny hint of dry wit. She’s determined to prevent Shinnok from making his way onto the planet while also aiming to purge herself of her demonic connections. While she’s utterly committed to her mission and initially butts heads with our main man, it’s through the guidance of her Thunder God master that she ultimately finds herself joining forces with our central protagonist and his assistant in order to have a better chance of preventing a malevolent force from unleashing his terror upon the world. She essentially serves as someone whom Cage can strive to become in terms of being an effectively solid fighter while also constantly striving to become whole with one’s self. I didn’t mention it during my recap, but after the day is saved, she tells our hero that she had taken a celibate vow as part of her mission and thus, it explains why they don’t stay together as a couple. It’s perfect acceptable given his later romantic pursuit of lady Blade while Ashrah continues her worldwide quest to eternally shred her demonic past once and for all. As far as personal shortcomings go with her, maybe there could’ve been more of an internal struggle with trying to move on from her demon-fueled past. That could’ve been more prevalent if she was a dual protagonist, but her supporting role allows her to shine as much as possible and Kelly Hu’s performance was equally as good. Her vocal delivery & tone helped her exude loads of confidence from her character, thus providing this fighter with a proper introduction to those who aren’t entirely familiar with her. All-in-all, she’s greatly utilized her role within the story and had a solid actress to properly present her with a strong voice.
Briefly, we’ll get to the young man who would become a motion-capture artist in Chuck Golden. As Johnny’s youthful assistant, he greatly admires the over-confident actor and sees him as a role model. Yes, he can be a bit too naïve given that the man that he’s working for is a little full of himself. Fortunately, Cage’s signature question gets seeded into him early on in order to ultimately serve as the basis towards him taking bold risks in order to help him make some necessary steps towards becoming self-confident. Between our three main characters, there’s something of a complete fighter/person scale between them. Ashrah is the most assured & composed of the group, Johnny is working towards unlocking his full potential and Chuck makes up for his lack of fighting skills with his organizational talent along with some past learning of the Greek language that happens to help them all out by the end of this whole ordeal. From the information that I was able to find out about Charles Golden, this character got a drastic change from his original setup within the games that he appeared in (specifically Deadly Alliance, Deception & Armageddon). Originally, he was introduced as a former martial arts teacher and had already known several different styles before getting hired by Cage into doing some motion capture work for his movie. As such, it seems like this film decided to help flesh out someone who was originally considered as a minor joke character during the tail-end of the franchise’s initial timeline and provide him with his own origin in addition to primarily being a Johnny Cage-centered movie. For what was done, it was a decent attempt that mainly works. Dusan Brown brings his youthful experience to the role and provides some good range for his character. From his positive attitude to some notions of concerns to even feeling overwhelmed at times, his performance felt charming, relatable and thoroughly confident in making a little-known fighter work within the confines of his supporting role.
Finally, let’s get to our main villains of the piece in Shinnok and Sareena. In terms of the devious Elder God, there’s a familiar narrative tune to his presence that was more prominent over in “Battle Of The Realms”. Specifically, he has a group of people gathering a few items together in order for him to ultimately unleash some form of widespread terror. In that movie, his existence was already established due to having been previously mentioned in “Scorpion’s Revenge” before his ties with the Lin Kuei were confirmed and his role becomes dominant as that film progressed. Here, it’s actually something of a surprise since we’re initially focused on Johnny’s attempt to rescue his co-star and aren’t actively thinking of the big picture before the grand scheme ultimately gets revealed. It was wise to make his eventual scope of destruction here smaller since it helps with making the escalation of what he would eventually do later on within this movie series’ timeline feel a lot broader and widespread. There’s not much else in terms of major character themes with him, especially since he doesn’t make a major appearance until the third act. Ultimately, he was decent in terms of his presentation and provided a suitably tough challenge to Cage before getting banished. This is something I especially appreciate here since later on in the timeline, he only steps in the ring once he merges with the One Being. Maybe more could’ve been done to present him as a grand terror not just towards our main group, but also towards the populace while keeping his potential reign of terror below his later appearance. Either way, Robin Atkin Downes slips right back into his role with absolute professional ease. While not standing out in a significant way, he still gives the evil Elder God a good vocal range that goes from devious coolness to different kinds of rage and yelps. As for Sareena, she’s far-more prevalent and in the foreground. After all, we initially believe that she’s in need of being rescued until it’s eventually revealed that being an actor was her disguise and that it was all part of a long-gestating plan to her & her demonic allies to reunite with their home realm and the corrupt Elder God that they worship. Unlike her video game counterpart where she starts off working for the Brotherhood of Shadow before a key moment where she was spared by the Bi-Han version of Sub-Zero starts her on her journey towards siding with Earthrealm’s warriors, she’s completely loyal to Shinnok throughout the course of the film and is just as eager as Kia & Jataaka are with having Ashrah pay for her face turn. She also fits well with Johnny’s character arc about proving his self-worth since she only sees him as someone who has the specific kind of blood that’s needed for the dark ritual to occur. Because it took her and her fellow demons a long time to properly set the stage for Shinnok’s arrival, it’s likely that she along with Brian and David kept close tabs on him while also controlling his acting career in order to make sure that he’s in peak condition for them to sacrifice him at some point. It’s unsure how far into their operation they were by the time that Cage came to L.A. and found himself at the key moment where he busts up a wallet robbery (maybe the thief was also a fellow demon and was playing along in order to set him up within the Hollywood system) as well as to how they ultimately discovered his key bloodline. Maybe some clarity as to how they learned about him compared to when they were in the process of acquiring both the Kris & the chalice would’ve made for a richer narrative. Either way, it’s surreal that the filmmakers were able to have Sareena use the guise of Jennifer Grey for this story while also getting the actual actress to provide her voice to her. It can be a little gruff at times given her age (she was in her early 60s), but her coyness wonderfully combines with a confident delivery that comes with some decent range as she shines within the part and helps make her character become irredeemably good.
As I mentioned throughout the character analysis, the movie’s main theme is about proving one’s self-worth. Our three principal players are each looking to validate themselves in some capacity throughout the course of their journey. Chuck’s strengths are shown with his budding knowledge and a growing self-confidence that Johnny instills onto him, Ashrah is renouncing her devious past as a demon and is looking to absolve herself by fighting against various evil beings in order to earn a permanent status as a human, while Cage starts off wanting to be taken seriously as an action movie star yet also discovers a special ability that he never knew about was lying in wait within him. While our two main men are looking to establish their respectful value within the business realm, our female fighter is tackling her problem in more of a spiritualistic sense. This kind of character arc ended up being pretty well handled for the most part, as there wasn’t anything egregious within said vein that came up during the course of their venture. In terms of our villains, they were firmly established within their respective group and had their own share of power. Despite the fact that Shinnok was ultimately the primary antagonist for this tale, he didn’t necessarily stand out as much as the last time that audiences saw him. That honor ends up going to Sareena who winds up with the most prominence since she and her fellow demons were able to operate in an underground capacity while using Los Angeles’ overwhelming Hollywood system to mask their true intentions. It’s mainly due to the fact that it starts off with the immediate situation that our main character finds himself in, since it’s connected to the fate of his potential breakout movie. From there, her presence continues to be felt thanks to a scene where she’s fully robed and orders Jataaka to go after our hero, which is where Jennifer Grey’s aged voice helps in keeping her identity a secret from certain audience members who haven’t been keeping up with her work. Once Shinnok finally comes into the picture, they both end up getting equal prominence in order for them to be a climactic threat to our main group. As far as they handled themselves as the main antagonistic forces, they served their role effectively well considering that they predate Shao Kahn and his forces. In terms of the animation, it’s mostly fine especially since it has a color style that helps emphasize its 1980s setting incredibly well. People have light shining on them that’s either in a particular magenta/pink shade or the familiar light blue, which is a nice touch. The palette allows the visuals to pop in a certain retro way and help the story be visually appealing. The movements are pretty good for the most part, despite moments like when Sareena is explaining her group’s plan to our captured hero and her movements around the room aren’t exactly looking smooth. Not only that, but I’ve also found some examples of prominent screw-ups. While I may forgive the reflection of a “J” emblem from Jennifer/Sareena’s front gate shown on our main man’s windshield, there’s a major one blunder when Johnny is on the tour bus and is in the middle of a chase with Ashrah and Kia. In one moment, the microphone that the driver uses to communicate with his passengers is just floating in the air before Cage grabs it. In that same chase, there’s the part where our main man tries to dive onto the car he’s pursuing before Ashrah just speeds up. While Chuck managed to save him by driving up to him in time, you’ll notice that before it cuts to that, there’s no sign of Golden within his idol’s car in pursuit. Another mistake occurs during the early goings of the climactic fight against Shinnok. Right before Johnny gets sent smashing upwards through the sidewalk, there a group of carolers that we pan away from that’re clearing moving their mouths to sing, but no sound is coming from them. As such, the animation is mostly fine and gets the job done, though it’s disappointing how certain mistakes managed to slip by the editors. In terms of the familiar action, they’re mainly thrilling, overly violent at times yet balances itself with the narrative in order to give itself a proper ratio as it can be. Finally, let’s get to our main story. It handles its main themes amongst our principal players and handles its twists & turns pretty well. There were times where it was self-aware of the kinds of movie tropes and pokes fun of them, yet other times its story relies on those clichés just to progress. I can understand that other critics may not be too thrilled with its story, which I agree. It’s a joyous ride at times and provides an entertaining experience for its fan, yet it could’ve done some aspects a whole lot better and tweak a few elements in order for the film to stand out a little more. As is though, it was still a romp-filled retro ride that allows our signature Shadow Kicking superstar to rise up towards some tubular glory while also setting the stage for further development to come. As another entry in this line, it continues to expand the world by delving into the past with entertaining ease and it has ultimately tested its might respectably.
Overall, this was an origin tale that’s a little rough in some spots, yet still manages to kick its way to the stars. The main characterization is very strong, the pacing flows at an even click, the color palette is eye-poppingly good, and the action is just as brutally sound as ever. While the animation isn’t entirely flawless and the narrative could’ve had a few tweaks in order to become a bit more solid, this is still an enjoyable romp that lets Johnny Cage be his pompous, yet solid best. If you’re a fan and have either gotten around to watching the other entries in the series or not, then I still recommend this outing in order to Shadow Kick your own thoughts into your mind palace.
Next Time: As seen and hinted at within the series’ first two entries, Kitana wasn’t always a loyal warrior under the forced command of Shao Kahn. As for where she came from and how her realm ultimately wound up within the devious grasp of Outworld’s infamous emperor, we’ll be staying within the prequel territory in order to properly explore that in a narrative called “Mortal Kombat Legends: Fall Of Edenia”.
Mortal Kombat (created by Ed Boon & John Tobias) is owned by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment.
