Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion’s Revenge is as close to a perfect adaptation of the classic video game franchise as you can get.

Such beautiful artwork! Almost better than MK 11…

While the original 1995 live action adaptation is still campy fun, I think we can all agree that this is a series that’s been in desperate need of a revisit. I know that next year we’re supposedly getting a big studio reboot, being helmed by cinematic God James Wan, but I refuse to believe it until I see a trailer...it just sounds too good to be true. So imagine my surprise when I was browsing around online a month or so ago and found out that I didn’t have to wait a whole year for a new Mortal Kombat film. April 28, 2020, Warner Brothers Animation (the undisputed kings of 2D animated films of the modern age) released an all new, R-rated, 80 minute adaptation of one of the seminal franchises of my childhood and teen years.

Hanzo Hasashi trapped in the Netherrealm.

The story is not an overly complex one, but in this case it works in the film’s favor. In the opening scenes we witness Hanzo Hasashi (who we later find out is MK poster-boy, Scorpion) and his family get brutally murdered by the one and only Sub-Zero. What follows is a fun, almost Muppets style, “rounding up the gang” to go fight against Shang Tsung and his warriors in a tournament. If Raiden and his crew lose the tournament, Shang Tsung and his army will rise up and take over the Earthrealm, and life as we all know it is over.

A classic face-off between Scorpion and Liu Kang.

This movie gets just about everything right. We’re treated to all of the heavy hitters from the MK roster that we’ve come to love over it’s nearly 30 year existence. There’s a lot of fan service thrown our way, but the writers and directors have taken great care here to not make any of it seem cheesy or groan-worthy. I’d imagine this is due in part to bringing co-creator Ed Boon on as a creative consultant for this project.

Not Ed Boon, but when else am I going to get to post this?

There’s a beautiful blend of style in this movie between the Mortal Kombat of our childhood, and more recent entries such as MK 9 (specifically the X-Ray style attacks). The lush landscapes and set pieces are very reminiscent of those beautiful old stages you’d see on your SEGA Genesis or in the Arcades back in the day, and the gore...can we please talk about the gore for a moment? This movie is rated R for a reason, folks. The geniuses over at WB have managed to capture the gore we love and expect from this series, and crank it up to 11. I could never have imagined an animated movie being able to do justice to the brutally gory nature of the Mortal Kombat series, but again, Warner Brothers managed to surpass my expectations. This gets everything right that the ‘96 animated series had to censor out.

Bottom line? Scorpion’s Revenge was an outright blast, and any fan of the series shouldn’t hesitate to give this one a watch. I myself picked up the 4K Blu-Ray disc, and if you have the means to, I’d highly recommend the set. The colors really “pop” with the HDR mode turned on, and the movie also sounded really good coming out of my surround sound system. That being said, the artwork here is so pretty to look at that I think it’s look just as good if you’re streaming it on your iPad, so however you choose to watch it, know that Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion’s Revenge is worth seeing.