Mortal Kombat: Legacy

by Ghost Writer · May 24, 2011

Note: Seven out of a planned ten episodes have been uploaded at time of review.

Back in mid-2010, there was a release of a really long trailer titled Mortal Kombat: Rebirth that got fans of the video game really hyped for its stylistic brutal violence — many who played the game would generally get really excited about the Fatality or Animality option.

Rebirth was put together by Kevin Tancharoen (the 2009 version of Fame and that Britney Spears Live from Miami concert — unbelievable, right?) in order to try to pitch the idea to Warner, but they refused to greenlight the film, pushing it forward as a web series.

With minimum budget and a lot of constraints, Tancharoen managed to create something tangible that’s gritty enough for fans of the game — not including hardcore fans who can’t get it up for the actresses that have been cast as their virtual crushes — and making it refreshing enough to bring in people that might not be familiar with the Mortal Kombat universe.

Legacy does what it can with the money its got, some of the episodes look like they’ve blown the production out of budget, while others look like they got even less money. When Legacy needs an action sequence, however, it brings it blow by blow that pumps you up enough to make you want to yell at Warner for not giving this a chance.

Tancharoen is trying to stay as faithful as possible to the Mortal Kombat universe, giving the story his own spin when needed to be brought back down to a certain reality within the universe he is creating himself. The characters he is showing us are no longer cartoons — though Johnny Cage… They feel authentic, a lot more in the vain of The Dark Knight than, let’s say, Fantastic Four.

The web series’ only fault — without including not casting a “hot enough” Sonya for the fanboys — is that Legacy is an episodic series. Each episode introducing a character with its own story, but that’s a restraint the series is going to have to live with.

Overall, very recommended web watch.

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