DC Entertainment/WB Animation, 2020

Mortal Kombat’s first foray into animation since 1996 brings us a gruesome retelling of the first game’s events with an extra focus on Scorpion’s origin story. Not straying away from the series’ iconic violence, the blood keeps flowing as multiple characters die in ways on par with, and arguably worse than, the emblematic fatalities from the games.

But just like those games, hiding behind the hemoglobin is the great tale of a group of warriors brought together to fight in a martial arts tournament to save their world. The addition of Scorpion as a central character allows the writing team to take some creative liberties that work and flesh out this new world, bringing new twists and turns to a scenario that fans are probably too familiar with. The kombatants’ characterization, the locales and all the easter eggs shows the writers have a great understanding of the source material.

But the movie isn’t without fault. With so many story beats to go through, character backstory to reveal and the inclusion of Scorpion as an integral part of the plot, the runtime ends up being too short for all the elements the film is juggling. While not a problem for longtime fans that can fill in the blanks, newcomers might feel a bit confused. – Tommy