Mortal Kombat Legacy Season 2 – Review

If you have not yet seen MK Legacy season 2, then read no further after this paragraph.  This will be filled with Spoilery material, and while I won’t aim to spoil the plot, I plan on a character breakdown that will detail some things in the show.  I’ll give my review up front.  I give it 6 out of 10 sCrypt logos (that’s my new rating system 🙂 )  The only reason I didn’t give it the extra two was because I am left wanting much more, and now have to wait for season 3 (which is probably another year away).  Keep in mind that a 6 is still good.  This was very enjoyable to watch, and well done.  I just had a few problems that may be nitpicking.  Okay.  Begin spoilers.

Kurtis Stryker (Played by Eric Jacobus): Stryker was underused I thought.  He was played well but my question is “Why was he there?”  Why was HE chosen by Raiden for the tournament?  There is no back story, and even with his small role in season 1, the explanation is vague.  It was nice to see his short fight, but his skills were no match for Liu Kang’s.

Johnny Cage (played by Casper Van Dien): He was Johnny Cage.  Cockiness and campiness about, Casper did great in the role.  There was reason for his presence at the tournament, which I found interesting.  I’m not sure the campiness worked though.  Sure some people are that way, but his seemed a little over the top.  As one of my least favorite characters in the mk universe, I was glad to see Mileena kick his tail after his cowardice.  He did redeem some respect however by fighting against Liu Kang despite the former’s injury from his battle with Mileena.  I’m assuming that he is not dead as the word “fatality” was not spoken by Shang Tsung’s ever present voice.

Kitana (played by Samantha Tjhia): I’m glad they retouched on her season 1 role.  Here we see her turn away from Shao Kahn just as in the games.  Her  fight with Mileena was one of the best of the season, and the fatality of cutting her half sister’s head in half was gruesomely inviting.  She held herself like the beautiful warrior princess she is supposed to be.  I’m guessing that she will now seek out Johnny Cage to help him as he did her.

Mileena (Played by Michelle Lee):  The makeup and CGI for her teeth and half tarkattan traits was spot on.  I wondered though why they chose to give her human teeth in some scenes.  That, I did not like.  I thought she should have the fangs all along.  Still, she was evil and served Shao Kahn well.  She kicked Johnny Cage and Kitana’s butts all over the forest, but failed to complete her mission in the end.  Definitely ended as a FATALITY

Raiden (Played by David Lee McInnis): I don’t know what to say here.  I think the acting was done well, and the visual lightning bolt effects, but something didn’t scream God of thunder to me.  Wait, he did stop time too in a very cool visual scene, so maybe… oh I just don’t know what to think.

Scorpion aka Hanzo Hasashi (Played by Ian Anthony Dale):  His performance was done very well, and for the first time I could see the world from his eyes.  His origin was done well enough where you initially do see him and Bi Han as equals.  His battle with Kuai Liang was never shown.  I’m assuming that the latter was left for dead and somehow survived.  My predictions are that Kuai Liang came out of the fight barely alive and has a scar on his eye.  When he finds out that his older brother is killed, I’ll bet that is when he takes on the mantle of the second Sub Zero in season 3.  As Scorpion, I loved the fight with Bi Han.  The spine rip fatality at the end was a twist on the original game where sub zero did it to him.  Seeing it in live action was pretty cool too.  My only negative comment is that Scorpion’s mask bothers me to no end.  I think it looks horrible, and would much prefer the more traditional Scorp garb.

Sub-Zero aka Bi Han (played by Eric Steinberg): meh.  I thought the acting was done fine, and the ice effects worked well.  His costume looked dumb, though I do get the intent with the insulated look.  However I still think… okay if he is able to channel ice, then why in the world would he need an insulated costume.  I also thought Bi Han was supposed to be the badguy.  Here he seemed nice, while his younger brother Kuai Liang was opposite.  The roles were sort of reversed, but like I said, I’m sure this will change with Season 3 and a new Sub Zero emerging.  Predictions for Bi Han?  He had his entire spine and head ripped out.  He will come back guaranteed as Noob Saibot.

Shang Tsung (played by Cary-Hiroyuki Takagwa): They explained why he looks different than season 1, and referenced the last tournament where Liu Kang won.  So in a sense this tournament is somewhere mixed between the first two games.  That doesn’t matter.  What matters is that the real Shang is back.  I was excited to see Cary reprise his role since the first MK movie.  Even though this is a reboot, he still can pull off the menacing and manipulative act.  I wanted to see him do more, and hope for his return in season 3.  To hear him say “It has begun” gave me fanboy chills.

Liu Kang (played by Brian Tee): Excellent actor, excellent fight scenes, and motivation was all there.  The twist with him turning against White Lotus, despite wanting to protect earthrealm was perfectly executed.  From his foul mouth and bar fight scene, to his borderline psychotic personality, all the way to his turn to the dark side was very convincing and well done.  Good to see Liu use his fireball too, but I wish they would have explained how these powers derive in Outworld.  There was only a quick reference, and it didn’t explain anything.

Kung Lao (played by Mark Dacascos): Again, another great performance all the way down to his teleportation method and the signature hat twist.  Is it strange that I just keep seeing the Iron Chef chairman as Kung Lao?  Effects near the teleporting scene were a little off as the levitating objects looked like they were on strings.  My complaint is the build up for the whole season between him and Liu Kang facing each other in the tournament ended with the fight just about to begin.  I wanted to see this battle so badly, and now I’m forced to wait til next season.  I’m upset a great deal by this as another few episodes would have been able to expand on it all.

Ermac (played by Kim Do Nguyen): There was not much to portray acting wise here, but Ermac finally had a good presence in the show.  He is a demon that is a compilation of souls.  Even in death, he doesn’t truly die, so his fatality will mean nothing other than his absence for some time.  The redesign of the character was far from what I’d expect, but welcomed.  To add to it all, the effects of his abilities looked nice too.  He always was one of my favorite ninjas, and I’d like to see him back at some point in a redder colored garb.  That was the only thing that seemed wrong.  he should have had red clothing or something red.

Kenshi (played by Daniel Southworth): Of all of the characters, he was in my top two for pure story and performance.  At first I’m not sure I was convinced, but the more I saw of him the more I wanted on screen.  Down sides?  well, we don’t actually see how he kills off Ermac during their first battle or how Ermac rips out Kenshi’s eyes.  And when Kenshi discovers his force like abilities in outworld, he is shocked at first, and then is suddenly a master of them?  And to think it took Luke Skywalker all that time.  Now that he used the soul sword on Ermac during the second battle and killed him again, I’m interested in seeing who his next opponent will be.  Oh, and the costume was identical to the games.  🙂

SUMMARY – – – – – – A few plot holes, not enough episodes, much more is needed.  Despite its flaws, this was the first time I felt I had seen Mortal Kombat on screen.  I hope a third season is on its way soon.  Chime in with your thoughts below.