Mortal Kombat Legends: Snow Blind (2022)

Mortal Kombat Legends: Snow Blind (2022)

Starring: Manny Jacinto, David Wenham, Ron Yuan, Artt Butler, Yuri Lowenthal, Sumalee Montano, Patrick Seitz, Keith Silverstein, Courtenay Taylor, Imari Williams
Director: Rick Morales

I personally stopped following the Mortal Kombat games after The Ultimate Mortal Kombat III. I played the fourth game a few times, but never got around to Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero, which came out a few years earlier. Beyond that, I know nothing about the games, including the new characters added (except for when they started adding pop culture icons like Leatherface, the Joker, and Rambo). Once in a while, I watch shorts that showcase gameplay from the more recent games and all I can say is, “The combos look as much like fatalities as the fatalies do.”

I say this because the third animated film in the Mortal Kombat Legends quartet draws its characters and mythology from the early 2000s games, of which none I am familiar. The story itself is reasonably easy to follow and the little that I looked up on the Wikipedia suggests that the script respects the new characters’ backstories in their general contours.

We don’t get the backstory to Snow Blind until later in the film, but I’ll give it to my readers now. Some time after the events of Battle of the Realms, society on Earth (realm) collapsed after the zombie apocalypse. Well, they weren’t quite zombies. They’re zombie-like demons known as “Revenants.” I can’t help but wonder if they’re monsters that had remained on the Earth after the de-merging of the realms at the very end of Battle. Long story short: society has gone kaput and the world has largely been reduced to a barren wasteland with a few outposts of civilization scattered about the vast desert.

Here to fill in the power vacuum is the Black Dragon Society, that organized crime syndicate originally led by Kano. And what do you know, despite getting his head stepped on (and crushed) by Jax in Scorpion’s Revenge, Kano is back and has taken power. This time, he calls himself “King Kano” and, to quote Obi Wan-Kenobi, is “more machine than man.” He runs the Black Dragon Society, which drives around desert on dune buggies looking for villages. Upon finding one, his lackeys (who include Kira, Kobra and Kabal) commit mass slaughter of the innocent and then force the survivors to pledge loyalty to the Black Dragons, thus getting a new source of tax revenue. Oh, and King Kano’s grand vizier is none other than an aged Shang Tsung, weakened by decades of deprivation from human souls.

The story takes off when Kuai Liang (aka Sub-Zero II) is leaving his isolated farm to take his produce to the nearest outpost. He runs into Kano’s “Triple K” gang, who are rather suspicious of how he has been able to grow stuff in the wasteland. They steal some of his stuff and leave him be. Kuai Liang goes to the outpost, where he meets an arrogant fighter named Kenshi Takahashi (who first showed up in Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance from 2002). Kenshi figures out quickly that Kuai Liang used to belong to the Lin Kuei, although the latter denies it and really just wants to be left alone. Eventually, Kabal and his cronies follow Kuai Liang to the outpost and start bringing da ruckus when Kenshi steps in to fight them. To their astonishment, Kuai gives them a handy thrashing and sends them running back to King Kano with their tails between their legs.

Obviously, King Kano isn’t very happy with the arrangement, so he arranges for them to return to the town, but with Shang Tsung and his heaviest hitter, Tremor (who debuted in Mortal Kombat: Special Forces from 2000), in tow. The other three fighters may have been pushovers for Kenshi, but Tremor is completely different case. Tremor nearly beats him to death and only stops at the interference of Kuai Liang, who kowtows to him in exchange for his life. This is where Shang Tsung steps in: he recognizes the surname “Takahashi” and sticks around after the others have returned to base. He helps a battered Kenshi to his feet and tells him of a mystical sword that could easily defeat not only Tremor, but all of the Black Dragon gang.

Shang Tsung takes Kenshi to a set of ruins, where in an underground chamber lies the Well of Souls. Obviously, this is a ruse. You see, one of Kenshi’s ancestors had sealed the well and only a blood descendant could open it again. When Kenshi looks in, the green light of thousands of souls burns his eyeballs, leaving him blind. Shang Tsung, long deprived of his principal power source, absorbs them and regains both youth and power. He then heads back toward the King Kano’s place, intent on shaking up the leadership of the gang. Meanwhile, Kenshi, at the bottom of the well, finds the mystical sword and manages to leave the ruins and stagger across the desert until he finds (by accident) Kuai Liang’s farm. Kuai Liang reluctantly agrees to teach him “Blind Boxing.” But there is the big question: why exactly is Kuai Liang so reluctant to get involved in Earthly conflicts these days?

While the first two animated films were more or less remakes of the first two live-action movies, this one didn’t have a Mortal Kombat 3 (in terms of movies, that is) to expand upon. This film introduces a slew of new characters, only Kabal that I recognized from the Mortal Kombat III games. The other characters were introduced in the Mortal Kombat: Special Forces and Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance games, although I think the Mad Max-esque story is completely original. It works well, although it is a bleak continuation to the otherwise hopeful ending to Battle of the Realms. And given the Deus Ex Machina device that is revealed in the third act, I’m surprised that it wasn’t used to completely reset the timeline. Oh well.

The emotional crux of the film is the relationship between Kenshi and Kuai Liang, who wants to spend the rest of his days in obscurity. Kenshi starts out the archetypical brash fighter looking for the perfect opponent, but is humbled after his ignominious loss to Tremor and subsequent blindness. The more he trains, the more he starts to understand that there is more to life than just fighting. A man has got to have a good reason to fight for. It’s nothing new, but it works for an animated film based on a fighting game. And, martial arts fans will note that some of the training exercises were inspired by scenes from Jean-Claude Van Damme’s Kickboxer and House of Flying Daggers.

It isn’t until the climax that Kuai finally assumes the Sub-Zero persona for one final blowout of a fight, with another MK veteran showing up to assist him. Some critics complained about the cameo that Scorpion makes in the finale, although considering his importance in the other two films, I didn’t mind him making a final appearance in this one. Overall, I liked that the film mainly focused on two protagonists, as opposed to the other movie. That said, some of the Black Dragon members, who have appeared in the other games, only show up to fight a little and then get brutally slaughtered. So, fans of Ferra/Tor, No-Face, Drahmin, Dairou, and Jarek may feel a bit cheated. I didn’t know who they were, so I did not have that feeling.

Like the other two films, Snow Blind does not skimp on the violence and gore. The film opens with Mad Max vehicles storming a village and running over people, impaling them with spikes, and lots of wanton carnage. Lots of people get their heads literally blown off by firearms (thanks to Erron Black, who first showed up in Mortal Kombat X). There are beheadings and spinal cord rippings, typical MK stuff. Other characters get bisected or their torso’s split, so lots of half bodies are littering the wasteland after the film’s closes. The fight scenes are well animated as always, although during the climax, there is a snowstorm effect while the characters are fighting outside and it obscures the action. All in all, the climax is a set piece worthy of the opening scene of Scorpion’s Revenge.

I still think Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion’s Revenge is the best of the animated films so far, but this one is at least as good as Battle of the Realms. That one benefitted (to me) from all of the recognizable characters and the ability to answer of the question: What if Mortal Kombat: Annihilation didn’t suck? This one didn’t have quite so many recognizable (to me) characters, but the bleak storyline and the lack of the usual Outworld stuff made for a nice change of pace (its bleak tone notwithstanding).