Rent Mortal Kombat Legends: Battle of the Realms (2021)

Mortal Kombat Legends: Battle of the Realms review by Mark McPherson - Cinema Paradiso

As a sequel to Scorpion’s Revenge, Battle of the Realms decently expands on the characters and their world. Considering that Scorpion’s Revenge played more or less like the wish-fulfillment of the 1995 Mortal Kombat movie, following it up with a film like this feels way more entertaining than the 1997 sequel film, Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, which was an all-around disaster. Battle of the Realms is nowhere near that bad, but it’s a low bar to cross. That said, it still has its moments as a gory continuation of the video game turned animated saga.

The film opens with a bang as Shao Khan has declared war on Earthrealm. Vicious inhuman monsters from Outworld descend on Earth, and it’s up to the returning warriors in the previous film to fight them off. Jax returns with his familiar cybernetic arms from the games, Sonya continues to assert herself against evil, Cage keeps up his cocky attitude, Liu Kang remains devoted to hope, and Raiden makes calculative moves. Raiden’s latest move is to end this war with another tournament where Raiden and Shao Kahn will also compete. The Elder Gods agree to these terms, and another fighting tournament is on, with more fighters getting in the ring to brutalize each other. Meanwhile, Scorpion is tasked by Shinnok to retrieve the mystical Kamidogu while also being pursued by the cyborgs Cyrax and Sektor.

Unlike the previous film, not all storylines and characters come together by the end. Most of these characters feel separate, especially for the A and B stories that seem to smash into each other by the end instead of mesh. It’s a shame because the tournament segments are pretty fun. I was starting to dig on the developing relationship between Sonya and Cage. I felt a little more for the mentor-student relationship between Raiden and Liu Kang. Heavier stakes are present as some key characters are unexpectedly killed off in grotesque displays of blood and guts, to an even heavier degree than in the previous film.

It’s only when the film diverts to Scorpion’s mission, the revival of Sub-Zero, and the cyborg entities of Cyrax and Sektor that I start losing interest. Their conversations of honor and revenge amid their dashing for a MacGuffin are not that interesting. The pathos doesn’t hit as hard, and the story presented feels like a poor excuse to force in more characters from Mortal Kombat 3. The fact that all of this leads to a giant monster battle in a city is very underwhelming.

The odd thing about Battle of the Realms is its compelling characters and violence. It mildly succeeds in entertaining on these grounds more than its story. It feels very much like the games where the visual allure is the splendor and the lore is the lesser aspect worth pressing the Skip button for most of the time. I’m sure such an endorsement will be enough for Mortal Kombat fans, given that there’s some better character development and acting here than in most games. As a sequel to Scorpion’s Revenge, it’s average, but as a video game movie, it’s a solid watch.