Everybody loves a little violence once in a while, right? Unfortunately, a good gore-fest is next to impossible on cable TV without strict ratings and timeslots. Watching TV from the comfort of your own computer, however, has become increasingly popular thanks to Netflix, Hulu and an onslaught of made-for-the-web shows accessible in just a few mouse clicks.
Nerds, in particular, get the best end of the deal, as peers and idols alike finally able to showcase their creative and geeky sides in creations like Joss Whedon’s Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog or Felicia Day’s The Guild and now Kevin Tancharoen’s Mortal Kombat: Legacy.
Tancharoen’s vision began as an eight-minute clip that served as a proof of concept for a reboot of the martial arts film series of the mid-90s, which was in turn based on the successful gaming franchise. While Warner Brothers didn’t produce an actual film, Warner Premiere, the direct-to-video label of Warner Home Video, ordered a 10-episode web series based on Tancharoen’s concept, the first appearing online Monday, April 11.
Mortal Kombat: Legacy has the makings of a decent film, including a fairly well-known cast, at least in the sci-fi community. The first webisode, which has racked up over 1.8 million views at the time of writing, also introduces a handful of well-known characters from the franchise: Michael Jai White (Spawn) stars as Jackson “Jax” Briggs, Jeri Ryan (Seven of Nine on Star Trek: Voyager) stars as Sonya Blade, Tahmoh Penikett (Battlestar Galactica, Dollhouse) appears as Kurtis Stryker and Darren Shahlavi takes the role of Kano.
A prequel to the series, the premier strays from the supernatural forces that rule the major plotlines and instead showcases Kano’s rule over the Black Dragon crime cartel, a central plot to the development of his and the rest of the episode’s characters. The basic story of the game is intact, though Jax and Sonya are now police officers instead of Special Forces agents, and Stryker is on their team (he originally doesn’t appear until later in the series). The rearranged storylines make for a slightly more “believable†continuity.
High points of the episode include decent acting and lax censorship (expect some F-bombs). Though the violence doesn’t quite live up to the gore of the original games yet, the use of technological/cyber weaponry is a major focal point, more-so than it was at first in the games. This will definitely help draw sci-fi fans into the mythos easily, especially if they’re already invested in the series for the actors.
Unfortunately, as with most online shows, the downside is the episode length. Clocking in at 12 minutes, the events seem too fast-paced. While the quick storylines may hold a viewer’s attention, it leaves the characters without much depth. Why is Jax so invested in rescuing Sonya right away? How do the events of the first episode eventually convince the team to join in the Mortal Kombat tournament? Surely all questions will be answered, but with the high-quality filmography and writing they put into the production, a little more plot or character development could have helped, as the script seems totally movie-worthy.
Pacing aside, the release is definitely worth a peek (especially since it’s free). The 12-minute episode still packs enough excitement to keep viewers hooked. Sci-fi fans are especially sure to latch on, and hopefully fans of the original game will appreciate the attention to detail and plot that Tancharoen put in. More characters (and presumably well-known sci-fi actors) will also be revealed throughout the run of the series. If anything else, the reboot just continues to prove that quality work can be done even for internet-only releases, and Legacy is worth checking out for Tancharoen’s attention to detail, whether or not you’ve played the game.
Mortal Kombat: Legacy is presented by Machinima.com and Warner Brothers and is available on YouTube as well as Machinima.com. New episodes will appear online each Tuesday, and the web series also coincides with the premier of the 2011 reboot of the Mortal Kombat game series, set for release on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on April 19, 2011.
This article originally appeared on AllMediaNY.com
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