The Lone Gamer

Some recent game-to-movie news. Survival Horror Hit Dead Island will be coming to theaters care of Lionsgate Films, while Warner Bros. has given MK Legacy Maven Kevin Tancharoen the Go Ahead for a Theatrical Reboot Release of Mortal Kombat.

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To star Adrien Brody and a CG-youthenized Dakota Fanning. Kidding.

Zombie movies are all the rage these days- will that still be the case in a couple of years, when Dead Island’s theatrical debut hits? Probably. We’ve seen so many permutations of the shuffling/stalking/running undead/infected genre (still quite a few coming, like Juan of the Dead and World War Z), so what does Dead Island have new to offer? Bikini-clad zombies is a good start I guess, but then according to a press release by the L.A. Times, the film will feature “family ties and non-linear storytelling”.

Based on that, my impression is that they’re going to take that emotional debut trailer as inspiration, which I feel is kinda off the mark. Downer films just don’t hit it with me- and really, that story of the tragic family in the ad? It’s been told, and it’s DONE. Do we need to see an hour and a half version of that? Perhaps a more tongue-in-cheek Zombieland (Zombie Island?) approach would be better.

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The short film that started it all.

As for the future Mortal Kombat film, Kevin Tancharoen’s web series was mostly awesome, so this is pretty great news. He’s supposedly going for ‘more realism”… well, as real as a story with ice-throwing ninja and thunder gods-in-the-flesh can be. With a bigger budget (but less than 100 million, supposedly) perhaps we can have awesome scenes in Outworld without having to resort to animated cut-aways.

With the next MK movie due in 2013 (supposedly coinciding with the next MK game), there’s really no reason to worry about this till the first trailer hits. Anything is possible, I guess. Let’s cross our fingers that this next theatrikal release avoids Annihilation.

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The first season of Legacy ends on an particularly strong note.

Aaand it’s back! Now up officially on Machinima’s channel, here’s the finale of Kevin Tancharoen’s groundbreaking web-series. It’s been a ride, with episode being anticipated by MK fans the world over. In the end, I think that the series has been a success- while it has it’s highs and lows, overall it was well-shot and excellently thought-out, with several standout episodes (Raiden, Johnny Cage’s and the Cyborgs). For me, this series worked best when Tancharoen allowed himself to play a bit- what I found so intriguing in the original Mortal Kombat Rebirth. Some episodes played out too predictably, which watered down their appeal to me. This final installment, with a simple, direct-to-the-point storyline, impressed simply from the production values and brutally impactful fight scenes.

Though I understand this series was probably made as a support to the game’s marketing and a prequel series, it would be awesome if it were to continue, but on the other hand as it is, it’s already something special and something that MK fans can always enjoy, and an aspect of the franchise that can always be looked upon as a mark of quality. Whether it continues into a second season or not, this Legacy has already proven its worth.

The Mortal Kombat panel at Comicon, which had MK Legacy director Kevin Tancharoen and series creator Ed Boon present, debuted the episode 9 of the web-series Mortal Kombat Legacy. This time we see the origin of the Cyborg Ninjas, Cyrax and Sektor, as they are transformed from human assassins to the mechanized war machines we know.

I was fortunate enough to see the episode uploaded on Youtube, but it has since been taken down. Machinima, which has the rights to it, should be posting it on their own channel eventually. I have to say, I’ve never been a fan of these particular fighters, but this episode is easily one of the best in the whole series. The pacing is quick and tight, and the two fight scenes show off the best action I’ve seen in the show so far. Visually as well, the production of the episode is very impressive and consistent.

Good to see Legacy end with a very good note and hopefully we’ll see this web-series continue onwards to a second season. Thanks to TheWushuFan for posting this!

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It’s all going to end in tears… OF BLOOD.

PREVIOUSLY on Mortal Kombat Legacy… Hanzo Hasashi AKA Scorpion is, when he’s not a badass master ninja assassin, a loving father and husband. Then he’s called to work. Uh-oh…
As expected, after last week’s setup, this conclusion to the Shirai Ryu-Lin Kuei arc had some explosive action and inevitable tragedy. The clincher was the twist at the end, which sealed Scorpion’s fate as a pawn of the Nether Realm. This was the pay-off for last week’s somewhat lethargic start, but again I wish they had just put everything into one tight package. Who’s next week then? Perhaps the Shaolin?

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Mortal Kombat’s Spy Vs Spy couple get their due spotlight.

This week, Kevin Tancharoen’s Mortal Kombat web-series finally reaches arguably the most iconic and recognizable characters in the series- Scorpion and Sub-Zero, the duelling ninja assassins. We delve initially into the family life of Hanzo Hasashi (Scorpion, played by Ian Anthony Dale), basking in the blissful warmth of his loving wife Kana and his son Jubei (he of the fake-looking hair) before we head into the inevitable bloody spiral into tragedy via his frosty rival, Bi-Han of the Lin Kuei (Sub-Zero, played by Kevan Ohtsji). Sadly, once again this episode is all set-up and little else. Next week will surely bring some action, lots of drama and Scorpion doubtlessly getting his dead-white eyes.

As radically different and exceptional the last episode (Raiden) was, this returns to the by-the-numbers manner of most of the episodes so far. No surprises, nothing unexpected. You can see everything coming from a mile away- might as well put huge X’s on the wife and kid- come on, Hanzo- not even a single ninja-trained retainer to protect your freakin’ wife and kid? Not even a damn alarm? Dude… you were asking for it.

Anway, sadly this episode may rank as the most boring so far. Darn, Hanzo’s life is too quiet. At least have him practicing and doing cool stuff with the Kunai. Or explain WHY the freakin’ Shirai Ryu wear of all colors, YELLOW. But nope, we get the pilot episode of Home Life with the Hisashis. I guess all the better to set the tragedy, but really, we already know that. Time is of the essence in this series, so why waste it with these slow, plodding scenes? After that loooong talk with his son and wife, even I wanted them dead.
Another thing I was kinda hoping for was that, since Machinima seems to be giving a poll on which ninja fans love better, there would be a bit of equality on the storytelling from both sides. But really, here, Subs is the easy, obvious villain (not even slightly ambiguous as in the game), and Scorp is obviously the one gaining sympathy. I would have liked to see a bit from the view of the Lin Kuei. Why do they need to off Scorp now? Why do they need to stoop so low to strike at the man’s family? Do they have no honor at all? Are they really just villains? I wanted to see depth, but that probably won’t happen with next week probably going to be just a fight scene, a death and resurrection. Boom, next episode.

Also a bit jarring- the dialogue. For some reason, the Japanese of the actors sounds iffy… I think anyone who regularly watches anime or Japanese films or TV shows (or heck, even just interview videos with Japanese game producers) will notice the speech here sounds stilted, slow, rehearsed and unnatural. Everyone sounds like they’re reading memorized lines instead of actually engaging in conversation. Maybe they should have just stuck to english.
In all… quite disappointing. It’s the male version of the Kitana/Mileena episode. DIdn’t like the fast cuts and weird edit jumps in the opening moments. The snowy, forest setting though looked amazing, and the ‘original’ costumes were pretty cool.
Hopefully they make up for this next week, when it’s all about ninja tearing, cutting, piercing and freezing each other to freakin’ pieces.

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Get ready to have your brain blown.

And NOW for something totally out of left field… the Raiden episode of director Kevin Tancharoen’s web-series based on the Mortal Kombat series. Suffice to say, the treatment of this particular installment will probably polarize the audience- some will easily, surely go WTF and think that the director is Out of His Freakin’ Mind.

Others, however, will find this perhaps the best episode of this series yet.

For me, it’s the latter. This episode is, easily, the closest in spirit, theme and originality to the original Mortal Kombat Rebirth. It’s gritty and brutal- in fact, almost unbearably so- as we see a beloved character thrown through the wringer, placed in a situation more oppressive, more terrible and more tortuous than any Outworld battlefield, more hostile than a den of assassins. It’s an offbeat, unexpected execution but I found it weirdly working- this was what I was hoping from this show, ever since I saw and fell in love with the radical ideas of Rebirth. All the episodes prior to this- disappointed me, some more than others- in that they were so expected, by the numbers, unsurprising and SAFE. THIS however, challenged my sensibilities of what MK should be, and that was great.

Perhaps my only gripe- my one big reservation is that this should have gone without the opening scene. Without that first scene that really, gave it all away, this would have been infinitely more rewarding.

Anyway, watch it. You may hate it. You may love it. But you have to admit, this is certainly shocking. And for a Raiden episode, I find that quite fitting.

Mortal Kombat Legacy Episode 5 stars Ryan Robbins as Raiden, Tracy Spiridakos as Blue and Peter Hall as Doctor Gadsen.

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Kill! Kill! Kill!

As expected, this concluding part of Kitana and Mileena’s chapter in Mortal Kombat Legacy contained pretty much all the action with Shao Kahn’s ninja daughters- a pretty fierce martial arts duel at the beginning which was kinda spoiled though by the fact that it’s kinda hard to figure out who’s who (the color differences between the uniforms is a bit too subtle). Then, lots of animated sequences afterward… honestly, far too much. Wasn’t this series supposed to be live-action…?

In the end, not great but not bad- the story is tinged with tragedy as Kitana’s should be, but the large amount of animated sequences waters it all down and minimizes the camera time and opportunity to show some actual acting from performers Samantha Tjhia (Kitana) and Jolene Tran (Mileena).
Really, you have fine ladies who can kick ass and you just cover them up with drawings? Was it because of budget constraints? Time? The inability to portray the gory scenes practically? Inability to dress up the actresses in the anime portion’s costumes? It boggles the mind. Perhaps director Tancharoen just wrote the script for this and then left most of it to the animators so he could concentrate on the other episodes. Meh.

I hope this is the last we see of this kind of thing in this series, but I think we’ll see it again during the Scorpion/Sub-Zero part). Till next Tuesday then…

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Moving on to Edenia and Outworld…

The latest episode of Kevin Tancharoen’s web-series on the backstories of the Mortal Kombat saga is now up over at Machinima’s Youtube Channel (or just see the vid above). This week, the focus is on the babes of Outworld, Princess Kitana and her clone, Mileena. No doubt due to budget constraints, much of the episode is shown in some animated bits, which have a similar look to the O-ren Ishii anime segment in Kill Bill (perhaps the same artist), though the animation is a bit sparing. The live-action segments are mostly filmed as best as they can, using lost of dark, mist and other tricks to keep the thing from looking like an episode of Power Rangers. Doesn’t really succeed, but well, it’s about the story anyway. Sadly though, while the episode’s events are engaging, it’s again MUCH TOO SHORT. I’m really expecting next episode, part 2, to be mainly just a fight scene between Kitana and Mileena, and that’s it. This ep is set-up, next week is pay-off/money action.

Other than that, the remarkable bits are the reinterpretations of Shao Kahn- looking pretty human and non-descript, and Baraka- suitably vicious and gross. It wouldn’t have hurt to give Kahn his trademark skull mask, I think. Another intriguing bit is the slight bit of sympathy given to Mileena- although that soon vanishes in a torrent of blood. All in all, this held my interest well and kept me wanting, which is good, but man, I wish they just squeezed everything into just one tight package. Till next week then…

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Featuring Ed Boon!

The latest episode of Kevin Tancharoen’s web series takes up the story of, as of MK9, my favorite male character in the franchise, Johnny Cage. The lovable douche is comic relief for the game as well as being one kick-ass fighter, and I am glad the new game has him in a more favorable light for the most part. Anyway, this episode of Legacy opens up with a ‘Hollywood True Stories’ type of segment on Cage (I wish they went the distance and actually used E!) with the former martial arts superstar’s career on a nosedive. This is a one-shot gig, which is pretty straight to the point- I wish the Sonya-Jax chapter was as tight.

Next week’s chapter has Kitana and Mileena, which should make for very different imagery and setting.

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Did Jax just attempt a Fatality..?

Here’s the second installment of the Mortal Kombat Legacy webisodes, apparently concluding the Special Forces/Black Dragon chapter. It seems incredibly short- in fact, if you took out the rather lengthy recap scenes from Part 1 and the credits, it might not even last a cup o’ coffee. Even worse, about two or so minutes was already screened early last week (the Sonya hospital scene). I am of the thinking that this should have been shown together with Part 1 and just told in one sitting instead of splitting up the action.

Anyway, there are really no surprises in this episode, everything happened as you’d expect, at least, as any gamer even with nominal knowledge of MK lore would know. That’s okay though- the Jax-Kano fight was intense, even if some parts you could tell the blows were kinda not really connecting. Plus Sonya gets to be pretty bad-ass in one scene.

This will hopefully conclude this part of the MK mythos, and move on to other characters. If we’re back to these guys (and gal) next week, it will probably be a bit more aftermath and more brooding than all-out action which fans are probably craving. We’ll see then. All in all, still happy with how this is going, looking forward to next week.

Mortal Kombat Legacy is directed by Kevin Tancharoen. Michael Jai White stars as Jax, Jeri Ryan as Sonya, Darren Shahlavi as Kano and Tahmoh Penikett as Stryker. New episodes are aired every Tuesday on Machinima.com.