"Scorpio has a characteristic that makes it invincible: willpower." It is one of the last sentences uttered by Hanzo Hasashi (great master of the Japanese clan Shirai Ryu) to his son Satoshi in the opening scenes of the animated film Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion's Revenge (Warner Bros.) available in streaming on the Chili platform (also on dvd / blu-ray). From that night on, "Hanzo is dead" and he will want to be called only after the fearsome insect whose incredible ability he never gave up. He will rise from the underworld to have his revenge.
From the onomastics of our portal it is easy to understand that we are focused on the Legends of all times, let alone those that combine cinema and videogames. We could not help but love the (dark) myth inspired by the fighters of the historic fighting game created by Ed Boon and John Tobias back in 1992, which at the time was not a children's title.
Also in the new animated film, the team gathered by the master Raiden must perform the same difficult task without him being able to intervene. This time the main focus shifts to the yellow and black ninja Scorpion. In the '95 film he was a feared opponent of the earthlings (defeated by Cage), in the new adaptation he returns to the earthly world at the behest of the evil Quan Chi, guardian of the Occult Realm. He will then be called by Lord Raiden to "choose his own destiny" discovering something he does not know about the real perpetrators behind the murder of his family. At the end of the vision, you are abundantly filled with blood and torn bones uncensored (with instant flashes that highlight the iconic X-ray fractures) as in the best splatters. From the very first scenes there is no lack of macabre details, so bitter that they leave gall in the mouth. Suffering of the viewer that becomes anger, and then thirst for justice for Hanzo, eager to take revenge at any cost.
There will be battles with historical enemies such as Sub-Zero, Kano, Goro, Reptile e Baraka: we expected them, but the outcome will never be taken for granted. The moves during the matches reproduce those of the fighters of the game, characterized with maniacal care. The "older" fans will certainly be satisfied with the visual adaptation - typically DC style - but also sound, since the protagonists (dubbed as in the last games) utter most of their famous phrases. And when Scorpion intimates to his opponent in a dark voice: "Get over here!" ("Come here now") it seems to us that we have actually started a match in Mortal Kombat.
Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion's Revenge, available in streaming on Chili (also on dvd / blu ray), is a (bloody) dive into the past that evokes memories of one of the longest-running video game sagas, now in its eleventh chapter (pending of the twelfth scheduled for April 27, 2023). Modern animations are well suited to the explicit violence (always imaginary, mind you) that has been conquering audiences all over the world for almost thirty years.
