Mortal Kombat Legends: Snow Blind [4K Ultra HD]

Director: Rick Morales

Cast: Manny Jacinto, David Wenham, Artt Butler (VOICES)

Release Date: October 11, 2022

A Review By: Kevin Lovell

Film Rating: 6.5/10
Disc Rating: 7/10

Synopsis:

Inspired by the worldwide video game sensation now celebrating its 30^th anniversary, Mortal Kombat Legends: Snow Blind finds vicious, power-mad Kano determined to take over Earthrealm, one soul at a time. Assisted by a trio of cold Black Dragon mercenaries, he embarks on a brutal assault from town to defenseless town. The choice is simple: Kneel or be annihilated. But when the cocky and talented but undisciplined Kenshi doesn’t take a knee, Kano and his clan destroy the young warrior, taking his eyesight and his confidence. Under the tutelage of reluctant, retired Kuai Liang, the only one powerful enough to challenge the malevolent Kano, Kenshi finds renewed hope and a clear path to redemption. But will it be enough to stop Kano from decimating all of Earthrealm?

Please Note: Warner Bros. Home Entertainment provided me with a free copy of the 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray I reviewed in this Post. The opinions I share are my own.

‘Mortal Kombat Legends: Snow Blind’ sees a mad, power-hungry Kano ruling over the realm which is now primarily comprised of vast, dry wastelands with only Kano and his faithful, equally twisted team of Black Dragon Clan mercenaries backing up his rule while traveling from one desperate and ill equipped town to another demanding obedience or death. But when fierce warrior Kenshi is unwilling to bend the knee he ends up on a dangerous spiral leading to his near demise, only to find his way back more lost than ever. Hesitantly accepting the wisdom and guidance of Kuai Liang who now tries to live his days in quiet solitude, Kenshi may have hope of becoming what he once was, if not more. But whether it will be enough to combat Kano and his deadly followers is another matter entirely.

‘Mortal Kombat Legends: Snow Blind’ serves up a wildly graphic and blood soaked new animated film that takes a different route than its predecessors but still keeps things intriguing and fun along the way. Many of the fan-favorite characters aren’t present this time around which isn’t unthinkable after the events of ‘Mortal Kombat Legends: Battle of the Realms’ but it still features a handful of them in addition to introducing some new characters who make their (movie) debut here such as Kenshi. The story is reportedly inspired by a videogame ending for Kano and the film takes place amid a vast, sand-filled wasteland populated by cold-blooded individuals and gangs intent on controlling all in a very Mad Max type of world. A world that’s largely ruled by Kano who has become an all-powerful force to be reckoned with and no longer a mere competitor, but the big bad this time around. While the film may not have anything to do with the popular tournament theme that the franchise is best known for (and named after of course) that doesn’t mean it takes it easy on the blood-drenched violence and carnage which if anything is more graphic and gnarly than the previous two installments.

The story may struggle at times and might feel somewhat incomplete to more casual fans due to the absence of so many characters, not to mention what is often the central theme of the franchise but it’s also to be praised for daring to do something unique and different for a change and fans surely won’t want to miss out on this bloody new chapter in the ongoing animated film series. ‘Mortal Kombat Legends: Snow Blind’ is directed by Rick Morales this time around from a screenplay by Jeremy Adams and features a well selected voice cast including Manny Jacinto, David Wenham, Patrick Seitz, Artt Butler, Debra Wilson, Ron Yuan, Imari Williams, Yuri Lowenthal, Courtenay Taylor, Keith Silverstein, Sumalee Montano and Lei Yin to competently back it all up and help to make this a very different type of film in the series, but an intriguing and perhaps even more graphic entry that’s still worth giving a whirl for fans.

Overall, ‘Mortal Kombat Legends: Snow Blind’ delivers another bloody and gore soaked animated ride based on the beloved videogame franchise that while serving as a sequel to the previous two ‘Mortal Kombat Legends’ installments is also a very different film inspired by a Kano ending in the game and borrowing from many other popular films and franchises in order to something intriguing and a bit different this time around, both for good and bad. While it probably won’t do anything for casual viewers, ‘Mortal Kombat Legends: Snow Blind’ is recommended for diehard fans of the videogame franchise as well as those who thoroughly enjoyed the previous two ‘Mortal Kombat Legends’ animated films. This latest offering is certainly a drastically different tale and while it may not have any focus on the tournament itself, it should still provide more than enough over the top carnage and action packed excitement to make it well worth taking the time to check out.

VIDEO:

The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray release of ‘Mortal Kombat Legends: Snow Blind’ features a full 2160p Ultra High Definition presentation with HDR-10, presented in its original 1.78:1 Aspect Ratio. The video presentation looks very decent as a whole and delivers a clean, sharp and nicely detailed presentation from start to finish. It’s a definite improvement over the Blu-ray release although not as significant of one as is often the case. Even so it still holds up well and offers a generally problem free and colorful presentation that contributes some finer detail and smoother backgrounds that also benefit from the HDR-10 inclusion which delivers some vibrantly bright colors and rich darks throughout. Overall, this is a solid Ultra High Definition video presentation that does its job well for the most part and shouldn’t disappoint.

AUDIO:

The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray release features a 5.1 channel DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack. This multichannel soundtrack provides a clean, crisp and hard hitting audio presentation throughout. It repeatedly utilizes all five available channels in order to send action effects, along with nature content, crowd chatter and music throughout the various speakers along with more at every reasonable opportunity and never allows any dialogue or other audio elements that might be occurring simultaneously to become distorted or rendered inaudible in the process. Overall, this is a pretty great 5.1 DTS-HD MA soundtrack that holds up well and makes a great complement to the onscreen fun.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray release of ‘Mortal Kombat Legends: Snow Blind’ includes a few notable extras, the majority of which can be found on the included Blu-ray disc with the exception of an ‘Audio Commentary with Co-writer/Producer/Director Rick Morales and Writer Jeremy Adams’ which is included on both discs. The Blu-ray disc also includes ‘2 Deleted Animatics’ from the movie (running approximately 5 minutes in length combined) along with the Behind the Scenes Featurettes ‘Adapting Evil: Building the Black Dragon Clan’ (running approximately 9 minutes) and ‘Kenshi: From the Video Game to Mortal Kombat Legends: Snow Blind’ (approximately 8 minutes).

*Please note that the above images are taken from the Blu-Ray disc included in the 4K UHD Combo Pack and resized. They do not represent the quality of the 4K Ultra HD disc itself and will additionally suffer quality loss as a result of .jpg compression. Larger versions of each image can be viewed by clicking on the image. All images and content included on the 4K UHD & Blu-Ray release are the property of their respective owners.

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Film Rating: 6.5/10
Disc Rating: 7/10

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‘Mortal Kombat Legends: Snow Blind’ is Now Available to Own on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray & Digital from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment

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