Mortal Kombat Legends: Snow Blind

Mortal Kombat Legends: Snow Blind
Official DVD/Blu-ray cover
Directed by	Rick Morales
Screenplay by	Jeremy Adams
Based on	Mortal Kombat by Ed Boon & John Tobias
Produced by	Jim Krieg Rick Morales
Starring	Manny Jacinto David Wenham Ron Yuan Keith Silverstein Courtenay Taylor Yuri Lowenthal Artt Butler Imari Williams
Edited by	Robert Ehrenreich
Music by	John Jennings Boyd Eric V. Hachikian
Production companies	Warner Bros. Animation Digital eMation (Animation Services)
Distributed by	Warner Bros. Home Entertainment
Release date	October 11, 2022 (2022-10-11)
Country	United States
Language	English

Mortal Kombat Legends: Snow Blind is a 2022 American direct-to-video adult animated martial arts film, produced and directed by Rick Morales from a screenplay by Jeremy Adams, based on the Mortal Kombat franchise. It is the third installment in the Legends series and a direct sequel to Mortal Kombat Legends: Battle of the Realms (2021).

Produced by Warner Bros. Animation and animated by South Korean studio Digital eMation, it was released on October 11, 2022.

Plot

Decades after Shao Kahn's defeat in Mortal Kombat, Earthrealm has been attacked by undead revenants and become a wasteland of isolated cities. The Black Dragon clan — Kira, Kobra, Ferra/Torr, Drahmin, Kabal, Erron Black, No Face, Dairou, Tremor, and Jarek, along with an aged Shang Tsung — has annexed these cities, with their leader Kano declaring himself king.

Meanwhile, an aged Kuai Liang has abandoned the title of Sub-Zero and lives a farmer's life. Kabal, Kira, and Kobra assault him and steal his supplies before entering an untouched city that is the home of brash young warrior Kenshi. He defeats the trio in combat but spares their lives, and they flee but later return to the city with fellow clansman Tremor and Shang Tsung in tow. When Kenshi announces himself by his full name, his surname Takahashi catches Shang Tsung's attention, and after Kenshi is defeated by Tremor, he intervenes and prevents his execution.

Under the alias of "Sung", he tells Kenshi of a powerful sword called "Sento" that could be used to defeat the Black Dragon. Kenshi is lured to a desert where the Well of Souls is located, and when he opens it, energy surges from the well and blinds Kenshi, while Shang Tsung absorbs it and is rejuvenated with a younger form, after which he throws Kenshi into the well and leaves him to die. However, Kenshi hears the mystic sword Sento speaking to him telepathically; he takes the weapon and frees himself from the well.

Shang Tsung later attacks Kano, killing several of his Black Dragon henchmen before being slain himself by Kano after he is unable to consume his soul due to Kano being cybernetic.

Kuai Liang finds Kenshi wandering the desert and takes him in, then trains Kenshi by enhancing his other senses. He reveals that he had faced the wave of the revenants and, in a desperate attempt to end the conflict, killed everyone but himself in an ice storm. However, the casualties included his clan members and civilians, which caused him to swear an oath never to use his powers again.

When Kano seizes control of another city, Kenshi argues that they need to help the townspeople but Kuai Liang refuses, resulting in a fight. Kuai Liang gains the upper hand and offers Kenshi one last chance to return to a normal life, but Kenshi chooses to enter the city where he is captured after killing more Black Dragons.

Kuai Liang burns down his farm in order to summon Scorpion, and reassumes his past identity of Sub-Zero. They join forces and arrive at the city to free Kenshi as the latter is being tortured by Kano. After they kill the remaining Black Dragon members, they decapitate Kano but he survives and rushes to a chamber containing Kronika's Hourglass, which he uses to create an alternative timeline where he unleashes revenants worldwide. Kuai Liang kills Kano before he can use the hourglass to erase Sub-Zero from existence, and the chamber self-destructs. Since he promised Scorpion to take him if he ever used his powers again, Kuai Liang and Scorpion depart to the Netherrealm, making Kenshi the successor of the Lin Kuei and new protector of Earthrealm.

Voice cast

• Manny Jacinto as Kenshi
• David Wenham as Kano
• Ron Yuan as Kuai Liang / Sub-Zero
• Keith Silverstein as Kabal
• Courtenay Taylor as Kira
• Yuri Lowenthal as Kobra
• Artt Butler as Shang Tsung
• Imari Williams as Tremor
• Patrick Seitz as Scorpion
• Lei Yin as Sento, Peter
• Sumalee Montano as Kindra
• Debra Wilson as Graji

Production

Cover art for the film was leaked onto Twitter on August 1, 2022. Two days later on August 3, 2022, the film was formally announced via IGN.

David Wenham replaced Robin Atkin Downes as Kano from Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion's Revenge. Ron Yuan voiced Sub-Zero, replacing previous voice actor Bayardo De Murguia from Battle of the Realms.

Reception

Sam Stone of Comic Book Resources wrote that Snow Blind was "the most intimate story of the Mortal Kombat Legends trilogy" and "is all about character at its heart." However, Renaldo Mateen of CBR lambasted the film's inclusion of Scorpion as an "overused franchise trope", commenting that "it's as if the series doesn't trust other A-listers, falling back on a lazy, tedious creative move." Brittany Vincent of IGN rated the film a 6 out of 10, saying that "centering the plot mostly around Kenshi is a smart move" and "it's refreshing to see a character that doesn't get much screen time shine for a bit", but criticized the plot for "spend[ing] too much time elsewhere away from Kenshi when we’ve already been drawn in and want to learn more about him." Stephen Wilds of ComingSoon.net praised the voice acting, character roster and "engaging" fight scenes, "but it’s hard not to think that this outing won’t hit as well for casual fans or those who don’t appreciate the apocalyptic western genre."

External links

• Mortal Kombat Legends: Snow Blind at IMDb