Mortal Kombat Legends: Cage Match

• Directed by Ethan Spaulding
• October 17, 2023
• Based on Mortal Kombat created by Ed Boon and John Tobias

Voice Cast

• Johnny Cage-Joel McHale
• Herself/Sareena-Jennifer Grey
• Chuck Golden/Mokap-Dusan Brown
• Kia, Little Boy, Old Woman-Grey DeLisle
• Shinnok-Robin Atkin Downes
• Jataaka-Zehra Fazal
• David Doubldy-Gilbert Gottfried
• Ashrah-Kelly Hu
• Concierge, Costumed Man-Matthew Yang King
• Brian Van Jones-Phil LaMarr
• Ethan, Bully-Matthew Mercer
• Raiden, Bus Driver-Dave B. Mitchell
• Master Boyd, Mugger-Armen Taylor

Self-absorbed star-on-the-rise Johnny Cage while searching for his co-star Jennifer Grey fights a secret society that plots the destruction of Earthrealm.

I can’t say it was particularly hopeful for Mortal Kombat Legends: Cage Match after Snow Blind. I felt the latter was derivative and with the gift of hindsight largely in accessible to anyone who was not familiar with Mortal Kombat and its mythology. It is one thing to know who Johnny Cage or Scorpion is. It is another to know back stories and how characters are linked. Being a prequel it treats the characters as strangers to the viewer over being known commodities.

Not only is this accessible to casual or non-fans but being set in the late 80s as it sets up the main character to be a near great action star, its character designs and animation style are reminiscent of what was used heavily in marketing material. Cage and Ashrah in particular look like they were plucked from an image that dangled in malls or department stores of the time.

The background music to any songs with lyrics feels very era appropriate. The individuals making this knew the assignment and executed it perfectly. You are immersed thoroughly into the time without being drowned in it.

This is an homage and even a loving parody of action movies from the era. Specifically (intentional or not) the direct-to-video variety or those that should have been anyway. It’s that cheesy idea that somehow works with Johnny’s big movie being titled Ninja Mime. It wasn’t uncommon for a studio to slap two words together that sounded interesting in combination and build the movie around that. And they were usually so bad they were good.

Cage Match takes a much more comedic tone over the previous films. Not only does it fit with the general action movie of the story’s era but fits with the character of Cage. The main character does experience growth while never losing the excessive ego or inflated sense of self-worth. He goes from a self-absorbed jerk to a jerk that’s willing to stand to fight for what’s right. He still is a little stuck on himself but not blind to bigger things.

Being an origin film, we see the formative moments of Cage which also explain why this epic douchebag can be an okay guy and even step up to the challenge. He is not a saintly hero but a very flawed person who is also very right for the job even if he does not quite see that himself. Courtesy of Joel McHale’s near patented delivery he is quite charming making the idolatry and loyalty of his personal assistant Chuck easy to believe.

Chuck is a very abused PA. He accepts it and humorously adjusts, never becoming anything other than assistant no matter what comes his way. It is his ethos and something that defines him so fully there is no identity beyond it.

This is replete with jokes big and small. Johnny’s flashbacks show him trained by an instructor that looks suspiciously like Chuck Norris. We have bit of Mortal Kombat gameplay with a nod to efforts to ban the game. Another running gag is that Hollywood is controlled by demons with that revelation being viewed as almost a given.

Given my limited knowledge I am uncertain of ANY backstory involving Cage and Ashrah. Are they a couple or like here is it something that never happens? Johnny clearly has the hots for her and she has reluctant respect if not reluctant attraction to the jerk.

Johnny gets pulled into things when he goes to investigate the disappearance of his Ninja Mime costar Jennifer Grey voiced by Jennifer Grey. I thought they were just being lazy by naming the character ‘Jennifer.’ Not unreasonable to think that. It was not until I wrote this that I got the joke.

The self-absorbed and almost dense nature of Johnny plays into him getting ever deeper into the mystery. He has trouble seeing things through a lens that extends beyond himself. Not entirely out of character and nothing down to the point of making him irritating rather than someone you want to see succeed.

Like the other movies, there is gore but in Cage Match it doesn’t seem as heavy as before. There’s no obvious push to have it appear as often as possible. It’s used but used judiciously and humorously. Dark jokes appear regularly.

Despite its silliness it is quite exciting with a high stakes story involving a small cast of characters. Johnny is not a conventional hero but is the perfect type of hero for the movie. He subverts expectations with it never being noticeable. The script is witty and intelligent that uses the mythology for a character driven story that balances seriousness and humor.

Mortal Kombat Legends: Cage Match was a great movie that lovingly uses Mortal Kombat mythology while also taking an appreciative poke at an era’s visual aesthetics and the action genre of the time. More importantly, it’s a film that’s accessible to fans and casual individuals.