The Edge of the Frame

Does everybody remember when, almost a year ago, a ballsy filmmaker without a lot to his credit, assembled a cast and crew from his own friends and made a short film entitled “Mortal Kombat: Rebirth.” It was a gritty, high-profile pitch for Hollywood to allow the director to reboot the Mortal Kombat video game series into a new franchise of films for the modern film climate. The short film was hugely popular and became and overnight sensation. People really liked the idea of blending the realistic and fantastical into one film concept and there was a large outcry for the potential feature to be made.

Well, it hasn’t happened yet. In recent news, however, the “Rebirth” concept did get some level of funding; at least enough for a web series that has just premiered its first episode. “Mortal Kombat: Legacy” appears to mostly follow the police duo of Sonya Blade and Jax as they fight crime and (one can only guess they will, anyway) bite off more than they can chew. Only a few known MK characters have made appearances so far, but many are sure to follow. The logic here is that if the web series is able to garner enough support, the movie could become a reality.

I was a big fan of the short film when it was released, last year. However, this new web series is definitely not clutching my interest. Episode 1 feels like nothing more than the cheesiest of cop shows. Visually, it doesn’t look half as intriguing as its predecessor. It’s going to take a lot for me to stick this one out in hopes of a decent feature film.

If anyone else wants to give it a chance, they can watch the first episode, below: