Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion’s Revenge (2020) 🔥

Get over here!

Let’s start by showing y’all the trailers shall we? 🎬

If y’all wondering why im reviewing this now? Its because tomorrow the new MK 2 movie finally releases so im doing a retro reveiw on this movie.

⚠️ Content Warning ⚠️

This film contains intense animated violence, graphic gore, blood, brutal fight scenes, fatalities, broken bones, impalement, dismemberment, demonic imagery, revenge themes, murder, family death, and disturbing scenes involving a child and parent being killed.

This is not a light animated action movie. It is very violent, very bloody, and very Mortal Kombat. Viewer discretion is strongly advised.

So right away, this trailer tells you exactly what kind of Mortal Kombat movie this is going to be.

This is not a watered-down animated movie where characters politely punch each other and then shake hands afterward. No, this thing walks in covered in blood, throws a spine across the room, and says, “Welcome to Mortal Kombat, hope you weren’t eating.”

And honestly, that’s what you want from this franchise.

The trailer focuses heavily on Scorpion, which is the right move because Scorpion is basically the face of Mortal Kombat at this point. Even if you don’t know every single piece of Mortal Kombat lore, you know Scorpion. Yellow ninja, fire powers, spear chain, “Get over here!” That’s icon behavior right there.

But what I like about this movie is that it doesn’t just treat Scorpion like a cool mascot. It actually gives him an emotional story. This isn’t just Scorpion showing up to burn people because it looks cool, even though yes, it does look cool. This movie is built around Hanzo Hasashi’s pain, his family being murdered, his clan being slaughtered, and his transformation into Scorpion.

So right away, the trailer makes it clear: this is going to be bloody, angry, fast, violent, and very Mortal Kombat.

And yeah, that’s kind of the assignment.

Non-Spoiler Plot Overview 🐉

Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion’s Revenge is an animated R-rated Mortal Kombat movie that retells the early tournament story while putting Scorpion front and center.

The movie follows Hanzo Hasashi, a warrior of the Shirai Ryu clan, whose entire life is destroyed after his family and clan are slaughtered. After he dies, he is dragged into the Netherrealm and reborn as Scorpion, a hellfire-powered warrior driven by rage and revenge.

At the same time, we get the classic Mortal Kombat setup. Earthrealm is in danger, Outworld wants to conquer it, Shang Tsung is hosting the tournament, and Raiden gathers Earthrealm’s champions to fight back. So we get Liu Kang, Sonya Blade, Johnny Cage, and other familiar faces entering the tournament while Scorpion is on his own revenge quest.

And that’s honestly what makes the movie work. It’s not just a tournament movie. It’s not just “fight, fatality, next fight.” The movie has an emotional spine, and that spine is Scorpion.

Is this movie deep like some big prestige drama? No. Obviously not. This is Mortal Kombat. This is the franchise where people solve arguments by ripping out vertebrae like they’re pulling weeds. But for what it is, it actually has more emotional weight than you might expect.

The movie understands that Mortal Kombat is ridiculous, but it also understands that some of these characters have real tragedy behind them. Scorpion is not just angry because anger looks cool on a poster. He is angry because he lost everything.

That gives the movie a stronger center than just watching people get their rib cages turned into broken patio furniture.

Character Rundown 🎭

Hanzo Hasashi / Scorpion, voiced by Patrick Seitz, is the heart of this movie, which is kind of funny because Scorpion spends most of the film acting like his heart was replaced with gasoline and unresolved trauma. But he really is the emotional center. The movie starts by showing him as a husband, father, and warrior before everything is ripped away from him. That matters because once he becomes Scorpion, you understand the rage. He isn’t just a cool fire ninja. He is a murdered man who got dragged into hell and came back with one emotion left, and that emotion is “everyone involved is getting cooked.” Patrick Seitz is perfect here. His voice has that heavy, angry, wounded sound that makes Scorpion feel intimidating but also tragic.

Liu Kang, voiced by Jordan Rodrigues, is the traditional heroic champion of Earthrealm. He’s noble, disciplined, and clearly meant to be one of the main fighters against Outworld. The only issue is that because this movie is so focused on Scorpion, Liu Kang doesn’t get quite as much time as he probably would in a more straightforward Mortal Kombat story. He still works, but he feels more like the classic hero placed beside Scorpion’s revenge story rather than the full center of the movie.

Johnny Cage, voiced by Joel McHale, is honestly one of the funniest parts of the movie. He is arrogant, clueless, loud, and completely convinced at first that this is some kind of movie production. And that is exactly how Johnny Cage should be. He’s ridiculous, but he’s supposed to be ridiculous. Joel McHale gives him that perfect celebrity idiot confidence where he thinks he understands the situation because he’s famous, which makes it even funnier when he realizes, oh wait, no, this is an actual murder tournament. Fantastic. Great career move, Johnny.

Sonya Blade, voiced by Jennifer Carpenter, is tough, focused, and has absolutely no patience for Johnny’s nonsense. She’s there because of Kano and the Black Dragon, and she brings the more grounded military angle into the story. Jennifer Carpenter gives Sonya the right edge. She sounds like someone who is constantly one bad sentence away from punching Johnny in the throat, and honestly, fair.

Raiden, voiced by Dave B. Mitchell, plays the wise protector role. He gathers the Earthrealm fighters and explains the stakes of Mortal Kombat. Like usual, Raiden has that classic god-energy where he knows a bunch of things but says them in the most vague way possible. Raiden is basically the god of thunder and cryptic warnings. Still, he works because the movie needs someone to keep the tournament story from turning into total chaos.

Shang Tsung, voiced by Artt Butler, is the host of the tournament and brings that smug evil sorcerer energy you need from him. He’s theatrical, manipulative, and clearly enjoying himself way too much. He’s not the deepest villain in this movie, but he doesn’t really need to be. He’s there to run the murder tournament and smile like a man who absolutely read the terms and conditions and still chose evil.

Quan Chi, voiced by Darin De Paul, is the real slimy puppet master of the movie. He is one of those villains where you hate him not just because he’s evil, but because he is smug about being evil. He manipulates Scorpion’s pain, uses his grief, and basically turns a murdered father into a weapon. That’s not just villain behavior. That’s basement-level villain behavior. That’s “sir, you need to be thrown into lava twice” behavior.

Sub-Zero / Bi-Han, voiced by Steve Blum, is central to Scorpion’s revenge story. I don’t want to go too deep too early before spoilers, but his presence is tied directly to Hanzo’s tragedy and the whole reason Scorpion becomes consumed by vengeance. Steve Blum gives him that cold, intimidating voice that works perfectly for Sub-Zero. I mean, it’s Steve Blum. The man could voice a toaster and somehow make it sound like it has a criminal record.

Goro, voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson, is the giant monster champion of Outworld, and yeah, he works exactly how he should. He is huge, brutal, arrogant, and basically a walking boss fight. He’s not here to have a complex emotional arc. He’s here because sometimes Mortal Kombat needs a four-armed wall of meat to start folding people like laundry.

Kano, voiced by Robin Atkin Downes, is sleazy, gross, loud, and punchable, which means they got Kano right. He’s not someone you’re waiting to see redeemed. You’re waiting for someone to shut him up in the most violent way legally allowed by animation.

Pacing / Episode Flow ⏱️

This movie moves fast. Very fast.

It opens with Hanzo’s tragedy and immediately sets the tone. You know within the first few minutes that this is going to be brutal, bloody, and not afraid to hurt characters. From there, it jumps into the Netherrealm, the tournament, the Earthrealm fighters, and all the Mortal Kombat lore it needs to get the story moving.

And most of the time, that fast pace works.

This is not a two-and-a-half-hour movie trying to explain every single realm, timeline, bloodline, clan, tournament rule, and villain motivation. It gives you enough to understand what matters and then keeps moving. That helps the movie stay entertaining because there’s almost always a fight, reveal, or brutal moment around the corner.

But the downside is that some characters don’t get as much development as they probably should. Scorpion gets the most emotional material, which makes sense because his name is in the title. But Liu Kang, Sonya, Johnny, and the rest mostly get enough time to function inside the story. They’re enjoyable, but they don’t get the same depth as Scorpion.

The animation also does a lot of heavy lifting. The fights are fast, sharp, and extremely violent. The movie uses those X-ray style damage shots from the games, where you see bones crack, organs rupture, skulls fracture, and bodies get absolutely ruined from the inside out.

It’s disgusting.

It’s over-the-top.

It’s completely unnecessary.

And it’s Mortal Kombat, so yeah, that tracks.

The movie knows people are here for the brutal fights and fatalities, and it does not hold back. Sometimes it almost becomes funny because the violence is so extreme. Someone gets hit and you’re not just thinking “ouch,” you’re thinking, “I’m pretty sure that man’s spine just filed a workplace complaint.”

Pros ✅

Scorpion is handled really well here. The movie understands that his appeal is not just the costume, the fire, or the catchphrase. It’s the tragedy. Hanzo loses everything, dies, and comes back as something built out of grief and rage. That gives the movie a strong emotional core.

The violence is exactly what a Mortal Kombat animated movie should have. It’s bloody, brutal, ridiculous, and unapologetic. This movie does not feel embarrassed by its source material, which is already a huge win because a lot of adaptations seem like they’re ashamed of the thing they’re adapting.

The voice cast is strong. Patrick Seitz owns Scorpion. Joel McHale is a great Johnny Cage. Jennifer Carpenter gives Sonya the right attitude. Steve Blum as Sub-Zero is perfect because of course it is. Darin De Paul makes Quan Chi sound exactly as slimy as he should.

The fight scenes are fun and clear. You can actually follow the action, which is important because some animated action movies cut so fast you feel like you’re watching a blender fight a strobe light. Here, the hits feel heavy, the moves feel readable, and the fatalities have impact.

I also like that the story is simple. Revenge, tournament, betrayal, Earthrealm vs Outworld. Done. It doesn’t bury itself in timeline nonsense, and for Mortal Kombat, that is almost a miracle.

Cons ❌

The biggest issue is that the movie is short and it feels short. Because Scorpion gets the main emotional arc, some of the other characters feel a little underwritten. Liu Kang especially feels like he should be more important than he is. He’s the traditional champion, but this is not really his movie.

Shang Tsung is entertaining, but he doesn’t get a ton of depth. Goro is mostly a boss fight. Kano is fun, but he’s still mainly there to be gross and get punched. Again, that’s not shocking for Mortal Kombat, but it does mean the villains outside of Quan Chi don’t feel as emotionally tied to the story.

The pacing can also feel rushed. If you know Mortal Kombat, you’ll be fine. But if someone is brand new to the franchise, the movie throws a lot at them quickly. Realms, tournaments, clans, betrayals, demon deals, champions, sorcerers, four-armed murder giants. Welcome aboard, hope you studied.

And while I like the gore, I do think it sometimes gets so extreme that it crosses into accidental comedy. There are moments where the movie is clearly trying to be brutal, and it is, but it’s also so much that you almost laugh because good grief, how many bones does one person need to break before the scene files for overtime?

Final Thoughts 🧠

Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion’s Revenge is a really solid animated adaptation.

It understands the franchise. It understands the violence. It understands the tournament. And most importantly, it understands Scorpion.

This could have easily been just a shallow bloodbath where characters fight, explode, and move on. And yes, to be fair, there is a lot of fighting and exploding. But the movie actually gives Scorpion’s revenge story enough weight to matter.

It’s not perfect. Some characters need more time, and the pacing is definitely fast. But as a Mortal Kombat movie, it delivers.

It’s violent, stylish, emotional when it needs to be, and ridiculous in the exact way Mortal Kombat should be.

This is one of those movies where you can tell the people making it knew what fans wanted. They didn’t try to sand off the edges. They didn’t try to make it safe. They said, “Okay, you want Mortal Kombat? Fine. Here’s hellfire, shattered bones, revenge, and Johnny Cage being a moron.”

And honestly?

That’s all I needed.

Rating ⭐

8 / 10

That feels fair to me. It’s not perfect, but it’s a strong animated Mortal Kombat movie that gives Scorpion a genuinely solid revenge story while still delivering the violence and insanity people expect from this franchise.

⚠️ Spoiler Warning ⚠️

Alright, now we’re getting into the full story, the deaths, the betrayals, the tournament, the ending, and why Scorpion’s revenge actually works.

Spoilers 🔥

The movie opens with Hanzo Hasashi living peacefully with his wife and son, and right away you know this is going to go horribly because no one in a movie called Scorpion’s Revenge gets a calm family breakfast unless the universe is about to dropkick them into trauma.

Hanzo is shown as a warrior, but the movie smartly doesn’t start him as Scorpion. It starts him as a man. A husband. A father. Someone with a clan and a life. That matters because when everything is taken away from him, you actually feel why he becomes consumed by rage.

Then the Lin Kuei attack.

Hanzo returns home to find his clan slaughtered. His wife and son are murdered, and the movie does not soften this. It’s brutal, cold, and immediately tells you this movie is not playing around. Hanzo fights back and kills a bunch of attackers, because of course he does, but no matter how skilled he is, he cannot undo what happened.

Then he faces Sub-Zero.

Hanzo believes Sub-Zero is responsible for the massacre. He fights him, but Sub-Zero kills him. Hanzo dies filled with grief and hatred, and that hatred follows him into the Netherrealm.

That’s where Quan Chi comes in.

Quan Chi offers Hanzo revenge, but what he’s really doing is manipulating him. He takes this broken, furious man and turns him into a weapon. Hanzo becomes Scorpion, a hellfire warrior bound by rage. And this is where the movie gives Scorpion his tragic edge. He’s powerful now, yes, but he is not healed. He’s not free. He’s just a dead man with fire powers and a target.

Meanwhile, Raiden gathers Earthrealm’s champions for the Mortal Kombat tournament. Liu Kang is the serious trained fighter, Sonya is there because of Kano, and Johnny Cage shows up thinking this is some kind of movie situation. Which is honestly very Johnny Cage. Everyone else is fighting for realms and survival, and Johnny is basically standing there like, “So where’s my trailer?”

The tournament is hosted by Shang Tsung, who is trying to secure victory for Outworld. The whole setup is classic Mortal Kombat. Fighters from Earthrealm and Outworld battle, and if Earthrealm loses enough tournaments, Outworld gets to invade. Which is insane as a political system, but again, this is Mortal Kombat. Apparently interdimensional conquest is decided by organized punching.

Sonya’s storyline is tied to Kano. She’s trying to stop him, and Kano is exactly the kind of dirtbag you want to see get beaten. He’s sleazy, violent, smug, and every line he says sounds like it crawled out of a gas station bathroom. Their conflict gives Sonya a personal stake in the tournament beyond just “save Earthrealm.”

Johnny slowly realizes this is not a film set. At first he’s arrogant and clueless, but as the danger gets more real, he actually steps up. That’s what makes Johnny work. He’s obnoxious, but not useless. He’s ridiculous, but he can fight when it matters. And Joel McHale really makes that personality fun instead of unbearable.

Liu Kang gets his moments as the heroic champion, but again, the movie’s heart is with Scorpion. Liu Kang is important to the tournament, but Scorpion is important to the title.

The fights are extremely violent. The movie uses X-ray shots to show bones cracking and organs getting destroyed, and sometimes it feels like the animators were sitting there like, “Can we show this?” and someone else said, “It’s Mortal Kombat, show everything.” So they did. Ribs break, skulls crack, limbs get sliced, blood flies everywhere. This movie is not shy.

Then we get Goro, who is treated like the big terrifying champion he should be. Goro is huge, arrogant, and dangerous. Johnny Cage fighting Goro is one of the most fun parts of the movie because it’s ridiculous in the best way. Johnny is completely outmatched, but he still manages to survive and beat him. Is it believable? Not really. Is it satisfying? Yes. Sometimes Mortal Kombat logic just means the Hollywood guy kicks the four-armed monster in the right place and somehow saves the day.

But the real emotional turn comes when Scorpion learns the truth.

He discovers that Quan Chi manipulated him. The slaughter of his family and clan was not what he thought. Quan Chi used deception to make Scorpion believe Sub-Zero was the one responsible, when really Quan Chi was the true puppet master behind the tragedy.

That reveal matters because it means Scorpion’s entire revenge mission has been pointed in the wrong direction. His pain was real, but his target was chosen for him by the very person who ruined his life.

That is such a nasty villain move.

Quan Chi didn’t just kill Hanzo’s family. He took Hanzo’s grief and used it as a leash. That makes him one of the most hateable characters in the movie because he is not just physically evil. He is emotionally evil. He weaponizes trauma like it’s part of his job description.

Once Scorpion realizes the truth, everything shifts. His rage finally turns toward Quan Chi, and that’s when the revenge in the title actually becomes real. Not fake revenge. Not manipulated revenge. Real revenge.

Scorpion goes after Quan Chi, and it’s satisfying because Quan Chi absolutely deserves it. This man has spent the whole movie smirking and pulling strings, and there is nothing more satisfying than seeing the puppet master realize the puppet has a spear chain and hellfire.

At the same time, the tournament reaches its climax. Earthrealm’s fighters push back against Outworld, Shang Tsung’s plans start falling apart, and Raiden’s champions survive the tournament. The movie wraps up the immediate threat while leaving the bigger Mortal Kombat universe open for more stories, because of course Shao Kahn and Outworld aren’t just going to shrug and go, “Well, we tried. Good game, everyone.”

But Scorpion’s ending is the part that sticks.

He gets revenge, but revenge doesn’t fix him. That’s the important thing. Killing the people responsible does not bring back his wife. It does not bring back his son. It does not restore the Shirai Ryu. He can burn Quan Chi, he can fight Sub-Zero, he can tear through demons and warriors, but the loss is still there.

And that’s why this version of Scorpion works. He’s cool, yes. He’s violent, yes. But underneath all of that, he’s tragic.

The movie doesn’t make him a clean hero. He’s not suddenly fixed by the end. He is still Scorpion. Still a warrior from hell. Still carrying grief like a weapon.

But at least by the end, his rage belongs to him again.

That’s what makes Scorpion’s Revenge a good title. The movie actually earns it.

It’s not just about a yellow ninja burning people alive because fans like fatalities. It’s about a man who was lied to, murdered, manipulated, and turned into a monster, finally aiming his vengeance at the person who actually deserved it.

And for a Mortal Kombat animated movie, that’s pretty dang solid.

Not flawless.

Not amazing masterpiece territory.

But strong, bloody, entertaining, and way better than it had to be.

Here’s the trailer for MK 2 if anyone is curious.