Mortal Kombat Legends: Cage Match (2023 Video) User Reviews

Exceeded expectations.

[geo2005 · 7/10 · 20 October 2023]

Some of the fight scenes have stage transitions and the fights end in bloody defeat for the other character, that was enough for me to like it.

Enjoyed the art style, even if it was for yet another 80's themed movie aesthetic.

So apparently I can't post a review that short. Now I have to fill up this review with words just to post about a movie that I enjoyed. It makes sense why some of the reviews on here that I've read seem to drag.

By the time I hit the word count I'm probably going to dislike the movie.

The performances from the voice actors were fine, although hearing Gilbert Gottfried's voice was a lovely surprise.

Disappointed!

[SoumikBanerjee1996 · 5/10 · 17 October 2023]

When this movie was first announced, I got super pumped up. Johnny Cage has always been one of my favourite personalities in the Mortal Kombat Universe.

Therefore, I was eager to see his side of the story, but alas! My expectations were not fulfilled, mainly due to a lacklustre direction that had opted for style over substance.

Considering it was supposed to be a 'Johnny Cage' extravaganza, I wouldn't have been bothered by it if only this approach hadn't compromised the natural flow of the narrative, which lacked both charm and spirit and surprisingly so!

P. S. I cherished the 80s-inspired Music. It did not come as a surprise, though; I have always admired such style of tracks, and this was no exception.

Tries so hard, painful to watch

[A_Different_Drummer · 6/10 · 20 October 2023]

If you are paying attention, it seems that in our new "woke" universe, merely trying to do something is now literally as good as actually doing it. By that odd logic, this film should be a "10." Because, in every scene, and with every line of dialog, it tries so darn hard to get the formula right -- yet fails repeatedly -- that the end result is almost painful to watch. The MK universe is not my favorite part of Warner Animation, but it can be fun when it works. Here it does not not work. Clearly the writing team had watched one too many episodes of Archer -- because the entire movie is mainly swagger and little else. Martial Arts? Barely an afterthought. For diehard fans of the franchise only -- and even then you may not like what you see. ((Designated "IMDb Top Reviewer." Please check out my list "167+ Nearly-Perfect Movies (with the occasional Anime or TV miniseries) you can/should see again and again (1932 to the present))

what is the point?

[toku_kkai · 2/10 · 1 December 2023]

I can see why having the second one, which is tied to the first, puts you in a corner, but this one makes NO SENSE. Where are the MK characters? I get the third one was somewhat experimental, elseworld, whatever, but it actually had fights and MK faces.... this... I was expecting John Constantine to pop out, the difference being that John Constantine is more serious and better written. This does nothing for the MK franchise and the movie is very very weak. How did we go from Scorpion's Revenge to this I have no idea. I would not recommend this movie to any MK fan or martial arts movies fan or gore fan.... because it has none of that. The blood in this seems so out of place and in no way in line with the movie, if it does something it makes the movie worse, not better. It's a mess. Usually WB does great animations, better than the live action movies a lot of the times, but this is.... Shazam 2 level.

A Good Mix Of Cheesy Comedy and Brutal Action

[jeremycrimsonfox · 8/10 · 8 November 2023]

Mortal Kombat Legends: Cage Match is the fourth entry in the Mortal Kombat Legends DTV film series, and it is an interesting entry for me, as it not only stars Johnny Cage, one of my favorite MK characters, but is also a neat movie set in the 1980's.

In the movie, Johnny Cage is about to have his big break filming the movie Ninja Mime. However, the movie is in danger of being unfinished when co-star Jennifer Grey goes missing. Going to her mansion, she sees the place is a mess, and going into her bedroom, he witnesses two women fighting over a scroll. This puts him in the middle of a plot by a cult known as the Brotherhood of Shadow to bring their god, Shinnok, into Earthrealm.

Okay, for a Mortal Kombat movie, Cage Match not only succeeds in keeping the violence and gore the franchise is infamous for, but also making it a cheesy 80's action comedy that fits Johnny Cage's role of comic relief real well. Joel McHale returns to voice the Hollywood airhead from the first two Mortal Kombat Legends films after being absent in the last film, Snow Blind, and Jennifer Grey is in this voicing herself as well as Sareena. Also, Kelly Hu is the voice Ashrah, and Robin Atkins Downs returns as the voice of Shinnok, also reprising the role from Scorpion's Revenge and Battle of the Realms. But the greatest voice role here is David Doubldy, who is voiced by the late Gilbert Gotfried, this being his final film role before his passing (with the movie one of the few media to be dedicated to his memory).

A great departure from the past three films, Cage Match aims for being a cheesy 80's action comedy. Johnny Cage is spewing one-liners and jokes as usual, and the film embraces how cheesy it is, alongside its various references to 1980's pop culture. However, it still keeps the action as well as the violence and gore that fans of Mortal Kombat come to expect. Johnny gets a backstory to how he became skilled in martial arts, and the 80's style soundtrack is awesome.

Loved it!

[davidjhensley · 8/10 · 5 December 2023]

Very funny, cheesy 80's vibe and great action. If you don't like 80's action style you won't like this. Hilarious that Jennifer Grey plays herself in this movie. Love how they use cliche Hollywood tropes in the movie while simultaneously poking fun at them. I thought the action was good and the dialog was fun. Voice acting was superb, loved hearing Gilbert as a talent agent that was hilarious. Anyone who says this movie was bad needs to take a chill pill and stop being so serious. This was intended to be campy so embrace the suck and enjoy it for what it is: a 4th wall breaking, blood and guts action/comedy cartoon.

Makes sense the Johnny Cage one is the best

[masonsaul · 8/10 · 1 January 2024]

Mortal Kombat Legends: Cage Match fully embraces the personality of its self obsessed title character and it makes this entry the best since they started these. This has such a unique personality to it, helped by the fact that it's focusing on the best character. The one off story approach really works for these, so far.

Joel McHale remains a great choice for Johnny Cage, it's his third and best time as the character. He once again nails that complete lack of modesty and it's particularly impressive that despite being the lead as well as narrating the whole thing, he never becomes grating.

Ethan Spaulding's direction is helped massively by the 80s setting which allows him to imbue everything with so much more style than the previous ones (lots of neon in this one). The score by John Jennings Boyd and Eric V. Hachikian also benefits a lot from the 80s setting, giving it the opportunity to go very synth heavy.

Well I'll be - I never liked Johny Cage too much... Now I love him!

[cptvalleyberg · 9/10 · 4 December 2023]

Holy freaking heck.

How does these guys make animated movies better and better every freaking time? I have no idea! But I think 5.8 at the moment is a LOW offer. The movie has massive amount of references and easter eggs, and is super funny too! I loved watching it.. and especially because t was first animated movie with Retrowave theme! It was absolutely awesome!

I never really would choose cage to start with, so although of course its a popular character in Mortal Kombat games and in the first movie... I wouldn't think there can be as awesome movie to make about him. I am much impressed! Congratulations to the studio, and thank you!

What a freaking blast!

[caseybowker · 10/10 · 4 February 2024]

If you're gonna get hung up on the MK mythos and source material, it may not be for you; but as a fan of the 80s and the aesthetic, this movie delivers. The look, the music, even the animation style all is of that era. They do a really fantastic job with the animation and color choices to mix MK with Miami Vice. McHale NAILS the voice and cockiness of Cage and the rest of the voice cast (Jennifer Grey anyone?!) does a great job too. Adams has been pumping out fun animated scripts for years at WB and this may be my favorite that he's done. I appreciate that it's a bit of a standalone movie so that Cage can shine. If you like the character and just wanna laugh and have fun, then this movie is for you. Laughed so many times and the MK action and fighting and FINISHING MOVES are all there. Loved it.

Cheesy fun action!

[fritzellington · 10/10 · 14 November 2023]

Cheesy fun action. The film is hilarious! I hope they make more Cage films!

When i sat down to watch this i had no expectations of what to expect, i went in totally blind and it blew me away. The voice acting is great. The writing is fun cheese, don't go in expecting a heavy drama or anything like some people have oddly bemoaned. The creators knew exactly what they wanted to make and made it. The fighting is furious and fast, though this is definitely more of a komedy than a pure action film.

The 80's style was fun. Animation was solid. I liked the use of colors. Some of the music was riffs of classics, which was a bit odd, but maybe the budget didn't allow for eye of the tiger.

Very fun action flick but the stakes are a little too high

[rosieb-63838 · 9/10 · 4 February 2024]

I had a great time watching this movie. I don't see why so many people hated this movie though. I mean it's a Johnny cage film, he's just a dude who punches things it's not gonna have a lot of connection to the other MK movies. If you are looking for a fun short action movie than this is the movie for you. The only complaint that I have with this movie is that the stakes are weirdly high for a Johnny cage movie. In the movie Johnny cage had only a couple months of training when he was in middle school and he's already fighting Shinnok, the literal god of death in the Mortal Kombat world. Which he beats up by remembering how he stood up to his bullies back in school. But I did get a chuckle out of mocap showing up in the end.