Mortal Kombat: The Journey Begins (2D & 3D Animated Film) - Rental Reviews

Summary / Recap

The video is a group “rental review” roasting Mortal Kombat: The Journey Begins, an animated short that mixes 3D-rendered backgrounds with 2D characters. The result is repeatedly described as awkward, glitchy, and sometimes hilarious in a “how did this get made?” way.

What the group expected vs. what they got

• Reviewers talk about buying/renting it as kids because the back of the box emphasized 3D animation, and they were excited to see more.
• After watching, they’re disappointed that it feels like promotional material rather than a coherent story—especially since the cover/marketing highlights Scorpion and Sub-Zero, but the movie is uneven and barely delivers the fights you’d expect.

The big “joke” features

The group can’t stop bringing up several specific flaws:

• “Codes” gimmick

  • The movie shows symbols and “codes,” compared to Mortal Kombat 3 cheat-code vibes.
  • Viewers debate whether it’s legit or pointless; some claim it “does nothing,” but they still want to test it later.

• Animation loops & slow, game-like combat

  • Fight scenes are criticized for using repeated animation cycles.
  • It’s described like watching old fighting games (Tekken/Virtua Fighter vibes), but with:
    • slow motion
    • awkward spacing
    • generic 3D combat motions that don’t feel weighty

• Characters looking broken or inconsistent

  • Weird mouth animation (including moments where it looks like characters have two mouths at once or mouths don’t move when they speak)
  • Recurring facial/pose repetitions
  • Hands/gestures that look “off” and seem repeatedly reused

• Special effects that feel incomplete

  • Moments like Shang Tsung taking a soul are called simplistic—almost “placeholder” (e.g., “two ovals and a hand”).
  • Despite being Mortal Kombat, fights have no real blood, with only minimal violence.
  • One standout complaint/praise: Scorpion’s spear wrap is noted as one of the most restrained/brief moments.

Story/continuity confusion

• The short plays like a prequel (“this is where it begins”), but it doesn’t connect cleanly to the main movie.
• They also question whether it’s canon, joking about whether Ed Boon ever confirms it.

Sound bites and standout reaction moments

• They repeatedly compare the 3D/2D hybrid look to early, cheap 90s CG (including “PlayStation” era visuals).
• A favorite complaint turned into praise: sometimes the 3D fight shots are the funniest part because they’re so bad they become entertaining.
• Ending beat: their best moment is when Raiden shows up at the end and basically says, “Shang Tsung… and that’s it.” They treat it like the only clean/credible punchline of the entire thing.

Availability / where people found it

• They note the movie is hard to find: it used to be on YouTube but got taken down.
• One reviewer eventually found it on the Blu-ray of Mortal Kombat (the live-action movie), but disliked watching it on a computer due to distractions.

Main personalities mentioned

• Karen (addressed at the start)
• Mikhyl(e) (mentioned as a speaker’s name)
• James / Caldor (referenced as a place to buy/rent or as a seller)
• Ed Boon (jokingly referenced as the “official” canon authority)
• Cinemassacre (mentioned as a place to get a copy / video outlet)