Mortal Kombat 1 righted the sins of the past by eventually casting Jean-Claude Van Damme as Johnny Cage – even if he’s only an alternative skin and voice for the Hollywood martial arts actor. However, Mortal Kombat Legends: Cage Match takes it one step further and pays tribute to the era that inspired the iconic video game in the first place: The ’80s. It’s loud, brash, colourful, and everyone has the hairstyle your grandmother rocks to this day. In short, it’s sheer perfection.

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Directed by Ethan Spaulding from a script written by Jeremy Adams, Mortal Kombat Legends: Cage Match is the latest instalment in the MK animated universe. It takes fans back to the early days of a pre-fame Johnny Cage (Joel McHale), before Ninja Mime changed his life forever. The story begins with Johnny having to find his co-star Jennifer, who has gone missing and needed to make the film a success. Along with his assistant Brian (Phill LaMarr), Johnny heads off on an adventure that’s half-origin and half-self-discovery.

Paying homage to the roots

It’s no secret Mortal Kombat was born from Ed Boon and John Tobias’ passion for ’80s action films – particularly JCVD’s Bloodsport. If it hadn’t been for failed negotiations between Midway and the Muscles from Brussels, the series could have been known as Van Damme and followed a different trajectory than what it has. Regardless, Mortal Kombat wears its influences proudly – merging over-the-top ’80s-styled action characters in a fantastical world that’s brewing with magic and mystery.

Mortal Kombat Legends: Cage Match borrows heavily from this – not only in setting the movie in the ’80s and giving the characters the looks from the era, but also in its plot. Without getting into spoilers, the film finds a way to explain how the human Johnny Cage is one of the Earthrealm’s greatest fighters in a world where demon ninjas and shapeshifters exist. Fans who have played 2011’s Mortal Kombat and Mortal Kombat X, in particular, will be well aware of how the series has integrated magic and special powers into his backstory – and the movie takes the lead from here.

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Big Trouble in Mortal Kombat

What follows is a story that feels like a combination of the Miami Vice television series and the Fist of the North Star live-action film. There’s side-splitting R-rated comedy, high-octane action, and supernatural elements that come from a bygone era of cinema. For all intents and purposes, it’s a clash of tones and styles that shouldn’t work, but they do. It’s quite something to see Johnny Cage engaging in a war of expletives with the late Gilbert Gottfried’s David Doubldy before transitioning to a training montage with Master Boyd (Armen Taylor) that could be out of Cobra Kai, to then facing off against Shinnok (Robin Atkin Downes) in an all-out action and magic affair.

In an interview with Coming Soon, Jeremy Adams explained how this version of Johnny possesses the desire to do good, but he’s still incredibly driven by ego and immature. He cited one specific movie as the influence for Mortal Kombat Legends: Cage Match, and he’s bang on the money in nailing the tone here. “It is a hard thing, to make sure the shtick doesn’t wear it thin, but I think back to some of my favourite movies to me, which are like Big Trouble in Little China, where you have a character that has a lot of ego and hubris,” he said. “How does that work? Some of it is just to keep putting him in peculiar and uncomfortable situations. As long as the situations are really dynamic or interesting, then seeing how he reacts doesn’t necessarily get tiresome.”

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Mortal Kombat Legends: Cage Match might be the best film in the franchise yet

Unquestionably, Mortal Kombat Legends: Cage Match works as a love letter to ’80s action and fantasy. It captures everything that made the decade appealing and absolutely ludicrous in equal measure – all while focusing on the charismatic and irrepressible Johnny Cage. For a character that’s become a mainstay of the series, this is the quintessential origin story for him.

More importantly, Mortal Kombat Legends: Cage Match honours every influence that turned this franchise into a global phenomenon that shows no signs of slowing down after three decades. This isn’t a highbrow story or something that’s looking to revolutionise the genre with thought-provoking metaphors. Instead, this film embraces its silliness and outrageousness, knowing full well this is exactly what fans want.

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Tell us, have you watched Mortal Kombat Legends: Cage Match? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

Mortal Kombat Legends: Cage Match Kicks Off a Wild Celebration of ’80s Action and Fantasy Written by Sergio Pereira for Fortress of Solitude