IT HAS BEGUN!!!

[final_destiny]

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It could be argued that the modern video game era began with the release of Mortal Kombat. The first mainstream game to feature graphic (if a little pixilated) violence, Mortal Kombat would be the yardstick for gaming controversy (not to be dethroned until Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas almost a decade later).

The Mortal Kombat live-action movie was equally noteworthy because it stands as one of the few video game movies that actually 'got it'. The plot is laughable at best but it's true to the game and serves an adequate modem for audiences to get what they came to see: fighting. And fighting we got. Mortal Kombat provided us some of the finest fight scenes in western cinema just prior to the Hong Kong invasion. There was an animated series that flew under most people's radar but is worth mentioning, so I am.

This, however, is something totally new. Mortal Kombat is being given the Batman Begins/Dark Knight treatment with a gritty, realistic reboot. That, in and of itself, is ambitious and wonderful and amazing and all that. But what's truly exciting about this video, and the series it's kicking off, is that it's a really ambitious web-series. And that's a big friggin' deal!
For starters, we're seeing accomplished actors in a web-series. Jeri Ryan and Michael Jai White may not be the biggest names in Hollywood but they are known and are respected.
Secondly, we're seeing a web-series with a pretty high production value. This isn't the first, but it could be the highest production value most people have seen, especially given this is not a supporting project (this isn't a web-series complementing a television series or a movie).
Thirdly, this is a pretty niche project. Even amongst many hardcore gamers, Mortal Kombat is seen as a hasbeen of a by-gone era. It wouldn't be the first project most people would think of to be given this kind of treatment. And yet here it is, presented not only ambitiously but respectfully and loyally.

This is exciting, guys. This is seriously a big deal. This is the first truly substantial realization of the promised potential the web offered/offers us as far as revolutionizing entertainment. Even if Mortal Kombat's not your cup o' tea, even if this particular series doesn't do anything for you, you can't deny this could quite potentially prove to be the new era's 'Live from Schenectady...'.