Mortal Kombat Legends: Cage Match

Mortal Kombat Legends: Cage Match is an animated movie based on the Mortal Kombat franchise, distributed by Warner Bros Animation and animated by Studio IAM; it was released in October 2023 both digitally and in DVD/Blu-ray. It is the fourth film in the Mortal Kombat Legends series, acting as an Origin Story for Jonathan Carlton alias Johnny Cage.

Set in Los Angeles during the 1980s, Johnny Cage is a martial artist and C-List action star trying to make his big break with his film Ninja Mime. However when his co-star Jennifer Grey (yes, that Jennifer) goes missing, Johnny's attempt to find her lead him to encounter a hidden world of danger and magic that controls the City of Angels. With his loyal assistant Chuck Golden and the mysterious warrior Ashrah, Johnny must fight to save not only the world, but to make sure his movie actually gets made.

Tropes used in Mortal Kombat Legends: Cage Match include:

• Affectionate Parody: Of cheesy 80s action movies in general.
• Alternate Continuity: It's very ambiguous whether this film is canon to the first two films in the Legends series or is a standalone adventure. On the one hand, it has a few references towards Scorpion's Revenge such as the Ninja Mime film, has Joel McHale reprise his role as Cage from the first two films, and overall does act as a reason for why Raiden would recruit him into the Mortal Kombat tournament. On the other hand this film has Johnny encounter demonic forces from Netherrealm and hearing phrases like Earthrealm far earlier as well as manifesting his "green energy" abilities, raising questions why he would bring these up in Scorpion's Revenge, while the 1980s setting conflicts heavily with how the first two films appeared to be set in a more modern era. It could perhaps be seen as being canon in Broad Strokes, but the evidence suggests that it should be treated as a standalone story.
• An Asskicking Christmas: The film is set during Christmas and has Johnny using his martial arts skills to fight demons.
• Black and Nerdy: Chuck, Johnny's assistant, is this.
• Earn Your Happy Ending: After defeating Shinnok, Johnny's voice over explains what happened to everyone. Chuck attempted to learn martial arts to be more like Johnny though unfortunately went to one that gave the black belt as part of the class, but sometime after that became Johnny's double in video games using motion capture under the name Mokap, revealed to be the original Mortal Kombat games (which were banned due to their violence). Ashra meanwhile left Johnny despite her feelings for him, to continue her quest to be a better person, being shown to fight more demons. Johnny meanwhile became a famous celebrity, but his career eventually falls apart leading him to accept a job at a mysterious island. However, Johnny's voice over notably shows that he isn't bitter about this and instead treats it as being part of life, largely still being happy with himself and optimistic about his future.
• The Eighties: The film is clearly set in this decade with the hair styles, fashion and music.
• Hidden Depths: Johnny might be a case of Small Name, Big Ego and incredibly arrogant towards others, but he's genuinely committed to his skill as a martial artist, sincerely enjoys being an actor for the sake of it even if he does enjoy the financial benefits of the career, and having been a victim of childhood bullying makes him very empathetic to others and makes him want to fight on their behalf regardless if the bullies are demons from Netherrealm.
• Lighter and Softer: Compared to previous Legends films, especially Snow Blind, which makes sense since Johnny is the protagonist. There's a lot more humour than in an average Mortal Kombat story and the Los Angeles setting means the art style is much brighter, while having fewer deaths and being less gory than previous films. Notable while previous Legends films have a Bittersweet Ending, this has an outright Earn Your Happy Ending where even Johnny's eventual career failure is clearly a positive since it leads him to taking part in the Mortal Kombat tournament.
• Origin Story: Acts as one for Johnny, explaining how he became an A-List action star and how Raiden became aware of him. The ending even shows his career falling apart and him telling a photographer that he's going to make a movie on an island, leading into the events of the first Mortal Kombat tournament.
• Race Lift: Since Chuck is actually Mokap, this counts as the original version was Caucasian.
• Small Name, Big Ego: Despite Johnny's arrogance and assumption that he's already made it, it's clear that he's far from the A-List actor he pretends to be.
• Writing Around Trademarks: The film doesn't outright state that Johnny's co-star is Jennifer Grey, but when she appears she is voiced by the actress herself and designed to resemble her appearance in the 1980s. Meanwhile the big name director who wants to make a movie with Johnny and whose name is bleeped out is heavily implied to be Steven Spielberg, since Johnny mentions he's able to alternate between fun adventure flicks and Oscar winning dramas. At other points in the film Johnny mentions being friends with a guy named Tom who does his own stunts, spent time with the singer of Girls Just Want to Have Fun, and name drops the 1999 album by Prince without naming the artist himself.