Mortal Kombat: Legacy II (2013)

The second collection of shorts in the MK anthology has more of a serialised structure than the character-centric vignettes of Series 1. Each story is split over 2 episodes this time, which are in turn part of a larger whole connected by a very specific locale. The contrast between past and present becomes a kind of running theme, while offering up some back story for certain characters.

It starts well. Episode 1 is like a violent HK movie. It doesn't have much of a plot, but focuses instead on showing Liu Kang’s relationship with the world he swore to protect and the one he left behind. It’s like an intro more than anything else, but that’s okay because all episodes have been simultaneously released for stream, so you don’t have to wait from week to week to get your fix.

The quality drops significantly in the middle, with some poor acting from the ladies, but see it through to the end and you’ll be rewarded with some Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa. There are a couple of other interesting guest stars, too.

Each episode of Series One had its own visual look, but things are more or less standardised throughout this time. The lighting that Tancharoen or his DP has opted for puts more emphasis on gritty realism than before. It’s certainly a more unified visual experience but consequently a less interesting one if, like me, you happened to like the fanciful parts of Series One.

10 episodes, approx 7 - 9 mins each (some are shorter, some are longer).

2½ ideals worth defending out of 5

Doctor Who: Dreamland (2009)

An animated mini-series featuring the Tenth Doctor as he enjoys some downtime in 1950s America, but in typical Dr Who style it doesn't stay quiet for long.

The story is split over six parts that when collected together are approximately the same length as a regular Dr Who episode (42 mins). Watching them all in one sitting is simple, and doing so means the story peaks regularly at the intended cliff-hanger moments. The twists and turns are well-placed, and with some minor tweaks it could've made a really decent live-action episode.

Thankfully, the voice work is good. David Tennant gives the same kind of enthusiastic performance that he gave the parent show; and the unmistakable tones of David Warner give life to the villain.

The only criticism I have is the quality of the animation. Despite being made in HD, it resembles some bad FMV from an early PS2 game. The gangly arms and clunky movement are an insult to the quality of everything else. The story's strong enough to keep you watching, but the first few minutes had me shuddering at how appalling the character models are.

2½ accidents of dimensional geography out of 5

Re\Visioned: Tomb Raider Animated Series (2007)

An anthology of short animated tales featuring the virtual bra-busting Brit, Lara Croft, from a number of different writers and animators. Each creator puts their own unique spin on the Lara character, which range from the wonderfully inventive (Keys to the Kingdom) to the piss-poor self-parody (Revenge of the Aztec Mummy). None of them bother to waste time giving back-story or history. They assume that most viewers will already have knowledge of that from the games. The short format really doesn't allow for that kind of exposition, anyhow.

Actress Minnie Driver voices Lara in every episode. I wouldn't have put her on the list of candidates, but she does a fantastic job and if ever there's a feature-length Tomb Raider animation she’d now be my first choice. Both Minnie, and the series in general, were great.

I'll post a full list of contributors in the comments section, so check there if you want to know who was involved.

Further series of ‘Re\Visioned’ set to feature different video game characters was promised, but to my knowledge only the Tomb Raider one appeared.

10 episodes, approx 6 minutes each.

3½ sacred artefacts are nothing but trouble out of 5

Mortal Kombat: Legacy (2011)

MK:L is a prequel anthology mini-series giving a brief glimpse of the motivations behind some of the characters' eventual inclusion in the tournament of the first MK game. It helps if you're already familiar with their aesthetic and powers.

The opening episodes try to be gritty with moody lighting and an over-reliance on action clichés, slow motion debris, blood on the camera lens, extreme post-production colour correction, lens flare, etc; all that boring shit that teenagers love. It feels like a scene from a generic Xbox game. MK is based on a game series but it's a fantasy/mystical tinged fighting game, not a Splinter Cell bedroom infiltrator wank-fantasy. It may sound like I'm hating on this pretty bad, but I'm not. I just like to have a rant before I get to the good stuff. If it was a movie I'd judge it as such, but it wasn't, it was a series of Webisodes and as such I make allowances for the budget and format. In that respect, it triumphs.

It's shot in 2.35:1. The majority of the individual episodes focus upon just one or two characters. The film style changes to suit their background and given attributes. That po-faced forced realism of the beginning two-parter isn't representative of the series as a whole. It grows more diverse in how it presents people and places, eventually finding a balance between exposition and intrigue.

Anthologies are nearly always hit and miss, but happily MK:L has enough hit moments to recommended it to fans of the series. I liked it.

9 episodes, approx 10 minutes each.

3 Samurai don’t sing out of 5