Vinicius Monteiro
August 13, 2026
2
Rewatching certain things from the past often proves that nostalgia is just an illusion. When I revisited the animated prequel that was supposed to introduce the biggest arcade phenomenon of the nineties, I was immediately disappointed. What tried to be a technologically ambitious project ended up as a careless corporate cash grab, turning a franchise known for intense, organic action into something entirely lifeless.
The 3D CGI sequences are an absolute disaster. The character models are basically geometric blocks with no textures or facial expressions, looking more like early studio test footage than a finished product. For a franchise built on martial arts, the fight scenes are incredibly frustrating. The primitive motion capture makes the combat feel slow, robotic, and floaty, completely lacking any real weight or physical impact. To make matters worse, the jarring transition between the decent 2D animation and the sterile 3D combat arenas completely ruins any sense of immersion.
These flaws bleed into the most basic aspects of the animation. The lip-syncing is laughably bad—you'll see mouths moving long after a line is finished, or entire dialogues playing over frozen faces. It's obvious the studio rushed an unfinished product to market just to boost sales. The story itself drags on endlessly. Our supposed heroes—Sonya, Liu Kang, and Johnny Cage—are reduced to passive tourists in their own story. They just walk around asking redundant questions while Raiden dumps endless exposition on them. There's no character development, and their usual charisma is completely drained.
On top of that, the movie completely sanitizes the action. By stripping away the blood and the iconic fatalities to make it kid-friendly, they destroyed the dark, edgy vibe that made the brand so popular to begin with. Ultimately, the whole thing feels like a cheap, agonizingly slow commercial meant to hype up the live-action film and push video game sales—they even flash *Mortal Kombat 3* promo codes during the credits.
Today, watching *The Journey Begins* feels more like a digital archaeology experiment than actual entertainment. Still, it carries enough historical weight to be worth checking out. I’d actually recommend sitting through its forty-minute runtime just to form your own opinion. There’s undeniable educational value in seeing the awkward early days of CGI and how the industry struggled to adapt fighting games back in the nineties. Power through the slow pacing and the dated graphics, and see for yourself the starting point of one of the most impactful franchises in pop culture.
