Mortal Kombat II Review

Directed By: Simon McQuoid
Written By: Jeremy Slater; Based on the video game created by Ed Boon and John Tobias
Runtime: 116 minutes
MPA Rating: Rated R for strong bloody violence and gore, and language

Karl Urban – Johnny Cage
Adeline Rudolph – Kitana
Ludi Lin – Liu Kang
Jessica McNamee – Sonya Blade
Martyn Ford – Shao Kahn
Tati Gabrielle – Jade
Mehcad Brooks – Jax
Josh Lawson – Kano
Tadanobu Asano – Raiden
Chin Han – Shang Tsung
Damon Herriman – Quan Chi
Max Huang – Kung Lao
Hiroyuki Sanada – Hanzo Hasashi/Scorpion
Joe Taslim – Bi-Han/Noob Saibot
CJ Bloomfield – Baraka
Ana Thu Nguyen – Queen Sindel
Desmond Chiam – King Jerrod
Ed Boon – Ed the Bartender

The Mortal Kombat movie franchise returns to test its might at the box office. Although Mortal Kombat II fails to achieve a flawless victory, it does improve upon some of the shortcomings of the last film.

The 2021 Mortal Kombat reboot erred by forcing a hackneyed new original character into the plot with Cole Young (Tan). Young still plays a role in the sequel, as one of Earthrealm’s chosen champions in the Mortal Kombat tournament. However, the perspective largely shifts in Mortal Kombat II to two newcomers who are classic favorites of the iconic game series: Kitana (Rudolph), the princess of Edenia, and Johnny Cage (Urban), the jaded, over-the-hill, and past-his-prime movie star.

Kitana’s kind and compassionate father, King Jerrod (Chiam), was previously defeated and usurped in an earlier Mortal Kombat tournament by the despotic dictator, Shao Kahn (Ford). Now, Shao Kahn leads the charge to conquer all the realms in the latest Mortal Kombat tournament, with the fate of the Earth hanging in the balance.

Unfortunately for Earthrealm, Johnny Cage isn’t up for a fight like this. Additionally, Shao Kahn has no problem using his supernatural minions, Shang Tsung (Han) and the necromancer Quan Chi (Herriman), to cheat the tournament, giving him every advantage. However, the Earthrealm fighters find help from an unlikely source, and Cage will have to unlock his true potential if it means saving the planet.

The 2021 Mortal Kombat was a disappointment, and at least Mortal Kombat II attempts to answer the last movie’s mistake. The tournament that was merely teased by the last movie finally arrives, and Shao Kahn takes center stage as a much more intimidating, menacing, and imposing villain, who is far stronger, more ruthless, and brutal than Shang Tsung.

The sequel also brings Johnny Cage into the fold in a prominent role. Cage injects fun, sarcastic energy into the role, providing some of the better and more humorous moments. Meanwhile, the tepid Cole Young gets marginalized and thrown into the background. However, what happens to Cole Young comes off like an extreme over-correction to the character’s negative response.

Unfortunately, much like the last movie, the sequel suffers from incredibly hokey, stilted dialogue. On one hand, it’s admirable that Simon McQuoid attempts to treat the source material seriously, but most of the dramatic moments ely come off as incredibly forced and unintentionally silly. The characters and dialogue are clunky, and the direction is equally clunky.

The moments where the movie excels are when characters finally stop yapping and get to the fighting. This is an adaptation of a video game fighting series after all, and the fight scenes also show an overall improvement. Gamers and long-time fans of the franchise will also enjoy seeing classic stages from the earlier games get recreated here, albeit with some mixed results.

The standout fight scene features Liu Kang (Lin) confronting his old comrade Kung Lao (Huang), that illustrate hints of the franchise’s potential greatness. The fight scene nicely depicts Kang’s emotional arc, as he’s forced to confront the man he once called brother, and it’s incredibly well shot.

McQuoid skillfully places the camera right in front of the actors and stunt performers, and showcases the fighting moves in beautiful motion. Some of the wide shots in the fight sequences evoke the classic video games in a cool homage.

That said, while the fight scenes do show marked improvement, some of the sets look remarkably cheap and lack better scope and cinematic scale. The Dead Pool and Blue Portal look decent, despite heavy CG in creating the latter, but the Pit looks downright tiny and claustrophobic when it makes its appearance. Although the sequel boasts a larger budget, its edges are still clearly visible.

Another major problem is that Jeremy Slater’s script makes multiple missteps. Cage’s journey from burned-out ex-movie star to genuine hero becomes a huge focus of the story. However, that journey loses a great deal of narrative traction due to an event earlier in the movie.

Also, the rules of the tournament are never completely clear. Why do the Elder Gods never intervene despite Shao Kahn and Shang Tsung blatantly cheating and finding loopholes throughout both movies?

The Elder Gods set up the tournament, so shouldn’t certain rules be obeyed? The plot plays very fast and loose, even with the established rules regarding the tournament, Earthrealm, and the Kombatants. There’s no internal consistency.

Case in point, the way Kano (Lawson) comes back into the fold is totally silly. One character even acknowledges how his presence is narratively ridiculous and makes no sense in a near fourth-wall-breaking moment, and that’s it. Kano is back, and he’s just given free thrift in Outworld.

True, Kano is a fun character, and he was the best, most entertaining thing about the last movie. Death is virtually meaningless in Mortal Kombat already, especially with necromancers like Quan Chi hanging around. However, the simple fix here would have been to include a scene with Kano meeting with Shao Kahn or someone else, and showing him to pledge, or at least feign, loyalty. Otherwise, why are the villains letting Kano walk around wherever he wants in the first place, giving orders to the guards, and even staying alive?

Kano’s brought back for a fairly superficial reason that he was noy even needed for. If Quan Chi can easily revive the dead, why even keep Kano alive once they get what they need? Although the most exceptional writing is not expected from a Mortal Kombat sequel, there is no excuse for such flimsy plotting.

If it seems like this review heavily focuses on the movie’s flaws, well, it’s a flawed movie, but Mortal Kombat II still has its decent share of fun, entertaining moments. At the very least, it’s a marked improvement over its predecessor, and it’s teeming with fan service. When the movie focuses on the fun and the fighting, the experience becomes exciting.

Provided the franchise receives another opportunity at the big screen, it could definitely use a stronger director who can adequately combine the fighting aspects with a stronger narrative vision. Plenty of examples prove it’s possible, including the Mortal Kombat franchise.

Where To Watch Mortal Kombat II

Mortal Kombat II arrives exclusively in theaters on May 8. Theaters and showtime information are available at the movie’s website.

6.0

The final score: review Average

The 411

Mortal Kombat II fails to achieve the past heights of the franchise, but the sequel does make some significant improvements over the previous movie. Simon McQuoid leans heavily on fan service, which isn't all bad. Karl Urban injects some much-needed humorous energy into the plot, and the better fight scenes show hints of a much stronger story. However, the movie's writing and direction, especially when characters attempt to show a more nuanced approach, fall flat on their face with hokey dialogue and acting. Mortal Kombat II doesn't work well when it tries to be self-serious and dramatic, but when the movie gets outrageously violent, humorous, and over the top, that's the sweet spot for this franchise. That's likely one reason why the sequel doubles down on Kano, even though his presence makes no sense and gets poorly lampshaded. Mortal Kombat II is by no means "Excellent" or a "Flawless Victory," but it might be worth a trip to the theater for longtime fans, or at least a watch on streaming later.