Johnny Cage (Karl Urban) joins a group of superpowered warriors in a fighting tournament to defeat evil tyrant Shao Kahn (Martyn Ford) and save Earthrealm.
It’s a big year for fighting video games getting the big-screen treatment. In October, Street Fighter will hadouken its way back into cinemas. Before that comes another round of Mortal Kombat. 2021’s reboot film was a solid enough re-introduction to the franchise and its characters, but with no actual fighting tournament to speak of, it all felt like a prologue to the main event. In that respect — and a couple of others — Mortal Kombat II, directed by the returning Simon McQuoid, offers more to chew on than its predecessor, even if it remains largely nutrition-free.
The most noticeable upgrade is the sequel’s change in lead protagonists. Instead of the bland Cole Young (Lewis Tan), we get Kitana (Adeline Rudolph) and Johnny Cage (Karl Urban). What heart the movie has is due to Kitana, who bears a personal grudge against evil Outworld emperor Shao Kahn (Martyn Ford). Rudolph isn’t given much room to truly delve into her character’s difficult history or her bond with her sister and fellow Kombatant Jade (Tati Gabrielle), a tantalising storyline that’s itching for more focus. Still, there’s a suitable grit and determination to her Kitana that shines through, and her bladed steel fans are certainly put to creative use. As for Cage, Urban teases out every bit of humour he can as a washed-up Hollywood actor who’s suddenly pulled into the world of Mortal Kombat, and it works more often than not.
The fatalities are pleasingly gory when they arrive…
But any Mortal Kombat film knows its audience’s primary concern is the fighting tournament itself — which we actually get to see this time — and in that regard the sequel by and large delivers. The fatalities are pleasingly gory when they arrive, and though some of the CGI and excessive green-screen is off-putting, there’s just enough variety and inventiveness to keep each battle entertaining. The high point comes when Liu Kang (Ludi Lin) faces off against his old ally Kung Lao (Max Huang), the former’s fire powers clashing with the latter’s lethal razor-rimmed hat against a colourful backdrop. It’s a flawless, satisfying meld of hard-hitting, innovative choreography and special-effects wizardry that other brawls — which run the gamut from decent to impressive — can’t match.
Elsewhere, the balance between the serious and the stupid isn’t quite as tight. A lot is made of the huge stakes in Mortal Kombat — every loss and every death Earthrealm’s champions suffer is potentially devastating. At the same time, this sequel traffics in necromancy and resurrections to such a degree that death also doesn’t seem to matter all that much in this universe. True to the games or not, it’s a strange mix that makes it difficult to fully emotionally invest in proceedings.
Thankfully, just as he did in the first movie, Kano (Josh Lawson) is on hand to constantly and entertainingly remind us how ridiculous all of this is. Indeed, he might as well be breaking the fourth wall given the Deadpool-esque nature of his jokes and one-liners, which are consistently hilarious. Lawson is a blast in the role, and the knowing nods to the absurdity of Mortal Kombat helps everything else go down a little easier.
The creatively gory fighting and amusing — if shallow — characters just about compensate for the paper-thin story. But at its best, it’s a lot of dumb fun.
