Mortal Kombat II

A film with zero pretensions, Mortal Kombat II knows exactly what it is, and exactly what it wants to be.  Don’t come expecting complex plot-threads or introspective character drama – but when it comes to self-aware humour, fantastical fight sequences, and a hefty dose of nostalgia for the classic videogame, this film delivers a killing blow.

Premise:  The tenth “Mortal Kombat” supernatural fighting tournament between Earth and Outworld starts in earnest – and if Earth loses, Outworld will win the right to conquer Earth.  Earth’s champions, led by Lord Raiden (Tadanobu Asano) and Sonia Blade (Jessica McNamee), are a fighter short following the events of the first movie, and so attempt to recruit has-been 90s-action-movie star Johnny Cage (Karl Urban) to fight to save Earth.

Review:

Coming out during the Covid pandemic, 2021’s Mortal Kombat provided a much needed dose of over-the-top escapism, resulting in a guilty pleasure that was more fun than I was expecting.  The good news is Mortal Kombat II is even more entertaining, leaning more heavily into the knowing, self-aware humour and upping the movie’s charisma and star-power with the addition of Karl Urban to the cast.

Although it would undoubtedly help, you don’t really need to be a fan of the original videogames (I only have a passing familiarity with them) or to have seen the first film to follow and enjoy this sequel, as the movie’s focus shifts from the main characters in the first film to a host of new characters.  Karl Urban (who is, with no disrespect to the rest of the cast, by far the most famous person involved in this film) joins as the new fighter for Earth-realm, and so that character’s introduction to the mythology of Mortal Kombat also introduces new viewers to everything they need to know.

“…infused with a sense that it’s not taking itself too seriously…”

Meanwhile, MKII also introduces the new character of Kitana (played by Adeline Rudolph), an orphan adopted by Emperor Shao Kahn of Outworld who becomes one of his champions.  On that note, I was definitely under the impression from the first film that the sorcerer Shang Tsung (Chin Han) was the ruler of Outworld, but MKII makes it clear that the sorcerer is only a underling of Emperor Shao Kahn.  Another new character introduced in this film is Jade, bodyguard to Kitana, played by Tati Gabrielle (who was very impressive as the villain in 2022’s Uncharted).

This focus on the new additions to the cast does mean that returning characters like Jax (Mehcad Brooks) and Cole Young (Lewis Tan) get a bit less to do – and Scorpion (Hiroyuki Sanada) and Sub-Zero/Noob Saibot (Joe Taslim) are little more than extended cameos.  Of all the returning characters, Sonia Blade (Jessica McNamee) arguably gets the most to do as the de-facto leader of Earth’s champions, although Liu Kang (Ludi Lin) does get one of the best fight scenes in his duel with his resurrected best friend, Kung Lao (Max Huang).

“…focuses on theatrical, over-the-top fights…”

The unexpected highlight of the first film was Josh Lawson as the delightfully obnoxious Australian mercenary Kano – and despite being killed in the first film, Outworld’s ability to resurrect the dead thankfully means that Kano can return to provide some of the film’s most laugh-out-loud lines.  The whole film is infused with a sense that it’s not taking itself too seriously, and the cast definitely have their collective tongues in their cheeks, with characters like Kano and Johnny Cage making jokes about how preposterous everything is.  This prevents Mortal Kombat II from becoming just another po-faced action film – it’s a throwback to the R-rated action comedies of old that just set out to entertain (in fact, one of the film’s comedic highlights is when we see a clip from one of Johnny Cage’s fictitious cheesy 90s action movies).

The real selling point of this movie is, of course, the action – and here MKII isn’t trying to provide grounded, gritty action, focusing instead on theatrical, over-the-top fights that combine martial arts with supernatural abilities, knowing humour and gleefully excessive cartoon gore.  The fight sequences are arguably even more inventive than in the first film, and the film as a whole really embraces the videogame’s aesthetics in terms of the one-on-one duels.

“…gives you everything you could want from the ‘Mortal Kombat’ film…”

Ultimately, Mortal Kombat II isn’t trying to be for everyone, and it isn’t pretending to be anything more than it is – and there’s nothing wrong with that.  This is a perfect example of a movie that “does exactly what it says on the tin”, and it gives you everything you could want or expect from the Mortal Kombat film.  The filmmakers said from the start that they hoped to make a trilogy – following events before, during and after the tournament – and I for one would certainly be back to see a concluding chapter for this trilogy.