‘Mortal Kombat II’ Review: Our Champions Have Leveled Up for Round Two [B]

Early in Mortal Kombat II, the braggadocious character Johnny Cage is introduced. He’s obviously modeled after Jean-Claude Van Damme and other action stars who were big when the original fighting video game was released in 1992. So it’s pretty ingenious that this film debuts Cage, who was missing from the previous film, by showing a clip of a fake movie from the character’s heyday. It’s classic 90s cheese: big explosions, corny dialogue, and an ensemble of stunt doubles in the background making exaggerated combat moves as they fight no one. Clearly, director Simon McQuoid knows his references, but the execution of this throwback scene gives the movie an unexpected demerit. Like so many other modern blockbusters, Mortal Kombat II has an aesthetic problem, and for this film to feature a sequence aping the look and feel of a more tactile era of Hollywood filmmaking immediately sets it up for unfavorable comparisons. But most audiences are unlikely to notice or even care, and for what it’s going for, Mortal Kombat II is a flawless victory of a crowd pleaser.

Not only is Johnny Cage the newest member of the Mortal Kombat assemblage, he’s the undeniable star of the show. Played by Karl Urban, this contemporary-set film makes the wise choice to not try and pretend that a Johnny Cage-type would be famous nowadays. Instead, the fiftysomething Urban plays him as a washed-up star of yesteryear, reduced to carting himself to and from fan conventions in his own modest car. And yet, as is the case with all of our heroes in the Mortal Kombat franchise, he still has an indelible gift that can be used to fight on the side of goodness, even if he doesn’t know it (between this and The Boys, he must love playing humans who gain superpowers). After yet another lackluster meet-and-greet, he’s abducted (in a friendly way!) by our group of champions returning from the previous film: Sonya Blade (Jessica McNamee), Jax (Mehcad Brooks), Liu Kang (Ludi Lin), Cole Young (Lewis Tan), and their leader Lord Raiden (Tadanobu Asano). They need Johnny’s help as a divinely chosen warrior to fight in defense of Earthrealm, which is under threat from Shao Kahn (Martyn Ford), the emperor of the violent Outworld. Shao Kahn’s fighters have been victorious in nine consecutive Mortal Kombat tournaments and, by rule, if they win a tenth time, Outworld will take control of Earthrealm. 

It’s essentially the exact same plot as the original 1995 film adaptation, and it’s easy to see why writer Jeremy Slater uses this familiar angle. It’s a simple structure that gloms nicely onto a typical Hero’s Journey story. And not only is Johnny Cage our typical deny-the-call-before-joining-the-fight protagonist, but as an ostensibly mortal man, it’s easy for the audience to relate to him and his struggles when he finds himself facing supernatural forces. 

Karl Urban clearly read the walkthrough before playing this game. He gives total movie star charm, albeit one a step down from his absolute prime. He’s tasked with a lot of jokes centered around his “fish out of water” situation and he nails every one. It’s not necessarily an innovative character type (Chris Pratt blasted into superstardom doing a similar thing in Guardians of the Galaxy over a decade ago), but Urban has charisma enough to make it feel somehow refreshing. It helps that all of the other Earthrealm defenders are deadly serious, fully committed to the unambiguously video game-like plot details. This dichotomy between their earnest characterizations and Johnny’s sarcastic energy never stops being amusing. Also a comedic stand-out, Josh Lawson returns as the loyal-to-none Kano (he’s the one who can shoot lasers from his eye) and he also proves to be an excellent source of non-exhausting wise cracks.

Okay, enough about the writing, let’s talk about the fighting. Unlike the previous film, Mortal Kombat II doesn’t shy away from pairing up its characters in unapologetically video gamey squabbles. Just as in a button-mashing arcade game, the plot is more of an excuse to get the characters flipping and punching rather than the reason for the film’s existence. And on that front, the film delivers. The fight choreography has noticeably improved since the last film, with creative moves and even more creative kills. The film’s highlight is easily an important fight between Liu Kang and a resurrected Kung Lao (Max Huang). The dramatic stakes are clear and heavy, the moves are imaginative, and the violence is visceral enough to elicit vocal reactions (it helps that Kung Lao is, by far, the gaggiest of all the fighters, thanks to his metal hat with a sharpened blade brim). Unfortunately, the computer generated gore and – even more discouraging – blood is distractingly obvious.

In fact, the visual effects, while a marked improvement over the last film, still don’t fully transport the audience to the film’s fantastical world. Some of the compositing of real humans onto blandly designed CGI backgrounds is particularly disappointing, and the visuals aren’t supported by the most comprehensible lighting (as is the case with most big budget blockbusters of the 2020s). Things aren’t helped by McQuoid’s blocking of the non-fight scenes, which almost entirely consists of characters simply standing still in a space, spouting expository dialogue. In some moments, the stiff characters even obstruct others from view (the wrong kind of blocking!) On the other hand, the film chooses to use practical makeup effects in a way that wisely adds a tangible element. One otherworldly creature named Baraka (played by the hilariously over-the-top CJ Bloomfield) has huge nasty fangs that are at least partly practical, and every time the camera shows off his chompers, it’s thrilling.

Even amongst video games, the Mortal Kombat series is far from the highest achievement of pure artistry that the medium has to offer, but its creators know exactly what their players expect from the fighting franchise and are happy to deliver. The same can be said of Mortal Kombat II, which is an enjoyable level up from the previous film. And in these troubled times, who couldn’t use a little catharsis in the form of highly paid, beautiful people pretend-hitting each other?

Grade: B

Warner Bros will release Mortal Kombat II only in theaters on May 8.

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Cody Dericks

Cody Dericks has been obsessed with movies and awards ever since he first grabbed a giant coffee table book about the Oscars at the Scholastic Book Fair. He’s been consuming every type of film ever since. In addition, he’s an avid theatre lover and always has thoughts and opinions on all things to do with Broadway and the Tony Awards.

He currently resides in Chicago and is a proud member of the Chicago Film Critics Association and GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics. He also writes and podcasts for Next Best Picture and co-hosts his own podcast “Halloweeners: A Horror Movie Podcast.” You can follow him on Twitter, Letterboxd, and Bluesky @codymonster91

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