Mortal Kombat II is a campy and gory good time

Image Courtesy of Warner Bros.

In 2021, the theatrical reboot of Mortal Kombat drew a lackluster response from fans of the long-running video game franchise. Part of that had to do with the decision to center a new character, Cole Young (Lewis Tan), as the centerpiece of the movie, instead of fan favorites like Liu Kang (Ludi Lin). The response was a bit too harsh, especially against Tan, but the second time around, director Simon McQuoid created a film that's a campy and gory kiss to the fanbase. It's not a flawless victory, but it's a hell of a lot of fun.

The sequel primarily focuses on Kitana (Adeline Rudolph) and washed-up action star Johnny Cage, played by The Boys' Karl Urban. In the film's opening, we see the brutal and imposing big bad Shao Kahn (Martyn Ford) slaughter Kitana's father right in front of her and then take over her realm. In this harrowing sequence, Kitana is just a little girl, played by the expressive Sophia Xu. It's a gruesome and nail-biting scene and hints at the level of bloodshed the rest of the movie promises. Shao Kahn doesn't want to stop there, however. He plans to also take over Earth and so begins the Mortal Kombat tournament in the present day, years after Kitana watched her father die. If the Earth's champions don't win, then Shao Kahn will rule Earth. It's a straightforward premise that simplifies the lore, and all for the better for a more general audience.

Meanwhile, the thunder God Raiden (Tadanobu Asano) recruits Johnny Cage to fight, though he is reluctant at first. The script serves Cage's story quite well. He's no longer at the top of his game and feels like a has-been. At a convention, fans mostly walk by his table, but eventually, fighting in the tournament gives him a renewed sense of spirit. Urban was also a great choice for the role. He hams it up, has a lot of great one-liners, and cockiness that Cage is known for.

There's another plot that involves the baddies sidelining Raiden and trapping his power in an amulet to make Shao Kahn immortal. Yes, it's absurd, but it causes the good guys, specifically Jax (Mehcad Brooks), Sonya (Jessica McNamee), Johnny Cage, and Liu Kang to infiltrate Shao Kahn's throne room. This leads to some pretty impressive fight sequences and also underscores the emperor's brute power.

The movie's other standout is Rudolph's performance as Kitana and her character arc more broadly. This is very much her movie, focusing on the revenge she seeks against Shao Kahn, leading to a bloody final act and face-off. Before that moment, however, there are several fights in the tournament and a lot of causalities. The deaths won't be spoiled here, but I suspect fans will be happy that several characters show off their signature moves from the games. Liu Kang shoots fireballs. Johnny Cage uses his ball busting move against Baraka (CJ Bloomfield), and Queen Sindel (Ana Thu Nguyen) uses her siren wail more than once. The movie also mimics some of the game's most famous tournament stages, including the pit, the acid bath, and the portal. Major characters die in this movie, and a few of those moments are heartbreaking.

Additionally, though the movie focuses a lot on Johnny Cage and Kitana, other characters get their moments. Liu Kang steals nearly every scene he's in, and the fight between he and his best friend, Kung Lao (Max Huang), resurrected from the dead, is a real tearjerker of a sequence. There are real stakes in this movie and just enough character development to make this movie more than non-stop action, blood, guts, and gore. Meanwhile, Josh Lawson reprises his role as the merc Kano and has some of the funniest lines in the movie. That said, I do hope the next movie gives Tati Gabrielle's Jade a little more to do than just serve as Kitana's protector with conflicting loyalties. She deserves a meatier storyline, but the movie packs in so many characters that it's inevitable some will be more sidelined.

As for the pacing, though the film clocks in at nearly two hours, it moves rapidly. The only part that drags is a late sequence involving hell, which feels like a way to shoehorn Hanzo Hasashi/Scorpion (Hiroyuki Sanada) into the movie and have him fight Sub-Zero's evil clone, Bi-Han (Joe Taslim). The setting looks cool but wears thin 20 minutes into it. Additionally, aspects of the pacing feel clunky. There are a lot of subplots that at times feel like too much crammed into a single movie, just like all of the characters packed into the runtime. The film would have worked better if some of the subplots were trimmed down or even cut.

Overall, Mortal Kombat II has some solid choregraphed fight sequences, enough character development to elevate it beyond a mindless blockbuster, and plenty of jokes. This is a campy adaptation that understands the source material better than the last movie. It's not perfect, but it's a gory good time at the theater.

Mortal Kombat II is now playing in theaters.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b24oG7qCwp4