Despite some livelier sets and a lot more bloody battles, Mortal Kombat II can’t punch up a better story or performances for itself.
Who in the world thought it was time for Mortal Kombat to be taken seriously? Does a video game with ninjas, robots, and wizards flying through the air and freezing people need a grounded, gritty live-action movie to certify its legacy? That seemed to be the belief that went into Simon McQuoid‘s 2021 adaptation of the ground-breaking fighting game series, which earned its millions of arcade quarters and game purchases through four-armed monsters and Babailities. McQuoid must’ve missed those hints when he delivered a dull, cheap-looking, abysmally-dull affair five years ago. Now we have a sequel, Mortal Kombat II, and fortunately it’s better than its boring predecessor. Hell, it’s even better than the last live-action Mortal Kombat sequel! Unfortunately…that’s a low bar to clear.
The 10th Mortal Kombat tournament is about to begin and Lord Raiden (Tadanobu Asano) is getting worried. He and his Earth Realm warriors Sonya Blade (Jessica McNamee), Jax (Mehcad Brooks), Liu Kang (Ludi Lin), and Cole Young (Lewis Tan) are not enough to defeat the evil Shao Khan (Martyn Ford) and his champions of Netherrealm. That group includes Princess Kitana (Adeline Rudolph), her loyal friend Jade (Tati Gabrielle), the wizard Shang Tsung (Chin Han), and foul-mouthed Kano (Josh Lawson). Earth Realm needs a new fighter, so Raiden recruits washed-up action star Johnny Cage (Karl Urban) to toughen-up and throw down for the fate of humanity.
Kombat gets an upgrade.
McQuoid is back in the director’s chair and thankfully, he’s fixed a few of his errors. One way of doing so is knowing how to use a bigger budget ($68 million now vs. $55 million then). Mortal Kombat II features better makeup, convincing visual effects, and more well-detailed sets compared to its predecessor. The fight between Liu Kang and a resurrected Kung Lao (Max Huang) is the movie’s peak for all of those reasons: the battle between scorching flames and a sentient buzzsaw hat in front of a color-changing wormhole is EXACTLY the kind of vibe a Mortal Kombat movie needs to have.
Photo Credit: Warner Bros. Pictures
Shao Khan looks like a gargantuan man-dragon swinging a hammer that would make Thor wince, while Kitana’s famous fan blades manage to overcome their CGI sheen and look as cool as any other fighting weapon. All of that elevates the impressive fight choreography and over-the-top fatalities fans will salivate over. Even the slightly overstuffed finale has enough clever moves to distract from all the blue screen backdrops.
But all the decapitations and callbacks in the world can’t hide a weak script. Though free from the lore establishment and character introduction bloat of the first movie, the story of Mortal Kombat II feels paper thin We have a generic “chosen one”/redemption plot line for Johnny Cage, a boring female warrior journey for Kitana, and a half-baked excuse of a fighting tournament happening in the background. None of the subplots, or even the main plot, carry a whiff of tension or intrigue, so much so that the movie forgets to be about a fighting tournament every now and then. Though it has a slightly sillier tone with occasional winks at the audience, it never fully embraces the ridiculousness of its source material to be all-the-way fun.
Fatal casting.
If Mortal Kombat II is supposed to be more fun than its predecessor, no one told the actors about that. Barely anyone has enough charisma or good lines to have a screen presence. At least Ford, Asano, and Han have memorable costumes and makeup to amplify their scenery-chewing. Tan, McNamee, Gabrielle, and almost everyone else are just good-looking faces waiting for their chance to rumble. Only generous cameos from Hiroyuki Sanada as Scorpion and Joe Taslim as Sub-Zero elevate the movie’s star power for its cluttered (but mostly fun) climax.
Photo Credit: Warner Bros. Pictures
Most tragic of all is the use of Johnny Cage, played by a woefully miscast Urban. Cage should be the funny live wire acting as the audience surrogate who’s reacting to all the chaos with amused bewilderment. Unfortunately, Urban doesn’t have the comic timing right for punchlines and isn’t going for Jackie Chan-type physical comedy. What you’re left to watch is a stone-faced pompadour haircut awkwardly moving through fight scenes and exposition not knowing exactly how to make his lines matter. Maybe Urban is more like Schwarzenegger where funny things are happening around him and his macho posturing is the punchline. If only this movie had a good director able to recognize his strengths and weaknesses better.
The bottom line.
If all you’re going to Mortal Kombat II for is callbacks to the game and cartoonish kills, you’re getting the bare minimum. While it is an upgrade from the dreadfully boring previous installment, there’s still not enough creativity or energy to make this second helping of fighting hit hard. With the new Street Fighter movie on the horizon and going for a much sweatier, colorful, caffeinated vibe, it makes you all the more sad that the other gold standard of fighting games can’t find its footing on the big screen. You shouldn’t have to think so hard about why a movie about a mystical kung fu tournament just isn’t working. The phrase “mystical kung fu tournament” is an open door to go for the kill, not play it cagey.
Mortal Kombat II is now playing in theaters everywhere. Watch the trailer below.
Images courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures. Read more articles by Jon Winkler here.
REVIEW RATING
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Mortal Kombat II - 4/10
4/10
