The Mortal Kombat franchise has one of the most storied links to film adaptations in the entire video game industry. Following 1995’s excellent adaptation, it was followed by the universally bashed Annihilation in 1997, before giving way to a series of decent-to-good animated Legends films that ran from 2020 to 2023. In 2021, we received Mortal Kombat, a modern take on storytelling in the MK universe. While I overall enjoyed it, the film was largely criticized for its lack of a tournament structure and an overemphasis on Cole Young, an original character created for the film, and his family. Mortal Kombat II corrects course on both of those major criticisms, delivering a stronger product in the process, but a paper-thin narrative and uneven pacing prevent it from being a flawless victory.
Warning: While I try to remain as spoiler-free as possible, certain elements of the narrative and characters are mentioned throughout this article.
Much like its predecessor, Mortal Kombat II opens with a flashback scene, delivering a truncated origin story of one of the franchise’s most iconic characters. In the first film, it was the origin of Scorpion, while this time shows us how Kitana’s Realm of Edenia was captured by Shao Kahn, and she became his adopted daughter. And similar to Mortal Kombat, this is an effective way to open the film. However, unlike the 2021 start to this continuity, the subject of this flashback scene plays a substantial role throughout the film.
Mortal Kombat II features a much wider cast of characters from the film, with several iconic characters joining the cast from the first film. While it was great to see Sonya, Raiden, and Liu Kang return (and improve on their appearances from the first film), I particularly loved the addition of Kitana and Johnny Cage. Adeline Rudolph and Karl Urban do a fantastic job faithfully embodying these characters. Rudolph perfectly portrays the conflicted-yet-deadly princess of Outworld, while Urban perfectly plays the fish-out-of-water, washed-up-actor character as an older Johnny Cage.
Cage and Kano are some of the biggest highlights of the film, often serving as comic relief. More often than not, their jokes land, and since they’re usually surrounded by rather self-serious characters in dire circumstances, their comedic dialogue either perfectly diffuses the scene’s tension or plays off the ridiculousness happening on screen. Where Cole in the first film was meant to be a relatable point-of-view character for the audience, Kano and Johnny Cage do a better job in that role, often serving as the obnoxious-yet-entertaining voice in the back of your head, cracking wise about the events unfolding onscreen.
Speaking of Cole, it seems the writers heard the complaints of including the POV character in a major way, and he is largely relegated to a background role. This gives other characters more time to shine: Johnny Cage and Kitana take turns as the main characters, serving as a huge upgrade. Meanwhile, Liu Kang steps into a much bigger role and feels more like the consequential character he should be this time around. Scorpion and Bi-Han (previously Sub-Zero) also return, but are unnecessary. Aside from a fun fight scene, their inclusions are completely unearned and out of nowhere. Following 2021’s Mortal Kombat, it’s getting to the point where I can’t tell if the filmmakers can’t figure out how to make Scorpion compelling over the course of a feature film, or if they just don’t want to pay to have Hiroyuki Sanada on screen for a significant amount of time.
Conversely, Shao Kahn is an intimidating presence throughout the film, serving as a nearly unstoppable force that commands the likes of Shang Tsung, Quan Chi, Jade, and Kitana. Unfortunately, he suffers from the opposite problem to Scorpion and Bi-Han: He’s in the film so often that it feels less special when his giant presence appears. That said, I appreciated the interplay between him and Kitana and the feeling that Shang Tsung is always scheming under him, but I could have done with a bit more mystery.
While we do get one “Finish Him,” the cheesy, overly referential dialogue has, thankfully, been toned way down. However, you shouldn’t go into this movie expecting any kind of exceptional storytelling; Mortal Kombat II‘s plot is merely a device to put the characters together to fight, and it doesn’t really try to hide that fact. Even the beginning, where Johnny Cage is recruited, is rushed through. I know fans are excited to get to the Kombat portion of the equation, but it sets the tone for the story in an incredibly uneven fashion, and it never quite recovers. Thankfully, the forgettable narrative is buoyed by the return of the tournament format and the consistently well-choreographed, awe-inspiring fights. Nearly every character has a chance to shine during the tournament or an unsanctioned brawl, and the Fatalities almost always caused the audience in my theater to erupt in applause or wincing laughter. The one exception here is Raiden, who still feels way underutilized.
Seemingly learning from more subtle mistakes of the first film, which placed fights in locations like a double-wide trailer, a suburban neighborhood, and an MMA cage, Mortal Kombat II places its tournament fights in well-known locations from the first few games. I won’t spoil which stages appear, but seeing these fights play out similarly to the games is a treat for someone like me, who has been playing since the very first entry in the franchise. My only wish is that the sets looked good more consistently. For every location that looks incredible, there’s another that gives the impression the characters are just floating on a green screen, at times making me wonder if the actors in the scene were even all there at the same time.
Regardless of any complaints, Mortal Kombat II is a step up from the original in nearly every way. By relying more on the source material, it provides a much more faithful experience that feels more rooted in the Realms of Mortal Kombat rather than trying to connect it too much to our world. The use of the tournament format does wonders to make up for the mess of an overarching story, and by being far less concerned about making sure less experienced audience members aren’t left behind, Mortal Kombat II delivers a great second round.
