Review: ‘Mortal Kombat 2’ Is No Flawless Victory, But Still Worth The Watch

After five long awaited years, the viewers are welcomed back to Earthrealm in Simon McQuoid’s Mortal Kombat 2. Following straight off the heels of the 2021 hit film, this film opens with a brief setup to the film’s villain, Shao Kahn, and the connection he shares with the newly introduced, and highly anticipated, Kitana. This scene sets the stage for the events that are to come in the film, but do lack a bit of depth. As the film progresses, the focus turns to our story’s protagonists defending Earthrealm from Shao Kahn’s Outworld forces as he enacts the much-awaited Mortal Kombat tournament. A tournament that pits Earthrealm’s five champions, Johnny Cage, Liu Kang, Sonya Blade, Cole Young, and Jax, against the five champions of the Outworld, including Kitana, Jade, and Shao Kahn. Much to the dismay of one champion, the fight for Earthrealm’s survival is to the death, and some don’t make it out alive.

Unlike the first film, Jeremy Slater’s martial arts fantasy script doesn’t focus on storytelling, but on the tournament. It doesn’t spend time on pretty words or world building, the script does just enough to help viewers understand the rules of the tournament, the basic emotions of its fighters, and the connections they share with fellow characters. Some viewers would say this is a disservice to the series, but as a viewer who grew up with the video game franchise, Mortal Kombat 2 feels just like entering that famous blood code for Mortal Kombat on Sega Genesis. We wanted brutality then and we want brutality now. Give me the epic finishing moves that spilt a person in half instead of some heart to heart between Johnny Cage and Sonya. And this film delivers on just that.

If there was one thing that was lacking in this film was humor. Some of the lines that are meant to be funny sort of die in a “K-O” kind of way. It isn’t until Josh Lawson’s Kano appears that the humor returns. His comedic range and timing manage to bring every cast member he interacts with into his wonderfully raunchy comedic world. Specifically, when he interacts with Karl Urban’s Johnny Cage. The banter between these two is delicious. And speaking of the newcomer to the series, Urban’s portrayal of Cage is bit underwhelming until later in the film. Without spoiling anything, and after sitting on my thoughts of the film for a bit, I believe this was intentional. His character lacks any type of personality, until the third act of the film.

Adeline Rudolph brings to life the fan wielding Kitana in such a fun way while Tati Gabrielle’s plays Kitana’s friend and Shao Kahn’s assassin, Jade. I would have loved to see a bit more of Jade in this film due exclusively on Gabrielle’s performance, but fingers crossed we get a third film so the character can be explored a bit more. Jessica McNamee (Sonya Blade), Ludi Lin (Liu Kang), Mehcad Brooks (Jax), Lewis Tan (Cole Young), Tadanobu Asano (Lord Raiden) are just some of the actors that return for the sequel. And no step is missed with this crew. They fall right back into character as if they didn’t’ go on a hiatus between filming.

Finally, Hiroyuki Sanada returns as Scorpion while Joe Taslim returns as Bi-Han / Sub Zero. The dynamic between these two from the first film was enough to make the film a must watch for me. The two actors were able to beautifully showcase the hatred the pair shared for one another. That dynamic doesn’t change in this film. The pair once again manages to bring to life the epic rivalry between the two characters in such a brilliant tension-filled way that there scene becomes truly the highlight of the film.

Mortal Kombat 2 is in no way a “flawless victory”, but it is everything you would expect from a film based off a 90s’ video game. The lines are cheesy, the battles are bloody, and the nostalgia hits you in the gut like Johnny Cage’s Shadow Kick. If you are prepared to enter that famous blood code, I would recommend checking this one out in theaters.

Grade: B+