Mortal Kombat II (2026)
Starring:
Adeline Rudolph, Karl Urban, Jessica McNamee, Mehcad Brooks, Ludi
Lin, Josh Lawson, Martyn Ford, Tati Gabrielle, Tadanobu Asano, Chin
Han, Lewis Tan, Max Huang, Hiroyuki Sanada, Joe Taslim
Director:
Simon McQuoid
Action Directors:
Michael Lehr, Malay Kim
Well, color me impressed!
I thought that the 2021
Mortal Kombat reboot
was “pretty good” at best. I liked the idea of setting the film
before the
actual tournament, with the Outworld trying to cheat its way to
victory. But like most people, I wondered what the point of the Cole
Young character was, since any other character could have been used
as the audience proxy. And the action was disappointing, with the two
bookend sequences being standouts, but the action in the middle being
“Meh” at best. Much of the problem stemmed from the filmmakers
not finding that sweet spot between the choreography, the powers, and
the gore: the former suffered the most.
But director Simon McQuoid
and his producers seemed to have learned from their mistakes and in
this sequel, all of that has been corrected. In fact, considering the
acting, story, cinematography, FX quality, and overall action, Mortal
Kombat II may very well be the best
live-action entry in the franchise to this date.
The movie opens a number of
years (or decades) before the events of the first film in the Kingdom
of Edenia. Edenia is located in the Outworld, and the place has been
targeted for conquest by a powerful warlord named Shao Kahn (Martyn
Ford, of the Red Sonja remake
and The Intergalactic Adventures of Max
Cloud). The reigning king, Jerrod
(Desmond Chiam, of Joy Ride
and “Falcon and the Winter Soldier”), accepts the challenge.
Although Jerrod gets in some good hits, Shao Kahn is the better
fighter and kills Jerrod. He then marries Jerrod’s widow, Sindel
(Primitive War’s
Ana Thu Nguyen), and adopts her daughter, Kitana.
Cut to a few days after the
events of the first film. We are introduced to Johnny Cage (Karl
Urban, of Doom
and the Pathfinder),
a washed-up martial arts actor whose glory days are long behind him.
It has gotten to the point where people don’t even pay attention to
him at conventions, although I honestly think that’s a bit
exaggerated. I’m more than sure that any once-successful martial
arts actor could garner some attention: the power of nostalgia is
real. Anyway, Cage is approached by Raiden (a returning Tadanobu
Asano) and Sonya Blade (same for Jessica McNamee), who inform him
that he has been chosen as a combatant for the Mortal Kombat
tournament.
Cage is initially skeptical,
although he humors him and learns for himself that a) there is indeed
a tournament and b) even the human combatants have developed gnarly
powers in order to face off with opponents from a completely
different realm (or dimension) with neat powers of their own. Still
believing that his best days are long past, Cage declines the
invitation to train with the likes of Jax (Mehcad Brooks), Liu Kang
(Ludi Lin), and Cole Young (Lewis Tan).
Meanwhile, back in the
Outworld, Shao Kahn is organizing his own (new) team of fighters.
That would include his now-adult adoptive daughter (Adeline Rudolph,
of Do Not Enter
and Hellboy: The Crooked Man);
Kitana’s bodyguard, Jade (Uncharted’s
Tati Gabrielle); Sindel; and himself. And who will be Fighter #5?
Well, that is where things
get interesting. In Shao Kahn’s employ is a powerful sorcerer and
necromancer by the name of Quan Chi (Damon Herriman). Quan Chi uses
his powers to revive not one, but two
characters from the previous movie. The
first is Kung Lao, who had gotten his soul sucked by Shang Tsung (a
returning Chin Han). The second is Kano. Kung Lao is revived to fight
for the Outworld, while Shao Kahn has other plans for Kano.
You see, Shang Tsung made it
clear in the first film that the Outworld has never been above
cheating in Mortal Kombat and this last tournament would be no
exception. But since the original plan to murder all the fighters
before the
tournament was a failure, they plan to cheat via other means. Those
particular means revolve around an amulet belonging to the Chaos God
Shinnok…and amulet that was stolen by Kano during the events of the
first film. The amulet can transfer God powers from one being to
another, including instant healing, rendering the receiver
functionally immortal.
The tournament soon begins
and both sides start taking losses. But once the details of Shao
Kahn’s plan reaches the Earth fighters—it shouldn’t be
difficult to know who the spy is—our heroes will find themselves
having to fight both inside and outside
of the tournament in order to prevent Shao Kahn from winning.
So, this film is about the
tournament (unlike the last film, but like the 1995 film), but the
amulet subplot gives the characters other things to do, especially
those among the Earth fighters who actually lose, but still manage to
walk away with their lives. And that goes especially for one of the
main characters who would have no logical reason to win their
particular fight, but needs to stay in the movie anyway. I think that
is the film’s strength is giving certain characters things to do
while the tournament progresses, with the success of the amulet
subplot being integral to the other characters being able to win
Mortal Kombat. It keeps both the action and story from going stale.
The main characters this
time around are Johnny Cage and Kitana, although they receive ample
support from the other returning characters and a few new ones, too.
Fans questioned the portrayal of Cage as an over-the-hill
has-been—the games usually portrayed him as being in the prime of
his career—but I think it works in the film and for Cage’s
particular character arc. Cage’s film-within-a-film was a hoot and
he gradually gets his confidence as an actual fighter (something he
hadn’t been in many years) back. Cage goes from a nothing to a)
someone who has something to fight for, and then b) someone who has
the means to fight for it.
Kitana’s story is more
about subverting her step-father’s quest for power and seeking her
own personal revenge. She herself doesn’t grow in the way Cage
does, but she does get the final fight against her father’s killer,
which makes more dramatic sense. Her journey is less about her own
personal growth and more about her attempts to keep the Earth
fighters abreast of what’s going on in the Outworld, but at great
personal risk.
Surprisingly, there is some
character development saved for Kano as well. We saw in the last film
that he was initially going to fight for humanity, but then allowed
himself to be bought out by Shang Tsung. And while he initially is on
the Outworld’s side after his resurrection, he does have a change
in heart, albeit for a reason that is very typical of Kano’s
character.
Mortal Kombat: Annihilation suffered from a story that
often threw characters into the story to randomly get into fights,
only to exit stage left after a few moments. That was especially true
for Baraka, Mileena, and the Reptile clones. And to a lesser extent,
Scorpion and Sub-Zero. That happens a little bit here, but not as
bad. At least two of the combatants exit the film after their initial
MK fights. And two more characters return from the first film (just
look at the credits), once the search for the amulet moves from the
Outworld to the Netherworld.
Speaking of exiting movies,
one of Mortal Kombat II’s
other strengths is that no character is given plot armor. Not all of
Earth’s champions will make it to the end of the movie. You feel
like the Paul W. S. Anderson didn’t want to kill our favorites in
the two 1990s films, so only the villains and maybe one good guy
would die. Not here. To quote Joe Bob Briggs, “Anybody can die at
any time.” And when they get it, they get it good.
People die hard in
this movie, which is to be expected after the last one.
Speaking of dying hard, how
is the action? Well, it is both more plentiful and more consistent
than in the last movie. The action directors were switched, with
Michael Lehr and Malay Kim taking up the reins. Both are veteran
Hollywood stuntmen, with Malay Kim having done stuntwork for a few of
the MK video games, plus action direction on the John Wick spin-off
“The Continental.” Michael Lehr also worked on “The
Continental”, but also has films like Fast
9; Extraction; and Day
Shift on his résumé as fight
coordinator. As I stated earlier in the review, these two manage to
hit that sweet spot: the perfect balance of choreography, powers, and
graphic violence. I’ll have to watch it again if anything will beat
the original Cage vs. Scorpion and Liu Kang vs. Reptile fights—which
are iconic because for many, this was the first time American viewers
saw Hong Kong choreography in action—but I liked what I saw.
In my mind, the fight that
stands out the most is the throwdown between Liu Kang and Kung Lao.
Besides being an emotionally-charged fight, it is set up in a neat
way. Long story short: both men are exchanging blows—Max Huang
looks to be a wing chun stylist—while
Kung Lao’s razor-sharp hat is flying around and coming at both men.
So, both have to fight each other while dodging or deflecting the
hat, which results in some creative action direction.
I also
must point out that Shao Kahn, as a tournament participant, gets to
have multiple fight scenes and is not just an end boss. The finale is
broken up into two parallel fights. One of them is (SPOILER ALERT) is
set in the Netherworld, as Kano, Johnny Cage, and Scorpion have to
team up against Bi Han, who has been resurrected as Noob Saibat (I
presume). There is some nice, complex choreography as they have to
fight him and one of his clones, often simultaneously with swords,
Scorpion’s rope weapon, and good ol’ fashioned fisticuffs. It’s
a better fight overall than Shao Kahn vs. Kitana, even if it’s that
fight that will determine the fate of
the world. And I’m glad that Joe Taslim and Hiroyuki Sanada
returned, even if just for an extended cameo.
Mortal Kombat II
offers lots of quality fight action, a decent plot (maybe even a good
one, by fighting game standards), solid acting, and a whole lot of
gore and should be enjoyed by most fans of the franchise. I certainly
liked it and look forward to the next one, which I assume by this
point will have to involve Shinnok (who gets name dropped here).
Bring it on!
