Mortal Kombat II (2026)

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!