A Bloody Good Time
Summary
Mortal Kombat II is exactly what it looked like from the trailers with plenty of fights and brutal kills. Karl Urban gives us a sympathetic Johnny Cage and Josh Lawson is hilarious as Kano. The third entry is all set up, so hopefully we can get more Liu Kang as he seems to be more of a side character in these movies. It’s well paced and rarely goes long without an awesome fight scene and after all, isn’t that what we want from a Mortal Kombat movie?
Plot: The fan favorite champions — now joined by Johnny Cage himself — are pitted against one another in the ultimate battle to defeat the dark rule of Shao Kahn that threatens the very existence of the Earthrealm and its defenders.
Review: I know I’m late to the party with this review, but I was away on vacation last week and haven’t had time to watch Mortal Kombat II until tonight.
I’ve heard reviews saying it’s either a mess or it’s amazing, but I think if you’re a fan of the videogames then you’ll have a lot of fun here.
Mortal Kombat II is a vast improvement over the 2021 film but I still consider the 1995 entry the best as there is just a sense of fun with it and the music is also amazing. I am going to do new reviews for it an Annihilation when they come out on 4K soon.
Anyway, as promised Johnny Cage (Karl Urban) takes the lead alongside Kitana (Adeline Rudolph) and they both do the best with what they’re given. I love Urban and he’s an awesome guy in real life, but I thought he was odd casting as Johnny Cage; after seeing the movie however, he made the role his own and made Cage sympathetic as the washed up action star who never reached his full potential. Rudolph plays Kitana who is taken by Shao Khan (Martyn Ford) as his daughter after he murdered her father in combat. She knows she has no choice but to follow Khan otherwise she will be crushed, but she is waiting for the right time to take her revenge.
Fans of Cole Young (Lewis Tan) may be disappointed by his much smaller role this time around, but I hope he returns in the third movie as it’s all set up nicely. Also, am I the only one who wants to see a buddy movie with Lewis Tan and Joe Taslim with graphic violence, one-liners and possibly some gratuitous nudity? Just me? ok…
This sequel actually has a tournament and captures the spirit of the games with the iconic moves and Fatalities on display. I think my favourite fight scene is Kung Lao vs. Liu Kang mostly due to its gorgeous visuals, but I thought all the fights were awesome and that’s what we’re here for after all. Certain scenes look like they are lifted right out of the videogames, so clearly a lot of time went into bringing it to life.
I mean, there isn’t much to the story, but really… it’s Mortal Kombat – we’re here for brutal fights and violent kills so if you’re looking for anything more than that then this maybe isn’t your bag.
I thought it had some enjoyable dialogue especially from Josh Lawson who once again steals the show as Kano; he has the best lines but I also loved Tati Gabrielle as Jade mostly because I think she is absolutely stunning. There were a couple of clunky lines which garnered some groans from the audience, but it just worked as part of the charm.
The score is filled with epic choral music which adds a shot of adrenaline to the action although it doesn’t have anything especially memorable.
Overall, Mortal Kombat II is exactly what you’d expect from it with few surprises, but Karl Urban is awesome as Johnny Cage and Josh Lawson stole every scene as Kano. I still think the 95 movie will always be the best because it came first and has an infectious energy that the other entries lack and I can’t put my finger on it as to why. Anyway, I’m sure you’ve all seen the movie by now, so who cares what I think?