{"id":13632,"date":"2026-05-11T19:06:17","date_gmt":"2026-05-12T02:06:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/moviecuriosities.fmuk.org.uk\/?p=13632"},"modified":"2026-05-11T19:06:19","modified_gmt":"2026-05-12T02:06:19","slug":"mortal-kombat-ii","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/moviecuriosities.fmuk.org.uk\/?p=13632","title":{"rendered":"Mortal Kombat II"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Mortal Kombat has outgrown itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first Mortal Kombat game was only ever intended to be a cheap and quick cash grab after the world-shaking success of “Street Fighter 2”. It was put together in ten months by a team of four people. Ed Boon was 28 years old. Nobody cared about the story or characters, because they were all built for the juvenile thrill of getting slaughtered in whatever cartoonishly over-the-top way could be rendered with the meager budget and hardware available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet the game was surprisingly fun to play, and that “x-tremely” violent sense of humor resonated with the kids of the ’90s. Thus Mortal Kombat grew into a huge multimedia franchise that’s only gotten supercharged in the age of ’90s nostalgia. Unfortunately, it’s tough to make sustainably viable storytelling or bankable IP out of characters who were specifically built to be wrecked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was relatively easy to build up the lore over so many games, back when nobody questioned how Raiden could get his spine ripped out and then show up later like nothing happened. But then the WB corporate overlords bought Midway for the sole purpose of investing in MK. Thus MK got stuck with all the money and visibility of a mainstream tentpole franchise. Which means that ever since, MK has been held to higher standards regarding the quality of storytelling and continuity between chapters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To be entirely clear, I get the logic in betting on MK like this. It’s a massively nostalgic property with a huge cast of iconic characters, built from the ground up for fantastic adventure and a potentially unlimited scope. On paper (i.e. the only way corporate suits ever think of anything), it makes sense. In practice, it means all sorts of sci-fi\/fantasy\/time travel\/multiversal shenanigans to explain why the characters never grow old after so many entries, and why they keep coming back (i.e. staying marketable) no matter how many times they get verbed into bloody pieces. For that matter, getting mainstream audiences on board with the gruesomely demented violence of the games was always a dicey proposition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not to mention the deeply convoluted lore. Again, it’s a video game about soldiers and cyborgs and wizards and half-naked women punching each other’s heads off. Why should any newcomer give a damn about The One Being or the Cyber Lin Kuei?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Half the appeal of Mortal Kombat is the feeling of transgression. It doesn’t truly feel like Mortal Kombat unless the players and developers all feel like they’re getting away with something, and we can’t really have that in a mainstream AAA big-budget franchise. Remember, there was a time when mainstream media and the government itself wanted to keep us away from all the spectacular violence and sexualized costumes. The games have done their best to keep that taboo tone, even as a multinational conglomerate encouraged everyone to pay for the privilege of coming in and taking part. But they can’t really have it both ways, and not for lack of trying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We’ve seen this in the most recent NetherRealm games, in which Mortal Kombat has consistently reset and rebooted itself with each iteration, culminating in the highly controversial New Era of “Mortal Kombat 1”. (While the costumes got notably less skimpy, I might add.) More to the point, we saw it with the Mortal Kombat (2021)<\/em> film adaptation, which introduced magical birthmarks and a new audience surrogate character to try and make the lore more accessible to newcomers. It didn’t work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So here we are with Mortal Kombat II<\/em>, made and marketed with the promise of fixing the mistakes of the previous film. Sure enough, the arcana and those stupid birthmarks are never even mentioned. And Cole Young (Lewis Tan) gets maybe five minutes of screentime before he’s offered up as a sacrifice to Shao Kahn (more on him in a minute). But the film is still held back for a variety of reasons, many of which can be traced back to the previous film and\/or the source material.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The film unfolds across two dimensions, each with their own audience viewpoint character. We open in Edenia, home to Princess Kitana (Adeline Rudolph). Long story short, Shao Kahn (Martyn Ford) killed Kitana’s father (King Jerrod, played by Desmond Chiam) in the process of winning ten straight Mortal Kombat tournaments. By the rules of the tournament, that meant the realms of Outworld merged with Edenia, so Shao Kahn installed himself as the new emperor of the two collective realms, adopting Kitana as his new adoptive daughter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Confused yet? Which part? Check the wiki<\/a> if you have to, we’re only getting started here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cut to some time later, and Earthrealm (read: Earth) is set for a Mortal Kombat tournament against Outworld. After Shao Kahn has already won nine straight. Which means if we lose this time, Shao Kahn conquers the world. And our representative team is still down a member.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Enter Johnny Cage, played by Karl Urban. He started out as a world champion martial artist, before he went on to make schlocky ’90s action flicks, before he went on to become a washed-up alcoholic schlub. For whatever reason, this is the guy chosen by the Elder Gods to fight for Earthrealm. So now he has to rediscover his confidence and get back up to speed so he can fight against superpowered and otherworldly beings in a fight to the death with the fate of the world at stake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But wait, there’s more!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Enter Quan Chi (Damon Harriman, who voiced Kabal as a rejected Power Rangers villain in the previous film), a necromancer working for Shao Kahn. He has the power to raise the dead, which means that characters killed off in the previous movie can come back. But who gets back and when and toward what purpose are all decided by the bad guys, so it’s not like resurrection comes without a cost. All well and good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More importantly, Quan Chi obtains the Amulet of Shinnok (with no mention of Shinnok himself, I might add). The amulet is a super-powerful artifact from the games, here utilized to make Shao Kahn immortal. Thus our heroes are stuck on a MacGuffin hunt, trying to find a means of destroying the amulet while also winning the tournament.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lots to unpack here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From all of the above, it should come as little surprise that the plot is a mess. There are so many moving parts and they’re all moving so quickly in the space of two hours, of course it all collapses under the least bit of scrutiny. My favorite example: It’s clearly stated that Raiden (Tadanobu Asano) can’t participate in the Mortal Kombat tournament because he is, in fact, immortal. Yet Raiden spends pretty much the entire movie slowly dying after his throat gets sliced open (that’s another long bullshit story) while Shao Kahn is free to take part in the tournament even after getting his immortality buff. Make that make sense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even better, it’s a load-bearing cornerstone of the plot that Shao Kahn can only be defeated by destroying the amulet. In fact, it’s clearly shown that our heroes are perfectly capable of killing Shao Kahn if he isn’t immortal. The same guy who won ten straight Mortal Kombat tournaments to claim Edenia, then won another nine straight tournaments on the way to claiming Earthrealm, and that was all before his new immortality. It’s this fucking powerhouse who would’ve gotten outright killed by Cole Fucking Young without an immortality cheat code. Make that <\/span>make any lick of sense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To be entirely clear, I get that arbitrarily buffing and nerfing characters to outrageous degrees by the whims of the plot is nothing new for this franchise. And the fans are well used to bickering and complaining about it. To this day, the fans are still bitching about the infamous Sindel Massacre of MK9. Even so, not even that clusterfuck was anywhere near as bad as the nonsense in this picture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking of Sindel, there’s a huge problem with the lineup in this picture: There’s no cannon fodder. Say what you will about the previous movie, but that one had D-tier characters like Reiko and Nitara who could be quickly and easily dispatched with no harm done. With the obvious exception of Cole Young, there are no disposable D-tier characters in this lineup. Every last character in this movie (with the possible and debatable exception of Jade) is an iconic fan-favorite pillar of the franchise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The unfortunate downside to this is that these characters are either done dirty and given short shrift, or the film has to twist itself into knots making sure every character gets their due. In the worst case scenario, it’s the worst of both. Case in point: The filmmakers went to exorbitant extremes looking for a way to get Scorpion involved (played once again by Hiroyuki Sanada), and he doesn’t come in until the third freaking act!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes, I get that this is Mortal Kombat. If you don’t want to see your favorite character getting curb-stomped into oblivion within minutes of showing up, this isn’t your franchise. Even so, it’s disturbing to see Kung Lao (Max Huang) so brutally and quickly killed off in two movies straight. Worst of all, Liu Kang (Ludi Lin) — who, remember, is supposed to be the primary hero of this entire franchise — gets abruptly played off in a way that’s pathetically, laughably embarrassing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, what about the positives? Well, the fight scenes are all entertaining. And yes, of course the fatalities we get are all spectacular. But honestly, I was more impressed with the fight scene that ended with a character wobbling in place until the winner simply let the loser fall down. Just like in the games!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The camerawork and editing still aren’t quite where they should be, but they’re noticeably better than the previous film, to be sure. The fight choreography is impressive all around, nicely utilizing the moves from the games and the heightened nature of the setting. Hell, I even got a kick out of the fight sequence we saw in “Uncaged Fury”, a delectable slice of “so-bad-it’s-good” action schlock.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking of which, there’s the matter of Karl Urban’s take on Johnny Cage. Traditionally, this character is played as a puffed-up jerk, a wisecracking shitheel who takes himself way, way<\/span> too seriously so we can all laugh when he gets his teeth punched in. That’s not what we get this time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes, this portrayal of Johnny Cage is a self-absorbed coward nowhere near as talented as his stunt doubles. But here’s the thing: He’s right up front about all of that. He’s not just a loser, he’s a guy who’s been told he’s a loser so many times over so many years until he finally and sincerely believes it. Yes, I know a lot of fans are pissed off about the change. And yes, that takes a lot of enjoyment out of watching Johnny get his ass kicked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But honestly, I think it makes the character more interesting. I know MK has never been a franchise that wanted or needed heart, but this new angle develops themes of courage and redemption that work well in the greater context. Most importantly, Urban is a strong enough actor that he can still find the wisecracking humor and schadenfreude inherent to the character of the games. It’s a bit diluted, sure, but it’s there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alas, I was rather disappointed that the iconic relationship between Johnny Cage and Sonya Blade (Jessica McNamee) wasn’t really there. Although Sonya is the one Earthrealm fighter who sees potential in Johnny and she’s consistently there trying to get him back on his feet, without ever compromising her military no-nonsense attitude or giving up her own independence in the plot. This leaves the possibility that a romance between them could blossom at a more natural pace without the incessant bickering between them in the source material, which would be nice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oh, and the iconic Liu Kang\/Kitana romance is never even hinted at. Chalk it up as another way in which these filmmakers did not give Liu Kang anywhere near his due. Then again, it was always kind of a tragic romance that was doomed to never go anywhere, so I guess that isn’t so much of a loss.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And then we have Jade (Tati Gabrielle), the most pleasantly surprising character in this cast. (Yes, I know the MK fans are all pissed off that she’s bald for no reason, but it’s a valid artistic choice. Get over it.) While Jade is technically Kitana’s bodyguard and martial arts instructor, the two of them grew up together and they’re sisters in every way that matters. Most importantly, Gabrielle and Rudolph have enough chemistry to instantly sell the surrogate sisterhood between them, and Mileena isn’t around to complicate matters even further because she got killed off in the previous film.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The point being that Jade is a wild card. She’s torn between her loyalties to Shao Kahn and to Kitana (who is of course secretly plotting against the tyrant who killed her father and conquered her homeland). In a series that hinges on strictly binary good\/bad morality, it’s refreshing and useful to have a character who could go either way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kano fills that role as well, because of course the filmmakers had to bring back the breakout star of the previous film. Yes, Josh Lawson still plays the character as a crude, self-absorbed asshole who speaks exclusively in hilarious and irreverent one-liners (another reason why toning down that aspect of Johnny Cage was a good idea). And yes, Kano did sell out his Earthrealm compatriots in the previous film. On the other hand, Shao Kahn’s takeover of Earthrealm is now an imminent threat. And Kano may not like that, depending on how he feels about Shao Kahn and Earthrealm. The guy’s a loose cannon, and we wouldn’t want him any other way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I could say that Mortal Kombat II<\/em> is better than the previous film (and it is), but that wouldn’t be saying much. I could say that Mortal Kombat II<\/em> is the best cinematic adaptation of the franchise to date (and it is), but that wouldn’t be saying much either. Because in the final analysis, this movie — as with this entire film series, and the greater multimedia franchise as a whole — is at odds with itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The lore of the games is simply too damn big to sufficiently do justice in any other medium. If this picture had given Sindel and Mileena their proper due within the context of Kitana’s story, there wouldn’t have been any room in a two-hour film for anything else. And given how Bi Han and Scorpion are established in this movie, hell if I know how we’re ever getting Kuai Liang or any other iteration of Sub-Zero, never mind Sektor or Cyrax.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More importantly, the ending of this movie makes it perfectly clear that the filmmakers’ priorities are in keeping all the franchise’s iconic characters alive and healthy and marketable. In a franchise that hinges solely on watching them die in brutal fashion. The filmmakers are desperately trying to tell a story in this universe like it has any kind of depth, as if death has any serious meaning, and they can’t do that if they keep insisting on bringing the characters back just to kill them repeatedly. (Again, Kung Lao…)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The bottom line here is that this whole setting was built over decades of trial and error across 12 mainline games and counting. The setting was so minutely tailored to work as a series of video games that it can’t work in any other medium. And we know this, because the PTB have already tried adapting Mortal Kombat across live-action films, animated films, TV series, and freaking webisodes, and none of them nailed it. (No, not even the 1995 film. Fuck outta here with that PG-13 rating and those soulless zombies cosplaying as Scorpion\/Sub-Zero.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I know a third film has already been greenlit, and it can only be a failure. If this is the best that anyone can do in adapting MK to the screen, we should all quit this and cut our losses now.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bloody<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":734,"featured_media":13637,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[5138,3678,5140,3674,5135,3675,3677,432,2717,2384,3680,3682,2339,5141],"class_list":["post-13632","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-adeline-rudolph","tag-chin-han","tag-damon-harriman","tag-hiroyuki-sanada","tag-jessica-mcnamee","tag-joe-taslim","tag-josh-lawson","tag-karl-urban","tag-lewis-tan","tag-ludi-lin","tag-mehcad-brooks","tag-mortal-kombat","tag-tadanobu-asano","tag-tati-gabrielle"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/moviecuriosities.fmuk.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/PXL_20260512_020128261-scaled-e1778551566289.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3uOb3-3xS","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/moviecuriosities.fmuk.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13632","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/moviecuriosities.fmuk.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/moviecuriosities.fmuk.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moviecuriosities.fmuk.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/734"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moviecuriosities.fmuk.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13632"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/moviecuriosities.fmuk.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13632\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13638,"href":"https:\/\/moviecuriosities.fmuk.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13632\/revisions\/13638"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moviecuriosities.fmuk.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/13637"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/moviecuriosities.fmuk.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13632"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moviecuriosities.fmuk.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13632"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moviecuriosities.fmuk.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13632"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}