Mortal Kombat II: Review

Is it wise to let the middle-aged, depressed animal out of his Cage?

From back alley brawls in mystical locations to Cage matches in the sand. Mortal Kombat II is full of everything fans of the games could want, mostly. If you’re not a fan of the games though, well, let's have you sit on the sidelines for this review. We will be discussing this film with full spoilers, this is your warning to click away.

Immediately, I was skeptical about going into this film. I love Karl Urban; always have and probably always will. The trailers for this looked really fun and somewhat accurate to the source material. The original Paul W.S. Anderson film from 1995 is one of my personal all time favorite movies and that follows essentially the same plot as this movie. So, you may be wondering why I was somewhat hesitant then. Well, that’s because the previous installment in Simon McQuoid’s rebooted Mortal Kombat universe simply wasn't very good. It tried to tell the story of the tournament but it had been centered around a completely original character that felt devoid of all the charm that the games have come to be known for. Thankfully, this film does a good job at remedying that, but I’ll save that for later. Without further ado, let’s dive fist first into the flesh and bones of this brutal, bloody, downright bombastic thrill ride of a time.

The movie opens in the past with young Kitana and King Jerrod sharing a touching moment in the hall of their castle. This happens moments before the King would have to fight in Mortal Kombat against Shao Khan, the Emperor of Outworld. Right away the audience gets a feel of how the rest of the movie is going to play out with a fantastic brawl between these two characters leaving the King a tattered, lifeless husk as Shao Kahn stands victorious taking over Edenia. Showing a young Kitana crying over her father's corpse as the title cards appears was absolutely splendid for a cold open. The movie wastes no time at all in introducing everyone's favorite, Johnny Cage, right after the title card fades. Thus, setting up the rest of the narrative to follow suit.

There’s so much about this movie that I love, so let's focus on that for a bit. The biggest positive I have for this film is just how much fun it was. Not to mention how accurate, either. There was never a dull moment that left me checking my watch. From the get go all the way to the last scroll of the credits, you will be thoroughly entertained. This, however, is coming from a life long fan of the games that grew up playing them. If I had been someone who’s not a fan of the source, this could’ve been a doozy to get through. Spotting the easter eggs and seeing all of the fun member berries left me with an appreciation for the creative team that the first film hadn’t. Even the IMAX camera was used creatively. At the start of the Liu Kang vs Baraka bout it went from wide screen to full screen to mimic how a round in the previous few game installments would start. Even something as little as that goes to show just how much care went into making this a movie for the fans. 

The acting on display was fun from all performers. I could tell that Josh Lawson who portrays Kano was having an absolute blast spewing pot shot insults at everything he could whenever the opportunity would arise. And if one didn’t? He’d do it anyway but deliver it with such charm and charisma that you can’t help but laugh. Now that’s not all on his own, however; I felt the writing in general was a massive upgrade from 2021’s Mortal Kombat. It’s unanimous that the weakest part of that was Lewis Tan’s character Cole Young. As mentioned earlier, the writers remedied his weak writing by giving him an unwinnable fight in the tournament. He gets his comeuppance by taking a brutal overhead hammer slam by Shao Kahn straight to his noggin leaving his head a splattered, gooey mess. Afterwards the mighty Kahn simply pushes Cole’s body into an acid pit using his warhammer as if Cole had become a piece of dirt stuck to his broom, truly making it all the better. Karl Urban as Johnny Cage didn’t really work in the beginning for me. It wasn’t until Earthrealm’s champions took a trip to the Tarkatan village that he won me over. 

The soundtrack, albeit devoid of one very specific song, still did its best to hold its own. While I had wanted to hear The Immortals’ “Techno Syndrome” in its original glory over a stunning fight. Instead we get teased by hearing bits and pieces strung along here and there throughout some of them. It isn’t until the credits roll that we get to hear it in all its glory. It’s a wonderfully done remix by Olivier Adams (One half of the original duo). However, I do believe the original is still unrivaled and simply a cut above. 

The creative team did a fantastic job at delivering a grand spectacle making efficient use of the IMAX technology to truly enhance my experience in ways that not even [James] Cameron managed to accomplish with Avatar: Fire and Ash. If Hollywood manages to keep this up, they may have finally won me over to fully love the “IMAX Experience”. Rounding out this review, we here at Mid-Tier Critiques rate Mortal Kombat II an electrifying 9/10. This is a movie I’ll gladly return to when life gets hectic and I need a fun escape.