Mortal Kombat II

by Mike McGranaghan

I never really played the Mortal Kombat video games but the appeal - aside from the ultra-gory fights to the death - seems obvious: the characters. No matter what your personality type, you can find a fighter to fit it. The game has been transferred to the big screen before, once in 1995 and again in 2021. Mortal Kombat II is a sequel to the latter. It contains the same sort of mindless, violent mayhem as its predecessor. Not an insult.

Karl Urban plays Johnny Cage, a washed-up '90s action movie star in the vein of Jean-Claude Van Damme. He's brought into another realm to help a squad of specially powered fighters prevent a tyrant named Shao Kahn from obtaining a magical amulet that will give him immortality. Cage initially wants no part of this, given that he lacks the powers of his colleagues. A sense of duty eventually takes over, prodding him to enter the battle.

Thank goodness this movie has a sense of humor. The fight scenes are hardcore, but the overall tone is tongue-in-cheek. Urban earns several big laughs as he plays on Cage's ego, which is easily punctured by the menacing foes he keeps encountering. That includes a muscular figure with more teeth than a shark. The actor also delivers humorously sarcastic dialogue to perfection. The other performers largely get buried beneath the visual effects, so they don't make nearly as strong an impression.

Mortal Kombat II's brawling sequences are imaginatively staged. Particularly impressive is the one where a guy who shoots fire from his hands takes on an opponent with a hat that doubles as a saw. The payoff to that fight alone earns the picture its R rating. Stunt choreography and cool weapons meld together to give each fight a distinct personality. That's smart, considering half the story is made up of fights. If they were all similar, we'd grow bored.

This is a minor thing yet still worth saying: I appreciate the use of color here. Many CGI-heavy movies rely on that dull gray-and-brown look. Director Simon McQuoid makes sure to give the various realms significant hue. Even the locations that are inherently dark have bursts of color to liven them up. The heroes' powers are similarly infused with color. Having a bright visual scheme allows the carnage to feel more cartoonish, despite the graphic nature. In other words, the gross images are more comically exaggerated than disgusting.

Mortal Kombat II doesn’t exactly have what you’d call a decent plot. To the extent that there is a plot, it’s merely an excuse to string together the battles. And let’s be honest - that’s what people are coming for. To expect actual substance would be foolish. The fights are cool and the humor hits a lot of the time, so MK II is a fun, if forgettable piece of action cinema.