Notable Cast: Karl Urban, Adeline Rudolph, Ludi Lin,
Jessica McNamee, Lewis Tan, Josh Lawson, Martyn Ford, Mehcad Brooks, Tati
Gabrielle, Max Huang, Damon Herriman, Chin Han, Tadanobu Asano, Hiroyuki
Sanada, Joe Taslim, CJ Bloomfield, Ana Thu Nguyen
I think it's fair, for a film that essentially starts
immediately where the last one left off, that I, also, start my review of Mortal
Kombat II by quoting the last line of my review for Mortal Kombat (2021).
“With its open ending and intention for more films in its writing and
development, let’s hope that the next installment doesn’t hesitate to just lean
into the absurdity. I’d give my heart (and spine) to that.”
So, in the spirit of good sportsmanship, here is what (rips
out heart) I owe (rips out spine) to you, Simon McQuoid, and his
team of truly insane filmmakers that crafted this sequel. You absolutely knew
what your homework was, did the due diligence, and made the best Mortal Kombat
film yet. Mortal Kombat II manages to be more of EVERYTHING than its
predecessor. More plot, more characters, more fights, more catchphrases, more -
more - more, and most importantly - it's more FUN. It’s a film that leans
further into the absurdity - and lore - of the decades-spanning video game
franchise, and it’s all the better for it. For some, maybe it’s too much. For
me, it’s the kind of insane blockbuster entertainment that I wanted - and then
some.
While Mortal Kombat II essentially picks up right
after its predecessor, it does have to lay some groundwork for its two new
characters, who will drive the narrative. Up first is Kitana, played by Adeline
Rudolph, who the six people who saw Hellboy: The Crooked Man might
remember, and the film uses her plot as its driving force. You see, her father
was killed by the new big bad of the film, Shao Kahn, and her mother was
enslaved, and she has spent her life training with her bodyguard, Jade,
preparing to kill him. She has partnered up with Raiden, once again played by
Tadanobu Asano, to be the mole in Outworld as the Mortal Kombat tournament is
set to begin. She carries most of the film's emotional weight, and, truly, it’s
her story that drives most of the dramatic heft, which is surprisingly potent.
Kitana has always been a fascinating character from the games, too, so it's a
smart move to focus on her for the sequel. Plus, she’s got fans. Like as
weapons. That’s cool too.
The other new character, teased at the end of the original
and the focus of the marketing, is Johnny Cage, played by the always reliable
Karl Urban. Urban really nails the entire forgotten action star from Hollywood
who runs the convention circuit with a lot of fun pop culture references and a
bit of that showboating arrogance that he can occasionally tap into, and he
gives the film the biggest character arc for an audience to follow. Since the
audience for the film will mostly be 30- to 40-year-old males (myself
included), having both Karl Urban and Johnny Cage as key new roles makes a lot
of sense. And while the film perhaps follows too many predictable ‘reluctant hero steps up to the challenge and finds the fight in his heart again’ stereotypes to be truly captivating, he serves as the audience surrogate more than anyone else and also delivers most of the film’s humor.
From there, it’s basically a Mortal Kombat film. Good
guys team up, get called into various fights against bad guys, violence ensues,
big spectacle kills and powers add colorful dynamics to the visuals, and you’re
either going to buy in or not. The biggest obstacles come mostly from
addressing the fan concerns from the first film. The film sidelines the new
hero from the last film, Cole Young, and desperately tries to find ways to
bring back fan favorites. Considering they added the necromancer Quan Chi to
the mix, in a surprisingly limited role considering how much of a key part of
the games he becomes, they are able to bring people back from the dead. Does it
make sense to bring back Kano, played by Josh Lawson? Not plot-wise, but in
terms of entertainment, hell yeah. It feels like it's more of a stretch to get
Scorpion, played by Hiroyuki Sanada, and Bi Han, played by Joe Taslim as Noob
Saibot instead of Sub-Zero, back to fighting each other, but again, why not?
Let’s have some characters go to the hellscape of Netherrealm on some kind of
fetch quest and get another ninja fight. It’s Mortal Kombat. In fact,
let’s have Bi Han split into multiple selves, and Scorpion do some
breakdance-influenced spin moves with his blades to cut some feet. To quote
Johnny Cage, it’s showtime.
While the story trims fat and gives its audience what it wants, the biggest improvement is simply the action. While the action in the first film was impressive, this one outdoes it in almost every facet. From using the game-inspired ‘stages’ as environmental obstacles or death traps, to how the characters use their powers (which they blissfully just kind of side-step the entire plot device of characters having to develop them from the last one), Mortal Kombat II ups the violence and fun choreography. Sure, most of the film spends its time with spectacle rather than traditional martial arts - sans the fantastic Liu Kang versus Kung Lao fight - which manages to blend both to be the best fight in the film, it’s still entertaining, and the action director is finding highly fun ways to use its characters and game mechanics. Shao Kahn’s hammer feels brutal, Johnny Cage gets to have some fun playing cat and mouse with the monstrous and spiky Baraka, and the film isn’t afraid to kill off far more of the heroes to add some stakes to the matter. Some characters still get sidelined a bit too much, including Raiden, who does get to deliver the best punch line of the film when Shang Tsung says “You should be dead,” and Raiden pops off with “...and you should be running,” but the balance is much better here, and the teases for Mortal Kombat 3 are well earned.
Mortal Kombat II still feels too CGI-heavy at times;
its script does feel a tad rushed as it's adding in more lore for new
characters and teasing new plot threads for possible future sequels, but it's
hard to deny that this one isn’t just an improvement on the last one, but the
film that perhaps gets the balance and appeal of the games the best. It’s silly
when it needs to be, apocalyptically dramatic in spurts, but ultimately it's a
film that litters its landscape with instantly recognizable characters (and
actors who understand the assignment), slathers everything in highly
fantastized ultra-violence, and kicks the entertainment value to 11.
Considering how many games and characters that further films can draw from, enough that they had to reboot the damn thing by calling the latest game Mortal Kombat 1, there’s plenty of space for this franchise to go. It’s a shame that the box office for Mortal Kombat II was a tad
underwhelming, but I highly doubt it's enough to claim ‘Fatality.’ Not when
this one is such a rousing success in adapting the material. As Johnny learns
in the film, it’s all about perspective. And I’m choosing a positive
one.
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