Mortal Kombat II Movie Review – A Bloodier, Better Sequel From Simon McQuoid

In an ideal realm, we would have gotten Mortal Kombat II over six months ago on October 24 last year if it weren’t for Warner Bros. deciding the sequel was better off for a prime summer release, especially after the overwhelmingly positive trailer reaction. Fast forward to today, I hope the sequel improves upon the 2021 reboot, which was notoriously plagued by the ill-advised creative decision to introduce Lewis Tan’s Cole Young, a new character created specifically to serve as the… protagonist no one asked for. Not to mention director Simon McQuoid’s penchant for framing the otherwise violent action set pieces in ways that end up looking visually frenetic and, at times, incomprehensible.

Here’s the good news: McQuoid, who returns to the director’s chair for the second round, course-corrected the rebooted Mortal Kombat franchise by giving the fans what they want. His smartest move? Reducing Lewis Tan’s appearance significantly to a small role (thank god for that!), and I’m particularly happy to see what McQuoid has done to the character. With Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire’s Jeremy Slater taking over Greg Russo and Dave Callaham from the first movie instead, the movie wastes little time getting down to business right from the start.

And that is, watching the characters engage in a one-on-one fight, beginning with the gritty prologue of King Jerrod (Desmond Chiam) from Edenia challenging Shao Kahn (Martyn Ford), where the latter is looking to conquer the Earthrealm by defeating every opponent. One thing I notice during the subsequent bloody fight is that McQuoid finally gets it right when it comes to the action scene. The fight choreography has better visual clarity with its crisp and dynamic camerawork, while McQuoid holds the shot long enough to allow us to immerse ourselves in the characters’ martial arts moves and killing tactics.

Now, going back to the story, Slater’s screenplay focuses on Kitana (a stunning Adeline Rudolph), where her life as a warrior princess and her queen mother Sindel (Ana Thu Nguyen) are spared after the death of King Jerrod when the former was just a child. She has since served under Shao Kahn, where her arc looks as if she’s the heart and soul of this sequel. But the movie isn’t interested in telling the story strictly from her perspective, opting for covering more than one direction. This is where Karl Urban’s Johnny Cage comes in, serving as the second protagonist, who becomes a chosen one to fight in the Mortal Kombat tournament.

Casting Urban is the right move, as he understands how self-aware the whole thing is, particularly after he reluctantly agrees to join Lord Raiden (Tadanobu Asano) and Sonya Blade (Jessica McNamee) for the tournament. His fish-out-of-water character becomes the movie’s much-needed comic relief that balances with the doom-and-gloom, end-of-the-world storytelling. We see him questioning everything that he tries to make sense of, and his cynical, whatever-type of personality easily one of the best characters in Mortal Kombat II. He doesn’t just throw quips and jokes around, as we get to see him fight on numerous occasions, one of which involves his earlier battle against Kitana.

But it was the hand-to-hand combat between him and the monstrous, sharp-toothed Baraka (CJ Bloomfield) at one point, which got everyone excited and laughed the most during the press screening, mixing a stylish thrill of an action scene with sardonic humor. This may come across as a clash of different tones between Kitana’s solemn journey of seeking vengeance against Shao Kahn and Cage’s perplexing yet hilariously meta quest in fulfilling his destiny to save the world. I admit the clunkiness of the story does get in the way every now and then, while some scenes, such as the return of Hiroyuki Sanada’s Hanzo Hasashi/Scorpion and Joe Taslim’s Bi-Han, feel like a mere fan service.

But at least I still have fun watching Mortal Kombat II on the big screen. The IMAX presentation that I went to was incredible, with more fights on display. My personal favorite comes from Liu Kang (Ludi Lin) battling against the resurrected Kung Lao (Max Huang), showcasing their elaborate skills and powers. The Mortal Kombat video game is renowned for its graphic violence and, of course, the iconic fatalities. And here, this sequel has them in spades that continue to embrace the rebooted franchise’s R-rated territory.

Mortal Kombat II may have been far from a flawless victory, but looking at this purely as an action movie based on a tournament video game, it delivers the goods with enough special effects-laden fight scenes to keep the fans happy.

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