Since the release of the first film Mortal Kombat in 1995, five sequels have been created: Mortal Kombat Annihilation (1997), Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion’s Revenge (2020), Mortal Kombat (2021), Mortal Kombat Legends: Battle of the Realms (2021), and Mortal Kombat Legends: Snow Blind (2022).
Be warned, they are all pretty bad, and even though the 2021 live-action reboot was a step in the right direction for fans of the classic games from the 1990s, it nonetheless confirmed that video game adaptations remain Hollywood’s Achilles’ heel. Many may point to recent adaptations of Minecraft and Super Mario as box office hits, but big numbers do not equate to quality. And Mortal Kombat II will not be the film to break the curse.
The film picks up where the 2021 reboot left off, which surprisingly did not even feature a real combat tournament and switches main protagonists from Cole Young (Lewis Tan) to Kitana (Adeline Rudolph) and Johnny Cage (Karl Urban). She is a princess from a mystical realm enslaved by the evil ruler of Outworld, Shao Kahn (Martyn Ford); he is a washed-up action movie star, who is hesitant and quick with the “f-bombs.”
Kahn and his warriors have won nine tournaments against Earth’s champions; a tenth would mean game over for the planet. Let the games begin… Oh, and there’s also a mystical amulet that takes up a good chunk of the film and disrupts the pace.
If your idea of a good movie night involves a convoluted plot with one-dimensional characters happily brawling, then Mortal Kombat II offers its share of guilty pleasure. The action scenes, although heavily edited, are graphically violent and somewhat enjoyable, featuring fireballs, razor-edged hats, and Blue Portals leading to some creative fatalities.
While Urban’s Johnny Cage is clearly “deadpoolized,” what drags down MKII is the director Simon McQuoid and writer Jeremy Slater’s inability to find a stable balance between constant humor and R-rated gore. The resulting tonal dissonance turns it into a noisy and disposable madhouse…which is, in essence, exactly what one can expect from a new Mortal Kombat film.
Flawless victory? Far from it. And some of the creators know it. Producer Todd Garner has already taken aim at some of the initial – negative – reviews of the film.
On social media, Garner wrote: “Some of these reviews make me laugh out loud. It is clear that they have never played the game and have no idea what the fans want or ANY of the rules / canon of Mortal Kombat. One critic was furious because a guy had a laser eye! Why on earth are people who don’t like this genre still allowed to critique these films? Stunning.”
He hammered the point home in multiple responses, repeatedly asserting that the film was “made for the fans” rather than the critics.
Ah, the old argument that because a film is “for the fans,” it automatically invalidates critics’ reviews.
Mr. Garner, if critics are critics, it’s precisely because they are fans. If bad reviews unsettle you, then either you don’t read them, change your profession, toughen up, or accept that when you release a film into the world, it’s normal, expected, and legitimate for cinema critics to give their opinion. The diversity of opinions is a wonderful thing. Some critics will enjoy MKII; others will say that if you want better reviews, you need to make better films.
Mortal Kombat II is currently in theaters.
