Film Review: Mortal Kombat II

  

Sexuality/Nudity Mature

Violence Mature

Vulgarity Mature

Anti-Catholic Philosophy Acceptable

Sometimes a movie doesn't try to me more than it is and that is okay.

And sometimes a movie sequel takes audience feedback and uses it to improve.  And that's even better.

This is the case with Mortal Kombat II.

The previous film in the franchise came out during the weird post-COVID era when movies were being platformed on streaming and in theaters.  For that reason, I never got a real handle on how popular that movie was.  In my original review I remember thinking that the final act was too gory and that they made a massive mistake in ruining their best character, Kano (Josh Lawson).  Many other people found the main character Cole (Lewis Tan) a bit generic, but I had not problem with him.

To my great surprise, the sequel is an improvement on the first.

This time the movie centers on two characters.  The first is Johnny Cage (Karl Urban), a washed-up 1990's action star full of regret and cynicism.  But for some reason, he has been chosen to participate in the final Mortal Kombat for the fate of earth realm against the forces of Shao Kahn (Martyn Ford).  He wants nothing to do with all of this mystical violence, but is reluctantly drawn into the fray.  The other main character is Kitana (Adeline Rudolph), whose father was killed by Shao Kahn in the previous Mortal Kombat and now so now has become's Kahn's adopted heir.  However, she secretly works as a double agent for Raiden (Tadanobu Asano) to help the heroes of Earth survive.  So Cole, Johnny Cage, Sonya Blade (Jessica McNamee), Jax Briggs (Mehcad Brooks), and Liu Kang (Ludi Lin) must face off against Kahn's forces, including Kitana, her bodyguard Jade (Tati Gabrielle), and some resurected characters from the first film.

Like I said, this movie doesn't try to be more than it is.  It isn't trying to be a deep meditation on heroism and violence.  It just wants to offer you a good time.  

And a good time is what I had.

The main reason for this was because of Johnny Cage and (the resurrected) Kano.  Urban is fantastic in everything he does and this is no exception.  There is a weariness to him that boarders on exacerbation.  He is not ready, not prepared, and is constantly overwhelmed by the craziness around him.  I like that they made Cage and older person in this movie.  It taps into that feeling that we get as we age where the world we knew sort of passes us by and the modern world is strange and unfamiliar.  I feel this way whenever my students try to explain the latest TikTok trend and my old brain cannot comprehend.  The movie actually plays into this early where Johnny is sitting alone at his table at a comic con while social media influencers are mobbed by fans.  It doesn't make sense to him and it doesn't make sense to me.  Because of this, he delivers some great one liners and gives the movie a nice touch of cynical humor at everything.  But he is not a one-note comic relief.  Part of his journey it to rediscover his self-worth and heroism that is buried under all of that wasted potential.  There is an actual heart beating in this character that you root for to come out and win the day.

But the real scene-stealer is Kano.  Every time he comes onto the screen Lawson knocks it out of the park.  He plays his character with such an odd enthusiasm that is both evil and innocent.  I laughed more at his scenes than I do in most theatrical comedies.  When he is resurrected, it is asked why isn't a mind-controlled zombie like the others.  Quan Chi (Damon Herriman), the necromancer, says that Kano had so little soul in his life that there was nothing there to control.  Hearing this, Kano beams with pride and shouts, "Loophole!"  In the hands of another actor, almost all of this would have fallen flat.  But Lawson knocks it out of the park with every line.  I'm not kidding when I saw he is at the top of my list of Best Supporting Actor this year.  Comedic performances are almost always overlooked but Lawson carries every scene.

The other performances are decent, straightforward, and earnest, but most don't really stand out.  This is unfortunate because the other half of the emotional engine of this movie is Rudolph's Kitana, and she isn't able to get you as invested as Urban.  She isn't even able to get to the level of charisma of the original Liu Kang (Robin Shou) from the very first Mortal Kombat, who had a similar roll to fill in that story: the earnest chosen one. Hiroyuki Sandada returns as Hanzo/Scorpion, and he brings some much-needed gravitas to the nearly cartoonish entertainment.  CJ Bloomfield also has a surprisingly good turn as the monstrous Baraka whose fight with Johnny Cage is a highlight of the film.

Director Simon McQuoid should be commended for taking what he did in the first film and improving on it.  The fight sequences are generally better and world-building is better than the original.  The script by Jeremy Slater delivers a more straightforward story than the first, but he has a few twists and turns that I did not see coming.  I remember at one character death, my wife sitting next to me actually gasped in shock.  In a traditionally by-the-numbers sequel like this, that isn't an easy thing to do.  But Slater seems to get the characters and gives them each a moment to shine.

Like the original, the movie is a bit too gory, but it did not bother me as much in this film as in the last.  The vulgarity is through the roof, especially with Cage and Kano, but it is done with great comedic effect.  As I said before the movie's biggest problem is that it divides the weight of the narrative between Johnny and Kitana, but only one really succeeds in doing the heavy lifting.

If the violence and vulgarity are things that offend you, I would avoid this movie.  But even so, there are some good messages about heroism and redemption.  As milquetoast as most of the other heroes are, there is something admirable about their heroism.  Cole tells Johnny early on that he is stepping up to fight even though he knows he may never see his family again.  Johnny has to slowly learn this lesson over the course of the movie through failure after failure.  But in the end, he discovers that the most important part of being a hero is simply standing up to the danger.  I know that sounds overly simple and cheesy, but for this movie it works.

The movie is primed to become a trilogy.  I don't know if that is in the cards.  But with the characters that we have established in this movie, and if the series continues to improve, I am definitely in for another round of Mortal Kombat.