Mortal Kombat is a goofy-ass video game. Sure, there was a loose story of warlords from realms and monsters from hell, but it all served as a stable lattice for the meat of this fighting game, being its brutal chunks. I didn’t plunk down fistfuls of quarters at the Mortal Kombat II arcade of my local Shakey’s because I deeply cared whether my fighter would save the imprisoned Kano and Sonya from the warlord Shao Kahn. I fed the cabinet for the chance to see a head severed, a skeleton ripped out of a mouth, or the more absurd finishing moves of Animality, Babality, and Friendship. Mortal Kombat II, the movie, brought back that intoxicating thrill of a game, making for one of the most tonally faithful video game adaptations while still being its own movie.

Even though this is a sequel to 2021’s Mortal Kombat, you won’t need to rewatch it to grasp the story, and not just because there’s a decent amount of flashbacks. In fact, it might be beneficial given that there actually is a fighting tournament and a more charismatic martial artist introduced to the realm-ruling tournament. Karl Urban brings some brashness to the role of Johnny Cage, a washed-up action actor chosen for the games. He’s told about the battle for Earth from the wise/electric Raiden (Tadanobu Asano) and the focused soldier Sonya (Jessica McNamee), but is more inclined to give the middle finger and march back to the bar. Johnny knows he is no match for fighters that can shoot fire like Liu Kang (Ludi Lin) or deliver sonic blasts like Queen Sindel (Ana Thu Nguyen). But this is a Mortal Kombat movie, and someone like Johnny Cage doesn’t have a choice. I didn’t blow three dollars’ worth of tokens on you back in the day so you could just walk out of a Mortal Kombat movie, Johnny!

But the film is still an ensemble piece and manages to add depth to the characters on both sides of the realm. We get to see the backstory of Kitana (Adeline Rudolph), a princess warrior forced to serve the villainous and masked Shao Khan (Martyn Ford) after he conquered her realm and murdered her father. So when she starts fighting against the Earth realm, there’s some tension about whether or not she’ll use those sharp fans to slice up the competition or end up a fatality. The majority of the fighters have motivations that extend beyond seeing how hard a hammer can crush a skull, even if it’s mostly revenge for the fallen and redemption for betrayals. With so many characters staged as more than meat for the gore fest, there’s just enough balance to not get tired of Kitana’s retaking the throne, Liu Kang’s guilt over the Kung Lao, or Kano’s survival via mutual interests.

While the bulk of the ensemble performs well in the fight choreography and absurd dialogue, the crucial component of this picture is Johnny Cage, and not just because of Urban’s gruff performance or for delivering essential, snarky comedic remarks. His brazen, blunt manner grounds the picture in relatability while preventing it from drowning in its own video-game citations. The games were never that serious, so why should this film treat with white-face necromancers (Damon Herriman) and dead warriors who shoot chains from their palms (Hiroyuki Sanada) with such stern seriousness? Sometimes you need to point out the ridiculousness in order to make Kitana’s vengeful quest more fulfilling than her just being one more bloodthirsty player hiding behind a mask. Adeline Rudolph thankfully takes off that mask for some exciting moments of scaling roofs, leaping through the air, and chopping up body parts like a butcher.

Everything about this sequel has more personality, including the fights. As a huge improvement over the previous picture’s empty arenas, this movie features battles with great use of the environment, ranging from a pit of acid to a village of straw-and-bone huts. Even for scenes that replicate the linear framing of the video games, there’s more at stake in these fights with dialogue that extends beyond grunts and the expectant “Finish Him!” The jumping from locations to arcs amid all the brutality makes for a rather fun buffet of the most gruesome, fantastical violence, never overstuffing on the lore or the amusing pop culture references. Is the talk of thrones, realms, and elder gods stupid? Absolutely, but it never slows down and always cracks a decent joke about it before you have time to get tired of the game-accurate outfits and special moves.

Mortal Kombat II pulls off just the right moves for a video game movie that is equal parts fun, faithful, and filled with fatalities. It still has all the stuff from the Mortal Kombat games, but it never relies on you recognizing the final stage setting to appreciate the daring climax. Scenes of Johnny Cage versus Baraka are more entertaining in their staging than just a series of punches leading to the inevitable finishing move (I dare not spoil its brilliance here). There’s a fusion of the dumb enthusiasm from the 1995 film and the gory craft of the 2021 reboot, combining to make this an ideal dose of dumb, grotesque fun. It’s the best kind of Mortal Kombat, Techno Syndrome theme song and all.

Not available on any streaming platforms.

Source: