Video game movies have a bad rep, and it’s well-earned. Even at their best, they’re often a little more than a bunch of homage-driven scenes loosely tied together in something carrying semblance of a plot, all in service of action sequences the audiences (hopefully) find familiar. And Mortal Kombat 2 is no different.
But it makes it work.
Because, really, anything Mortal Kombat should be accompanied by this sickest of themes.
The greatest strength of Mortal Kombat 2 is understanding where the weaknesses of its 2021 predecessor may have been. It doesn’t necessarily deal with them with the finesse one would expect from any form of writing, but this is the franchise known for things such as ‘Brutality’ and not Subtleality… which is also not a real word.
Fan service often is the beating pulse of adaptations and, when done well, it can do a lot to elevate a fan’s experience. Mortal Kombat 2 addressed that aspect well before the film was even released, with Karl Urban’s casting as Johnny Cage.
Cage’s absence in the first movie was a sore spot for many, with the fan favourite character often being perceived as the best outlet for the franchise’s well-known brand of tongue-in-cheek humour–yet another aspect noticeably missing from the initial film. But Mortal Kombat 2 more than makes up for both, addressing these well before the movie even released.
There is almost no restraint, from marketing to movie, with the use of Johnny Cage–but it pans out as must have been the hope.
To refer to anything in this movie as a “script” or “plot” would be generous, but Urban’s roguish charm and self-aware humour allow him to function as somewhat of a narrative backbone to a film which is otherwise a string of action scenes with cut scenes intermittently strewn throughout the near-120 minutes.
Not that that’s a bad thing. The Mortal Kombat franchise, while known for its excessive violence and over-the-top action, has always prided itself as an almost absurdist approach to satiring the beloved genres of the ‘80s. Mortal Kombat 2 leans into that, further so than its predecessor, and it works out.
Any internal logic is easily dismissed almost immediately after being introduced, keeping the focus on the titular Kombats. Interestingly, even though the exposition and re-introduction of the plot and all its devices follow Johnny Cage, the movie does a surprisingly deft job to maintain a balance between multiple characters.
While there are moments where it feels like the plot may have bitten off more than it can chew with the sheer number of characters (no surprise given the size of Mortal Kombat’s roster), and the script doesn’t always work, Mortal Kombat 2 is a surprisingly fun watch that doesn’t necessarily sacrifice much potential for the sake of action.
The movie also takes some bold choices with the selected characters, leaning into the few fan favourites and returning characters, without resorting to purely stunt-featuring cameos. The unexpected show of discipline also serves to keep the thin plot feeling more serviceable than exected.
It does, however, succumb to the modern trappings of today’s franchise-builders, but excels where many don’t. The movie ends with the blatant set-up for a sequel, but it is an element consistently built up throughout the story, and is a promising one for both premise and possibilities.
Mortal Kombat 2 is out now, so… get over there!
Sorry, it really couldn’t be helped.