Ah, “Get Over Here!” and “There is no knowledge that is not power” are back to strike! All the character shticks with pink energy pulses and buzzsaw sombreros unite!
Yes, it’s a reverent depiction of the characters we adored once playing the video games, and now they’re back onscreen to beat the **** out of each other. Perhaps it was ill-fated to claim the 2021 predecessor did not merit a follow-up, as clunky dialogue and tedious direction hurt its prospects. This time around, everyone said, “screw it, let’s just waive our abilities at one another until the blood pours endlessly.” What better way to depict such ferocity than having a discount Darth Vader (hey, if the movie has time to make pop culture references, we shall too!) known as Shao Kahn (Martyn Ford) trudge around in his beastly looking presentation and maim every champion of Earth to claim dominion over all the realms.
Yes, the plot nosedives into the tale of Kahn killing the father of Kitana (Adeline Rudolph), who is raised under Kahn’s tutelage and trains alongside a sister-like friend, Jade (Tati Gabrielle). However, on the other side of the VHS tape, we jump into our tale of meeting Johnny Cage (Karl Urban), a former 90s action star, but now dwelling away in conventions after a bygone era. But, he’s tapped to become an Earthrealm fighter despite having no magical abilities and getting introduced to the team helmed by Lord Raiden (Tadanobu Asano). Therefore, it’s Johnny’s destiny, despite initial dubiousness, to prevail with his team, or the Earth will become lost to Kahn.
Urban is definitely felicitous for the circumstances, bringing a meta-ironic performance that draws inspiration from Don Johnson and Chuck Norris. He nails it with a buffoon presentation, albeit hackneyed. And the film gets great props for giving Rudolph some finesse in her chase for redemption. The action beats are so nutty and ludicrous that the whole point is to sit back and enjoy the bloody spectacle, and it’s a measure of how this sequel gets one over on its predecessor when most of the duration was muted and tedious.
Unfortunately, despite the step up in the primary characters and action, the story beats are monotonously woeful, the same ol’ back from five years ago. It’s as if director Simon McQuoid and writer Jeremy Slater don’t care about character development or storytelling, since it’s combat that’s punched up in such vigorous ways, while the exposition is otherwise grating. All dead and revived flying bodies and fury and jargony world-building, propped up by a sludgy excuse for a story. Hell, one could even argue that it self-referentially diminishes its own output, pulling a Terminator: Dark Fate stunt at one point, rendering the predecessor meaningless.
If audiences should have fun with the characters trying to save the world from a beast and his Voldemort-like “reviving opponents” sidekick (funnily enough, the film does make this Harry Potter reference, too), does it matter if they get mauled or not? Maybe this writer would be more inclined to say it’s awesome to have Hiroyuji Sanada’s Scorpion make a return to kick butt, but it is eerily reminiscent of a Star Wars gig (no, we ain’t no The Rise of Skywalker in here, yet).
Anyway, Mortal Kombat II hits the mark with a slight bit more force, but it is still subject to the “video game curse” issues that plague other like-minded motion pictures. Perhaps it is enough to warrant a showtime if you’re riding along for the nonstop action, much like if you picked up the controller at home.
