Dallas and Celeste just got back from seeing Mortal Kombat 2, and they have thoughts. The sequel brings Johnny Cage into the fold, raises the stakes with the actual tournament, and delivers some genuinely great fights and character moments. But does it stick the landing? Today on Comm Talk, Dallas and Celeste discuss the film with a spoiler-free section and a spoiler-filled section.

We Watched Mortal Kombat 2 – Comm Talk by Geek Devotions

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Dallas and Celeste just got back from seeing Mortal Kombat II, well, a couple days ago, and sat down to share their honest takes. One of them has been a fan since Sega Genesis cartridges in 1992. The other played the game once at a student’s birthday party and would rather use Splatoon to splat things with paint.

This is the direct sequel to the 2021 Mortal Kombat reboot, directed again by Simon McQuoid. Set right after the events of that first film, Mortal Kombat II picks up with the Earthrealm fighters being joined by Johnny Cage, the wisecracking action star played by Karl Urban, as the actual tournament against Outworld finally gets underway. Shao Kahn has his eye on conquering Earthrealm, five champions have to fight for it, and things get complicated fast.

The returning cast includes Lewis Tan as Cole Young, Jessica McNamee as Sonya Blade, Mehcad Brooks as Jax, Ludi Lin as Liu Kang, Hiroyuki Sanada as Scorpion, Joe Taslim as Sub-Zero, and Josh Lawson as Kano. New additions include Karl Urban as Johnny Cage, Adeline Rudolph as Kitana, Tati Gabrielle as Jade, and Martyn Ford as Shao Kahn.

Quick side note: if you want to know what our team of The Bottm Shelf thought about the original 1990s Mortal Kombat movies, head over to The Bottom Shelf, they reviewed both of those.

— SPOILER-FREE —

Going in without knowledge of the games is totally doable, but you should at minimum have seen the 2021 film. This one picks up right where it left off and doesn’t recap much.

The biggest complaint from both hosts? The first act feels rushed and clunky. There’s a chunk of story at the front of the movie that could have been stretched into a whole separate film, or at least handled with more breathing room. Dallas pointed out that the storytelling style feels like the recent Mortal Kombat games, MK 10, 11, and 1, where the narrative sprawls across four or five hours of gameplay. Cramming that into a single movie is a tough ask, and this one doesn’t quite pull it off early on.

The promotional material leans heavily on Johnny Cage, and the movie sort of does too, but Kitana’s storyline ends up carrying more of the actual emotional weight. That mismatch between marketing and movie is something both Dallas and Celeste picked up on.

Sonya Blade gets the short end of it. After decent character work in the first film, she winds up as little more than a plot device here, present mostly to move the story along. As Celeste put it, anything Sonya did in this movie could have been handed to any of the other characters.

Content note: this one earns its R rating. The blood, gore, and fatality-style violence are very much present, and they feel like a natural part of the franchise’s DNA rather than something shoehorned in for shock value. The language is there too, though Dallas noted there’s actually less swearing than you might expect, he’s seen PG-13 movies with rougher dialogue. Still, this is not a kids’ movie, full stop.

Where the film really finds its footing is acts two and three. The fight choreography improves noticeably, the story gets more engaging, and by the time the credits rolled, Dallas was ready to go back and replay Mortal Kombat 1 (the 2023 game).

The costume designs are strong across the board, and fans of the games will find plenty of Easter eggs and callbacks woven throughout. Keep your eyes open.

Bottom line, spoiler-free: this is a popcorn movie. Fun, loud, good-looking action. Celeste compared it to the Expendables in spirit — you don’t watch it for the storytelling, you watch it because people are going to hit each other very hard and it’s enjoyable to see. Go in with that expectation and you’ll have a good time.

QUICK TAKES

What Works

  • The fights get noticeably better as the movie goes on
  • Kitana’s storyline is genuinely strong
  • Costume designs are great
  • Tons of Easter eggs for franchise fans
  • Karl Urban does solid work as Johnny Cage

What Doesn’t:

  • First act feels rushed and poorly paced
  • Sonya Blade is reduced to a plot device
  • The marketing sets up the wrong expectations
  • Cole Young’s arc wraps up in an unsatisfying way

SPOILERS BELOW
Stop here if you haven’t seen the film yet.

Johnny Cage and Karl Urban. Urban does solid work with this version of the character. This Johnny is a bit different from his game counterpart, less insufferably cocky, more of a washed-up action star who still has something to prove. Dallas said he actually prefers this movie version over the video game one, which is saying something. The problem isn’t Urban’s performance; it’s the script’s setup for him. The front half keeps trying to make us root for Johnny before we have a real reason to, and it doesn’t quite land. Once the film stops forcing the audience’s affection and lets him develop naturally, particularly when he ends up as the unlikely champion of a certain group who sees him as a great warrior, he works a lot better.

See our devotion on Johnny’s Transformation

Cole Young seems to have been written out. Lewis Tan’s Cole Young, the new character from the first film who caught a lot of fan heat for sidelining Liu Kang, is essentially written out of this one early. He gets into a fight with Shao Kahn and is obliterated. Celeste suspects this may not have been the original plan, and that Cole’s exit was at least partly a response to fan backlash. She thinks Cole could have been a genuinely interesting character with more room to grow. Instead, he’s gone, and his exit is abrupt.

Kitana’s storyline. This is where the movie shines. Her backstory, her family ruled a realm, they lost the Mortal Kombat tournament, Shao Kahn took over and killed her father, then raised her as a captive ward, is compelling and handled well. Celeste compared it to a darker version of the Gamora/Thanos dynamic from the Marvel films. The complexity of Kitana’s relationship with Shao Kahn gives the film its best dramatic material, and it deserved more of the spotlight than the marketing gave it.

Kano doesn’t stay dead. He’s resurrected, which neither host was thrilled about. His arc goes from the first film’s antagonistic-but-useful guy, to full villain, to, after resurrection, a reluctant almost-good-guy who decides Earthrealm winning is in his personal interest because he likes his creature comforts. Dallas made the fair point that this actually fits Kano’s character. He’s selfish and self-centered, so of course he’d flip the moment his lifestyle was threatened.

Jax is also gone. Mehcad Brooks’s Jax is killed off, which Celeste found genuinely disappointing, she enjoyed the banter of this character. At the end of the film, the surviving heroes are heading into the Netherrealm (essentially the underworld of the MK universe) to bring their fallen friends back. This echoes the storytelling from the later games, particularly the transition from MK 10 into MK 11. Whether Cole comes back is an open question, given that the circumstances of his death were notably different from the others.

Mileena never shows up. Dallas kept waiting for Mileena to appear, Kitana’s clone, or depending on the game’s timeline, her sister. She’s absent, which was a mild disappointment. It does set something up for a potential third film, since the franchise is reportedly being developed as a trilogy.

The bigger picture on storytelling. Dallas has been playing through the Mortal Kombat 1 game lately and has been struck by how good that game’s narrative is. His take: the movie feels like it’s trying to do the same kind of storytelling, but the games have four or five hours to do it and a movie has under two. The idea that Mortal Kombat might work better as a prestige streaming series came up, something like what the old Mortal Kombat: Legacy web series was doing. The world is rich enough for it. The films keep trying to cram too much in.

Hot take of the episode. Dallas has been playing Street Fighter 6 a lot lately, and he raised this: why doesn’t Street Fighter have an overarching story mode the way Mortal Kombat does? He loves Street Fighter’s aesthetic and character designs but wants that MK-style narrative depth. His dream is a game that combines Street Fighter’s look with Mortal Kombat’s storytelling. Some have told him Street Fighter V has a decent story mode so he plans to check out Street Fighter V down the road to see how its story mode holds up by comparison.

FINAL WORD

Mortal Kombat II gets better the longer it runs. The first act is a stumble, the character management is uneven, and the film never quite figures out who its main character is supposed to be. But Kitana’s story is strong, Karl Urban does good work, the fights are fun, and by the time the credits roll, at least one of your hosts wanted to go replay the video game. That’s a good sign.

If you love the franchise, go see it. If you enjoyed the 2021 film, this is worth your time. If you’re completely new to Mortal Kombat, watch the first one first, and know going in that this is a popcorn action movie, not a character drama.

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