Directed by Simon McQuoid and written by Jeremy Slater (Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, Moon Knight), Mortal Kombat II is absolutely desperate for you to know it’s based on a video game. The roster’s massive, the gore is cranked up, and yes—Karl Urban finally shows up as Johnny Cage.
And yet, none of that actually helps.
Because underneath all the references and blood splatter, this is a pretty messy film. The plot’s all over the place, the characters barely register, the visuals look half-finished, and the fight scenes are a soulless slog.
The setup is simple enough: Earthrealm’s lost nine tournaments, and one more loss to Shao Kahn means game over. Raiden pulls together the usual suspects—Liu Kang, Sonya, Jax, Cole Young rope in washed-up actor Johnny Cage to help save the day.
There’s actually a decent idea buried in here somewhere, especially in the early stuff with Kitana and Shao Kahn. But the film doesn’t stick with anything long enough to make it matter. It just keeps jumping from subplot to subplot, character to character like it’s flicking through a checklist of “things fans will recognise”. You’ve got Tarkatans, revenants, rivalries, betrayals. Loads of it. None of it lands. It’s not that there’s too much story. It’s that none of it’s given a chance to breathe.
Karl Urban is clearly having a good time as Johnny Cage, and honestly, the film might’ve worked better if it had just centred on him. He’s got that smug, self-aware energy the rest of the film is lacking. But there isn’t really a main character here. The film keeps bouncing around so much that no one gets a proper arc. Adeline Rudolph tries to bring something to Kitana, but there’s not much on the page. Joe Taslim and Hiroyuki Sanada barely get a look in, which feels like a complete waste.
At least Josh Lawson seems to understand the assignment, he’s still the most entertaining thing here as Kano and had the audience howling with every line. The other characters however, barely make an impression. Even Cole Young, who was the lead last time, feels like a poor afterthought. There’s one genuinely good sequence, Liu Kang fighting Kung Lao, which actually has a bit of emotion behind it and looks like it belongs in this world. Then it’s back to slow, weightless, oddly dull action.
For a film that’s meant to be bigger and bolder, Mortal Kombat II often looks a bit ropey. Some of the sets are decent, but they’re buried under dodgy CGI and very obvious green screen work. It never quite sells the scale it’s going for. If you grew up with the games, there’s a bit of nostalgia to be had here. You’ll recognise names and locations etc.
Mortal Kombat II isn’t awful, but it is frustratingly disappointing. There’s a better version of this film in here somewhere. It’s just a shame we didn’t get to see it
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Mortal Kombat II is out in the UK & Ireland on Friday 8th of May.