Review of Mortal Kombat II

What did you Expect? 

Fans of the fighting game rejoice. A new bloody sequel to one of the previous MK films. I never got into the fighting game or the previous films. They were corny, silly and only occasionally engaging. But I remain an avid gamer and must commend another attempt to adapt films from the medium of games, not that it ever seems to result in good art. 

Clearly, this is another example of Hollywood’s lack of original ideas. Perhaps they don’t lack ideas, but are only afraid to depart from the dependable technique of relying on recognizable IPs with built-in audiences.

I played Mortal Kombat a handful of times and cannot comment on this movie’s game or character accuracy. Actually, it seems inaccurate from what I remember of the games. But who cares about the storyline when you’re playing a fighting game? People come to these films for cartoonish gore and action. Bloody, fatality-laden combat gets some people rushing to the theater. And this movie gives you all the fighting you could want, drenched in buckets of blood.

The story is little more than an excuse for the fighting. Without set-up, we’re dropped into a tournament that will decide the fate of the entire earth. Color me surprised. If our heroes lose, the evil Shao Kahn from Outworld can claim Earth for his own. Blah blah. If they win, we all live to fight another day. Of course, we wouldn’t get anything in return if we won, which is like saying ‘shut up, you’re not going to win, the odds are obviously impossibly stacked against you. That’s it. It never gets more involved than that.

Our main characters are Kitana and Johnny Cage. Both have “character arcs” that are as thin as could be. I hope you brushed up on your game character quotations because there will be references to them. Because that’s important in a film franchise of this caliber. Kitana must avenge her father and a fallen realm; Johnny Cage must realize he’s more than a guy who plays a hero on TV. If that sounds like a familiar premise, then perhaps it is.

The writing, if it wasn’t done by an AI, seems competent at times, inept at others. The scenes where Johnny Cage – who is a mix of Nick Cage and any generic action hero – are humorous when they aren’t cringeworthy. We see him hop over a bazooka missile as if he were playing hopfrog. And the missile then hits a helicopter, which explodes behind him. (Reminder, he was standing on the ground and the helicopter was flying). 

Multiple times the movie just tells you what’s going on, what the relationships of the characters are, and why we should care. Your brain is not something you’ll need to bring to this film. There is literally a moment when one character says “this isn’t my story” and vanishes from the film in a fireball. No set-up, no explanation, just sequel bait.

When the dialogue isn’t wooden it’s functional. If only it weren’t so wooden, it wouldn’t hurt so much when they are beating you over the head with some world-building guideline. A few laughs will be had, but throughout, my eyes were rolling of their own volition. It makes the same mistake Ralph Breaks the Internet made and goes for meme culture and current cultural relevance, meaning in T-minus 300 days no one will get the jokes. The acting isn’t much better. The whole thing feels like a fan fic that is being performed by top-tier cosplayers.

On a directing level, there are odd cuts, unexplained things happening in frame, and unflattering, uninspired shot composition.

But the fighting will satisfy most fans of the action genre. Every time a fight started, it was a relief from the slog of characters running around on fetch quests or whimpering or whatever. The fights are well-choreographed and CGI-rich. The extended cuts were well-utilized and they thankfully left the shaky cam in the trunk. The battles feel visceral and allow the viewers to follow the martial arts. The incorporation of old characters felt more forced than interesting. I’m sure they did some training and some of these people know how to fight in real life, but mostly, it’s a bunch of CGI humanoids clobbering one another. Go figure. 

The butchery of the kills defies rational explanation. Most fights end with fatalities from the game, and they pull no punches. The movie is highly inappropriate for young children, but it does set you up for its tone and spectacular fights in the first scene, so you know what you’re getting into. There were plenty of children in the theater absorbing the violence greedily in case you were wondering.

The only real problem with the combat is that they undercut it with necromancy. For a series called Mortal Kombat, the direness of each fight is destroyed when you can just resurrect anyone as long as their head is intact.

There are many video games you play for the deep well of storytelling, characterization or emotion they provide. The recent God of War series gives you a thoughtful look at a man trying to be better than his nature. Metal Gear Solid 3 draws a tear each time I defeat the last boss, Nier: Automatya makes me think about the nature of my own humanity. Mortal Kombat games  laughs at those trite concepts, then rips out their spine and proudly displays the grim trophy to a flawless victory screen. No one has ever come to Mortal Kombat for anything other than the bloody, over-the-top spectacle. Do you want anything other than combat? Go see anything else playing in the movie theater. If that’s what you want, then get over here and watch it.