Mortal Kombat II - An Even Bigger Adaptation of Popular Violent Martial Arts Game

As fans of martial arts movie, I would definitely not want to miss this one. But somehow on the day of its release, the film did not play in my favorite cinema to go to if I want to see blockbuster movies. So I ended up only seeing this yesterday with my wife. Without further ado, here's more on the film.

Brief Story Line

After the events of the first film, the remaining fighters from Earthrealm Cole Young (Lewis Tan - Wildcat, Wu Assassins TV series etc), Liu Kang (Ludi Lin - Aquaman, Kung Fu TV series etc), Jax (Mehcad Brooks -  A Fall From Grace, Law & Order TV series etc) and Sonya Blade (Jessica McNamee - CHiPs 2017 movie, Sirens TV series etc) were missing another person to compete with the Outworld. Together with Lord Raiden (Tadanobu Asano -  Kate, The Outsider etc),  Sonya tried to recruit washed up action actor Johnny Cage (Karl Urban - The Bluff, Thor: Ragnarok etc) which proved to be difficult as he did not want to risk his life even if he might not be able to avoid the tournament.

Meanwhile Shao Kahn (Martyn Ford - Red Sonja, Those About to Die TV series etc) assigned his adoptive daughter Kitana (Adeline Rudolph - Hellboy: The Crooked Man, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina TV series etc) and her bodyguard/trainer Jade (Tati Gabrielle - Kaleidoscope mini series, Uncharted etc) while resurrecting Kung Lao (Stuntman Max Huang) to fight for Outworld. With the lives of everyone at stake, the Earthrealm fighters had to do whatever they could to win despite the poor odds, especially since Shao Kahn used amulet to make himself immortal. 

So how would the story conclude? You could find out in the movie.

End of Brief Story Line

Well that was still as entertaining as the original movie, especially since I was able to see this in a studio with very large screen and Dolby Atmos system that provide wonderful experience. My wife and I did not get the chance to see the first film in theater as it was during pandemic. Anyway there was not a lot to say about this one except it was really something for fans of the video game. Aside from Cole Young, this time the movie added and focused only on characters from the game.

Story wise it did not have any real depth, which was fine as its not the main point. The backstory of Kitana and Johnny Cage was sufficient to understand them and interesting enough to kept us invested. But then again, what we were looking for was the brutal fight scenes and in this part the film still delivered. And supported by pretty awesome special effects, the fights became really enjoyable to see. This time every fight was entertaining with signature moves (and tagline) were shown which brought the nostalgic feelings to my wife who is bigger fan of the game compared to me.

Aside from the ones I mentioned above, most of the cast from original movie reprised their roles such as Josh Lawson (Woody Woodpecker Goes to Camp, St. Denis Medical TV serie etc) as Kano, Chin Han (American Born Chinese TV series, 2012 etc) as Shang Tsung, Hiroyuki Sanada (Shogun 2024 TV series, Bullet Train etc) as Hanzo Hasashi/Scorpion and Joe Taslim (Warrior TV series, Star Trek Beyond etc) as Bi-han/Sub-zero. There were also new characters like Kitana's father King Jerrod (Desmond Chiam - With Love TV series etc), his wife Queen Sindel (Ana Thu Nguyen - Primitive War etc), Quan Chi (Damon Herriman - Justified TV series etc) and Baraka (CJ Bloomfield - Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga etc). Btw what set this sequel apart from the first one was the humor which was provided by Johnny Cage (Karl Urban did great here) in addition to Kano's still comical moments.

For a film with duration of 116 minutes including closing credit, this one was more than enough to satisfy fans of the game and martial arts fantasy genre. There was no mid or post end credit scene but the part before the end was clearly intended to tease for another sequel. From what I read, the third film was already in development, so I would not worry it would not happen, especially with news that it's performing well in term of Box Office. Even critics were quite impressed too with a quite respectable score (even if it's not universally acclaimed). The film itself still directed by Simon McQuoid but now written by Jeremy Slater (head writer of Moon Knight mini series, co-writer of Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire etc).

Overall this was an entertaining martial arts film which should satisfy fans of the game. Even without knowledge of it, the film would still be enjoyable for those looking for brutal & violent well choreographed one on one fights. So if you are in the mood for attributes that I mentioned, I think you are going to be entertained by this movie just like my wife and I did. But if you prefer something with deeper story or characters development, then this might not be to your liking.

Mike's movie moments rating: 3.75 out of 5 stars