Blood! Fatalities! One-Liners! Mortal Kombat is back and deadlier than ever!
Directed by: Simon McQuoid
Written by: Jeremy Slater
Starring: Karl Urban, Adeline Rudolph, Jessica McNamee
Rated R for strong bloody violence and gore, and language
Release Date: May 8, 2026
Runtime: 1:56
This review may contain spoilers
From Quarantine to the big screen
Man, I remember a few years back, waiting for this awesome-looking movie to come out, but of course, COVID happened and shut down the country, especially my movie theaters.
Goddamn sick people; coughing up my movie theater experience. How dare you!
Anyways, luckily we got Mortal Kombat released on HBO Max, and I watched it in the convenience of my apartment. I even made a movie review of it for college.
Fast-forward to the present – we are back in theaters, and I get to enjoy more senseless violence and fatalities on the big screen with my movie-appropriated popcorn bucket.
“It’s showtime!”
Shao Kahn (played by the monstrous Martyn Ford) is ready to wage war on our humble little world (we so popular), but first, he and his team must win ten consecutive bloody tournaments to be allowed to invade. This is the final tournament, and they are undefeated…
Washed-up actor Johnny Cage (Karl Urban, Amazon Prime’s The Boys) joins the roster of Earth’s heroes just as the first round begins. Along with the first movie’s Raiden, Sonya Blade, Liu Kang, Jax, and Cole Young, these fighters will go through round after round of brutal fights as well as a side quest to stop the bad guys from cheating and tipping the scales…
How was this not the first movie?
This sequel starts with the main tournament, which is weird for being the second movie. The first movie was more of a pre-game for the main event, which makes for a good introduction and build-up for everything. By the time the fighting begins, we already know most of the characters, and we only have a couple to learn about.
It’s just a weird feel. At least the last movie got most of the introductions out of the way, so there’s more time for fighting and fatalities (which is really the main reason we’re here)!
“Johnny FUCKING Cage”
Speaking of introductions, Karl Urban as Johnny Cage was a great inclusion. He’s funny and is really the best character for the audience to see the chaos of Mortal Kombat. He kept calling out the craziness around him and even throwing in pop culture references, like calling Raiden “Gandalf” (which is even funnier when you realize Urban was in Lord of the Rings).
And, of course, he does the signature “Nut Punch” move. It’s a classic!
“I really don’t feel comfortable hitting a girl”
Despite Johnny FUCKING Cage, Liu Kang, or even the last film’s protagonist, Cole Young, the movie is really centered on Kitana, played by Adeline Rudolph. A princess from a fallen kingdom (thanks to her now-adoptive father, Shao Kahn), Kitana is also a fighter with sharpened fans as weapons. She’s a serious element to the movie’s story and has a solid redemption by the end.
She also kicks ass!
“GET OVER HERE!”
Of course, I gotta talk about Scorpion, easily my favorite Mortal Kombat character, ever! Hiroyuki Sanada returns as the iconic undead ninja once Netherrealm (basically Hell) becomes involved with the Tournament. It’s another small role for Scorpion, but he’s still badass and gets a rematch with a fallen enemy, now reborn with newer shadowy powers.
In fact, almost all the dead fighters from the last movie make a sinister return. Borderline spoilers, I know, but I didn’t say who.
Arcana-ality
One major complaint from the last film (including mine) was that all MK fighters had this “arcana” that they had to unlock to use their special powers (fireballs, laser eyes, bigger mechanical arms, and an armored shirt). It was very… random and really didn’t make any sense.
Other fans didn’t like it either, and the sequel chose to ignore arcana entirely. In fact, the screenwriter Jeremy Slater said it’ll never be mentioned again.
Probably for the best…
From video games to film
Like the last film, the movie takes a lot of pages from the games, which is what we gaming fans want! Movie even has a fighter counter in the sky to show how many fighters are still active/alive.
Holy crap, they even have the stagger moment for one fighter at the end of the fight. You know it if you played the games. While you struggle to remember the buttons for a fatality, the defeated fighter wobbles back and forth until they collapse. They did it in the movie; that got a great laugh out of me!
Two very specific fighting locations from the game are shown: the blue portal and the acid pits. And they look right out of the game!
And the fighters actually use their signature moves. Not like it’s a super special moment, but using them as normal attacks against their enemies. Even Shao Kahn uses his bullshit spamming “Shadow Charge” attacks. God, I hated that move in the games.
And of course, the fatalities. You gotta have brutal fatalities in a Mortal Kombat movie, or it’s just a waste of time (looking at you, ‘90s Mortal Kombat). In II, we have face impalements, head squashing, bodies split down the middle, and someone left with deli slices where their face used to be. Even had a fake-out moment, and someone uses their enemy’s fatality on themselves.
I spot a cameo!
Ed Boon, the man behind the creation of the games, gets his own cameo in this sequel. Boon is also the legendary voice of Scorpion’s “GET OVER HERE!” both in the games and in movies.
Popcorn bucket
Suck it, scalpers; I got a popcorn bucket before you assholes swiped it for eBay prices. Finally! I didn’t get the Shao Kahn helmet one; too expensive and wouldn’t fit my head. But the silhouette one is pretty cool!
“FINISH HIM!”
Mortal Kombat II is still not a flawless victory, but it is still damn good. It’s a sequel that appeals to long-term fans without alienating new fans. It’s bloody, it’s violent, and it’s damn fun. The film even ends with the epic Mortal Kombat theme from the ‘90s for the credits, and it feels so, so right!
It’s open for a third one, and I’m all in for more! GIMME MORE KOMBAT!
Mortal Kombat II is currently playing in theaters.
