The Movie: Mortal Kombat II
The Director: Simon McQuoid
The Cast: Karl Urban, Adeline Rudolph, Jessica McNamee, Josh Lawson, Ludi Lin, Mehcad Brooks, Tati Gabrielle, Lewis Tan, Damon Herriman, Chin Han, Tadanobu Asano, Joe Taslim, Hiroyuki Sanada
The Story: The fan favorite champions -- now joined by Johnny Cage himself -- are pitted against one another in the ultimate battle to defeat the dark rule of Shao Kahn that threatens the very existence of the Earthrealm and its defenders.
The Rating: 7 / 10
The Review:
Sometimes, you just want a movie that's nothing but fun times and doesn't make you think too much. This is one of those movies and I have to say it was way more entertaining than I ever thought it was going to be or probably ever deserved to be. Mortal Kombat is one of the biggest video game franchises in history so the movie adaptations needed to be done in a way that honors that heritage while also having it's own style with a fresh take on the history and lore.
After I had left the theater, I overheard two guys talking about how a couple plot details didn't make sense and why didn't a primary character just do this other thing instead of what they did in the movie. And that's exactly what I'm talking about, please don't put too much thought into the hows and whys of the story, just kick back and be ready for those brutal finishing moves we're all here to see. Yes, the movie has plenty of action, tons of great fights, and more than a couple applause inducing final kills. I'll even say that my jaw was hitting the floor during some of the kills and the whole audience was right there with me.
Sure the genre has turned a corner the last several years with more than a few bangers but there's still plenty of movies that just don't match the vibe or energy that we're looking for from these properties. I think that's why I enjoyed this movie so much, it just sits right in that lane I was hoping for with lots of great action paired up with comedic self awareness and no worries about every line of dialog and every bit of story telling fitting perfectly into some sort of canonized narrative.
One of the highlights of the movie is just how all in Karl Urban is in playing Johnny "F**king" Cage in a way that brings some much needed campiness and comedy to the otherwise dark tone of the story. There's a lot to keep track of with all the different characters so it's nice to know that even the creators aren't taking any of it more seriously than they need to which I think is where a lot of video game adaptations drop the ball. There are so many different storylines, a lot of which carry over from the first movie but none of it is too heavy and it's still pretty easy to follow so no worries there.
With a roster full of heavy hitter names like Joe Taslim, Hiroyuki Sanada, Lewis Tan, and Tadanobu Asano to go along with Urban, Adeline Rudolph, Tati Gabriele, and Jessica McNamee, it's hard not to be in awe of all the talent on screen. Oh, and speaking of the more comedic side of the movie, Josh Lawson, as Kano, has so many great lines, it's just one after another during every moment he has on screen. Prepare yourself for some legit laugh out loud moments to go along with all the clapping and cheering you'll be doing throughout the whole movie.
I mentioned earlier that the look of the movie is pretty dark visually which does fit the aesthetic of the video games so nothing wrong in that department. That being said, this definitely is not a cartoony, color explosion type of movie and it's not supposed to be so just wait for Street Fighter to come out if that's what you're looking for. No shade, I'm looking forward to that one, too. For now, bring all your friends to the theater, get a big bucket of popcorn with your favorite beverage, and just enjoy the heck out of this movie.
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