'Mortal Kombat II' Review: Over-the-top, Fast Paced, Fight Filled Adventure
- 2 hours ago
- 3 min read
By Jack Ransom - May 7, 2026
Finally arriving after a five year gap. Mortal Kombat II sees champions of the previous film — now joined by Johnny Cage (Karl Urban) himself — 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.
Honestly surprised it took this long for the follow-up to 2021’s hit reboot to arrive: the previous film still made more than its budget back within the COVID-era and smashed HBO Max streaming records. Originally intended to drop during the spooky season of last year, Warner Brothers then opted to bicycle kick the film into the pre-summer season of this year instead. This will certainly please fans more than the previous outing and commits more to the lore and scale of the franchise, however it still suffers from a ropey screenplay and varying quality visuals.
The plot is an utter mess, there’s no argument about it. The bones of it are simple for this genre: a mash-up of the round by round tournament structure of the game, coupled with a MacGuffin hunt and hero redemption journey. However, it bombards the viewer with characters, terminology and location hopping at whirlwind pace with no real time to breathe or become wholly invested in anybody (outside Johnny Cage & Kitana). Having played several of the games and seen the live action and animated film outings I knew what was being spouted, but for the casual viewer, as it was with Return to Silent Hill earlier this year, a lot of these nods will slice over their heads.
The film thankfully keeps 90% of its duration in the various locations away from Earth, which is a definite positive over its predecessor and showcases the bolstered budget. The costumes and make-up are fantastic (particularly for the toothy Baraka, hulking Shao Khan and ghoulish Quan-Chi), however the standout has to be the myriad of practical sets that immerse you in this world that smashes together influences from gothic, medieval, fantastical and outright horror, really great to see. Also, special shoutout to Johnny Cage’s introduction sequence - pure over-the-top 90’s excess captured perfectly.
From a directorial and stylistic standpoint the film does feature a lot of characters awkwardly standing together for dialogue beats (not the most dynamic cutting and blocking), however let’s be honest, the main question is… are the fights any good? There are a couple of huge grin-inducing brawls with great choreography: Liu Kang vs. Kung Lao being the highlight, alongside Johnny Cage’s riotous clash with Baraka, Sindel vs. Sonya Blade with a showcase of deadly arena spikes and of course Scorpion’s finale duel with Noob (Bi-Han). The gore is suitably splattery, and brutal and goofy as expected… in all honesty the dream is to get the team and choreographers behind The Raid & John Wick etc. to craft these brawls.
The returning players are still solid, once again Josh Lawson’s Kano steals his scenes and unfortunately Sinada and Taslim are barely utilised. Karl Urban’s charisma is cool and suitably cheesy as Johnny Cage, and he elevates a basic ‘fish-out-water’ plot type. Adeline Rudolph is a strong presence as Kitana and both Martyn Ford & CJ Bloomfield ham it up as Shao Khan & Baraka respectively. Unfortunately the dialogue heavily relies on pop culture references and Marvel-esque puns which very much range in hit or miss ratio.
Mortal Kombat II is an over-the-top, fast paced, fight filled adventure packed with blood and crowd pleasing moments. The practical sets, props and costumes are highlights and the brawls are fittingly gory. However, the plot is a jumpy, messy and not particularly engrossing journey and the dialogue is a very mixed bag.
'Mortal Kombat II' smashes its way onto cinema screens on May 8, 2026.
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