Gamers have been OD-ing on the brutal action force of the Mortal Kombat (MK) games for 30-plus years now. You know you love your MK references when the word 'Fatality!' triggers an intensely cool reaction.
Perhaps it was the breed of MK fiends that added fuel to the Final Destination movies, after all, the Mortal Kombat games showed generations how cool creative mutilation could be. In MK’s one-on-one fighting format, the victory never felt complete without a super cool ‘Fatality’ move as the finisher. The latest movie in this cult franchise, Mortal Kombat 2 gets many things wrong, but the one thing that it gets absolutely bang on is the Fatality sequences. They’re murderous, bloody, creatively grimace inducing and it will turn the fans into ancient Roman Colosseum spectators, baying for more kills, more blood.
The second most gratifying part of MK2 is Johnny ‘Fucking’ Cage and Karl Urban’s casting in the role. The ethos of Johnny Cage adopting the ‘Fucking’ moniker, as he’s forced to enter the Mortal Kombat tournament, is part of the reason why this film’s premise works out. Here’s a run-of-the-mill actor, an action movie star, who has to suddenly drop his choreographed stunt life and actually fight martial arts legends, monsters and gods. He’s way out of the league, has no special powers, and is as powerless as Batman in a fist-fight with Superman and Darkseid. But, he’s got the charisma and the good looks to make things work. And in MK2, Karl Urban shows us that his comic timing is the reason why he’s become a household name with previous projects like The Boys and Star Trek and Dredd.
Urban’s Cage, when paired with the antics of Kano, played by Josh Lawson, turns MK2 into an absolute laugh riot. Action films need a soul, a sense of underlying drama that allows the action and ‘cool’ choreography to become relatable. In this film, where the brutal fights and gore-heavy fatalities shock you, Cage and Kano’s humour delivers on the much-needed soft entertainment. Both Kano and Cage have certified, hilarious one-liners that must not be missed.
Director Simon McQuoid returns after the 2021 Mortal Kombat film and it seems like all his decisions are now firmly rooted in the fan-driven approach. He understands everything that excites MK fans and he serves it with aplomb in the second film. The 2021 MK movie was also built on the fan-service model, but it kept a firm focus on the face-off between Scorpion and Sub Zero characters. In the sequel, there’s equal effort put into every character of the franchise. Starting from Princess Kitana, to the main antagonist Shao Kahn. Even Liu Kang, Kung Lao, Sonya, Jax, Jade get their individual cool moments. Whether it’s Shang Tsung, Quan Chi, Sindel or Raiden, Cole Young and Baraka, every character gets the right amount of screentime and the right amount of screenwriting depth to make an impact. MK2 is that rare, action romp, where not a single character gets wasted because of cinematic liberty. Do watch out for the iconic fight between Liu Kang and Kung Lao, it will give you goosebumps.
Hiroyuki Sanada’s extended cameo is as thrilling as the theme song (Techno Syndrome by The Immortals). If you’ve grown up playing the game, this movie will please you to no end. If you’re just the average action movie buff, this one has the set pieces and the thrills to engage. Of course, the effort of relentless fan service comes at the cost of logic and cinematic liberty at times. But the film never quite takes itself seriously. It stays committed to being a fun experience. This is not great cinema. But if you’re the target audience, MK2 is perfect fan service.