Mortal Kombat II Review: Video Game Movies Should Be Better Than This By Now

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As a movie fan, it’s wild to see how far video game adaptations have come! For years, they were considered almost guaranteed failures, even ‘cursed,’ but now they’re becoming a huge deal in Hollywood. Last year’s Minecraft Movie really proved that, becoming a massive hit. Now, every major studio is planning a big game-based movie for 2026 – Universal’s got another Super Mario film, Sony’s doing Resident Evil, Paramount is tackling Street Fighter, and Warner Bros. is finally releasing their project that was delayed from last year. And that’s just the beginning! There are tons more in development, so we’re going to be seeing a lot more of these films in the next few years – which means it’s really important they’re actually good!

For a long time, movies based on video games had a reputation for being bad, but that’s starting to change thanks to successes like the Sonic the Hedgehog movies and Exit 8. However, Mortal Kombat II shows that making a good video game movie is still difficult. This sequel is Warner Bros. and director Simon McQuoid’s second attempt, and they’ve tried to learn from the mistakes of the first Mortal Kombat film from 2021, which wasn’t very well received but seemed better because most video game movies are generally poor. This time, they’ve focused more on the actual Mortal Kombat tournament and reduced the role of Cole Young, a character created specifically for the first movie.

The improvement is slight. Mortal Kombat II is incredibly fast-paced, but feels directionless, oddly both emphasizing and hurrying through its story. It’s similar to The Super Mario Bros. Movie in this regard, though without that film’s excuse of being made for children. Any fun to be had from the inconsistent action is undermined by a sense that the filmmakers themselves weren’t fully invested. Even when they knew what they should do, the creators frustratingly held back. The movie is most successful when it’s self-aware and doesn’t take itself too seriously.

Mortal Kombat II’s Greatest Sin Is Not Believing In Its Premise (Again)

While keen to jump into the tournament and move past the backstory of the first movie, Mortal Kombat II first introduces us to two central characters. Kitana (Adeline Rudolph) is a powerful fighter from Outworld, but she has a hidden past – she was once a princess of Edenia, a realm that suffered the same fate as Earthrealm. She was raised by the ruthless Shao Khan (Martyn Ford) to be one of his top warriors, but she secretly questions her loyalty to the man who killed her father.

Johnny Cage, played by Karl Urban, isn’t ready for the challenges ahead. After the events of Mortal Kombat, Earthrealm needs a new champion, and Cage – a former action star whose fame has faded to convention circuit appearances – is the unlikely choice. He hasn’t had time to train, and even with Lord Raiden’s (Tadanobu Asano) magic, he struggles to believe any of this is actually happening. However, Cage was once a gifted martial artist, and he’ll have to rediscover those skills if he wants to help save the world.

The setup feels rushed and a bit strange, even funny at times. The movie doesn’t want to rehash the plot from the first one, but it also seems worried we’ve forgotten things, so it constantly reminds us who each character is and what they do – including their special abilities. It reminded me a little of the awkward character introductions in the 2016 Suicide Squad, and that’s not a good sign. Ultimately, the main point is simple: the Mortal Kombat tournament between Earthrealm and Outworld is starting, and if Earth loses, everything is lost.

The simple idea behind this movie should have been a good thing. Many action and sports films have shown that you can create excitement just from a series of competitions. However, the filmmakers behind this Mortal Kombat movie seem to think the tournament format isn’t engaging enough on its own. After quickly getting through the first part of the tournament, Mortal Kombat II starts to focus on a plot by Outworld to give Shao Khan an amulet stolen from Lord Raiden’s temple, making him nearly invincible. This leads to side quests and battles that soon take over the main tournament entirely.

Fans who were hoping for a tournament-focused story might be let down by this direction, and the film’s claim that Mortal Kombat III won’t involve a tournament could even feel like a deliberate snub. More importantly, though, this highlights a bigger problem: the fights are treated as pure spectacle. While the stunts, effects, and creative finishing moves are fun to watch, truly great action movies use fights to tell the story. Mortal Kombat II doesn’t do this; each fight feels isolated, like a break from the plot instead of a natural part of it. As a result, the action often feels pointless beyond simply determining who wins.

The filmmakers made a smart choice by focusing on the introductions of Kitana and Johnny. The fight scenes are most effective when we care about the characters involved, and these two are the only ones with developed storylines connected to those fights. The movie’s humor works well, building on the successful comedic style of Kano from the first Mortal Kombat film, though sometimes it feels a little forced. The director would have been better off embracing the playful, over-the-top nature of the game, instead of trying for a serious, world-saving plot like the first movie, as he clearly excels at the lighter tone. Unfortunately, Mortal Kombat II doesn’t fully commit to this approach.

I’m hoping that if Mortal Kombat III gets made into a movie, someone will finally create a good adaptation of the franchise. More importantly, I hope the studio realizes they can’t keep making movies with this level of quality. Eventually, video game movies will need to be much better to succeed.

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2026-05-06 19:11