Mortal Kombat 2 Movie Review: A 1D Fighting Game Adaptation

Few films get a do-over. If it doesn’t resonate with audiences or, really, if it doesn’t make enough money, then the odds of a sequel are slim to none. But Mortal Kombat entered the cinematic world – for its second go-round – at a unique time. The pandemic was keeping audiences out of theaters, and HBO Max was a great alternate landing spot for many of WB’s premiere releases. Some might say Mortal Kombat didn’t get a fair shake, both in terms of its release and its quality, and now Mortal Kombat 2 is an opportunity to get things right.

Unfortunately, while Mortal Kombat 2 does fix a lot of the core adaptive problems that the first movie had, it fails to deliver on the most basic goal: to entertain. It struggles in entirely new ways, but ends up in the same place as its predecessor. Fans will find reasons to enjoy the fight scenes and the characters; however, the film only shows flashes of promise. The story is haphazard at best, the characters are almost all one-dimensional, and it’s only the action sequences that somewhat redeem an otherwise disappointing sequel. If you were looking for Mortal Kombat 2 to right the ship, sadly, the franchise looks just as adrift, only for completely different reasons.

Mortal Kombat 2 picks up shortly after the first film. Outworld is one tournament win away from taking dominion over Earth, whose champions are seeking out Johnny Cage (Karl Urban) to round out the squad. Cage, an aged action movie star, has no discernible fighting experience, yet he has been chosen to fight alongside the likes of Liu Kang, Jax, Sonya, and Cole Young. You might remember that Young was the “star” of the first MK, but he is mostly relegated to a side character here. Whether that’s an admission that the prior film missed the mark by creating its own character or just to prop up other fan favorites is unclear, but Cole Young is a non-factor in the film.

Although the tournament is a focus in Mortal Kombat 2, there’s more going on than just that. Shao Khan is up to some nasty business on the side, and Raiden is working to stop him. Kitana is playing both sides, but really, she’s with the good guys. And Scorpion is thrown in because, honestly, he was the best part of the first film. There isn’t much to say about the story in Mortal Kombat 2 because it is hardly memorable. The bar may be low when it comes to finding a narrative throughline for a Mortal Kombat movie, but I was hoping for something more engaging than this. NetherRealm Studios does a fantastic job crafting story campaigns for Mortal Kombat, and yet a feature film struggles to make you care about its characters or invest in its plot.

So much has been made of the addition of Johnny Cage, but it feels like Karl Urban was cast to be Karl Urban, not Johnny Cage. He doesn’t fit the role, outside of the fact that he vaguely looks like the character with sunglasses on. There is this reluctant hero quality to Johnny Cage’s arc but it’s both predictable and unearned. Even moments where Johnny Cage is supposed to finally realize his ability fall flat narratively and only work visually because we’re finally seeing some of the character’s classic MK moveset. We know that Urban can play the unlikeable anti-hero thanks to The Boys, but Mortal Kombat 2 struggles to make his redemptive arc believable. He’s not a great comedic relief either.

Shao Khan is a solid villain in the sense that he is imposing in the way you want him to be, but he feels unbeatable until the plot says he isn’t. Mortal Kombat has some juicy villains but Khan feels just as one-note as everyone else in the cast. Honestly, Kitana (Adeline Rudolph) is the only character who feels like they have a believable arc and who turns in a decent performance.

But that’s probably not why you’re here anyway. You want to see iconic characters clash and, in that regard, Mortal Kombat 2 doubles down on the fight sequences. You get proper tournament fights in some of the iconic arenas from the games, and you get those all-important moments of brutality as the fighters whale on each other. The problem is that there is a range in quality for these fights that stretches too wide to give the film that popcorn-level seal of approval.

There are a few fights – namely, a showdown between Liu Kang and Kung Lao, and a climactic scuffle that features Scorpion, Noob Saibot, Johnny Cage, Kano, and Jade – that are well choreographed and dynamic, while others are serviceable at best. Pointed moments of violence feel like a cheap reward for otherwise uninspired fisticuffs, where the best parts are seeing each character perform some game-related move. I can only watch Liu Kang shoot fire from his hands so many times before it loses its wow factor.

Mortal Kombat 2 is better than the first film, but it had a low bar to clear. I think some of the fights have that kinetic energy that represents the fighting game well, and getting to see cinematic interpretations of fatalities in all their gory glory is always a treat, but the film lacks that spark to make it exciting. Whether it’s the lack of characters you care about, or a story that feels engaging to follow, or maybe it’s the sequel’s attempts to fix its predecessor’s sins merely by doing the opposite of what they did wrong the first time. Whatever the case may be, Mortal Kombat 2 creates all-new problems of its own and once again doesn’t feel like a complete story.

If you’re going into Mortal Kombat 2 looking for a mindless 2 hours of some of your favorite MK fighters beating each other senseless, I would say that the film gets a passing grade. It does just enough to meet the lowest expectations, and, honestly, anything that doesn’t involve the tournament or is a prelude to a fight sequence is just plain stupid. I know Warner Bros has already commissioned a third one, and the film certainly sets up for more, but I don’t know if the series should continue. If this opportunity to course correct instead resulted in a film that finds its own way to fumble the property, it might be time to finish it.

Release Date

May 8, 2026

Runtime

116 Minutes

Director

Simon McQuoid

Writers

Jeremy Slater

Producers

E. Bennett Walsh, James Wan, Simon McQuoid, Toby Emmerich, Todd Garner

• 

• 

Pros & Cons

• Liu Kang vs Kung Lao
• Nods to the games

• Boring story
• Too many uninspired fights
• Characters lack depth