Mortal Kombat 2 (Movie Review)

Ever since Johnny Cage was teased at the end of the 2021 reboot of Mortal Kombat, I was instantly sold on its sequel's promise of a bigger roster of fighters with a proper tournament for them to fight in. And my excitement only continued to grow after Karl Urban was cast as the fan-favorite character. But following the announcement that the movie was to be delayed from its October 2025 release date, that excitement took a significant hit. Not enough to keep the film out of my list of most anticipated movies for 2026, though, and now that it is out in cinemas, was it worth the wait, or are you better off waiting for it to drop on HBO Max?

The film opens with the evil Outworld emperor, Shao Kahn, seeking to take over the realm of Edenia, as a young Kitana watches as her father, King Jerrod, is slain by him in a one-on-one battle. Soon after, she is taken under his wing and trained to be one of his assassins along with her adoptive sister, Jade. Meanwhile, the remaining Earthrealm champions are in need of an additional fighter in order to face the Outworld champions in the forthcoming Mortal Kombat tournament. Except their chosen champion, Johnny Cage, is a washed-up Hollywood action star with a flair for high kicks and cheesy one-liners.

Coming out of the previous Mortal Kombat movie, my biggest grievance was its failure to depict the tournament alluded to by its title, like the one we got in the 1995 film. The whole thing basically felt like setup for that tournament, and the decision to center the plot around an original character didn't exactly help matters. So I was glad to see that the filmmakers had been listening to all that feedback because the sequel certainly feels like a direct response to those criticisms. From the very first trailer, it was clear that they had crafted a movie worthy of the Mortal Kombat name.

What was less clear, though, were the dark and murky visuals evident from the Netherrealm scenes shown in those trailers. And as you can imagine, this was compounded by the lack of brightness on the screen in my specific screening of the movie. So much so that I found myself struggling to tell what was going on half the time. From what I did manage to see, it appeared that the fight choreography was still top-notch, much like the first film. The cinematography was likewise great, really capturing the kinetic flow and essence of the fights in the video game.

Speaking of fights, we of course have to talk about the blood and gore. This is Mortal Kombat after all, a series notorious for its pretty outrageous fatalities. Surprisingly, I got the feeling that some of the blood and gore had been pared back for this sequel, despite the film still retaining the same R rating as its predecessor. Maybe it's just me and my gorehound sensibilities but I really felt like I'd gotten more satisfaction from the fatalities in the first film. Either way, this is something worth keeping in mind before going in to see the movie.

Another aspect of the movie that left me peeved was how character deaths were handled. I don't want to get into spoilers for this review, but if you've seen the trailers, then you already know that some pretty significant deaths from the first film have been undone for this one. And the same treatment continues throughout, lending what could have been heartfelt character deaths a lack of finality. I recognize that this is carried over from the games, but it still ended up making the stakes feel lower than they should have.

On the plus side, that lack of finality meant we were able to get Josh Lawson back as Kano. He was the main highlight of the first movie, and he helped bring some much-needed levity here as well, considering how serious and dour the whole thing felt otherwise. I especially loved his interactions with Johnny Cage, even though those were few and far between. Karl Urban was also able to bring some measure of gravitas to Johnny. He didn't have anywhere near the same amount of charisma as he did as Billy Butcher in The Boys, but a part of me suspects his Australian accent does most of the heavy lifting in that role.

Mortal Kombat 2 delivers on its predecessor's promise of a gore-filled tournament but loses some of that film's overall charm. Regardless, fans of the games will be pleased to discover its faithful adaptation of the source material, borne from filmmakers that clearly know what their audience wants. So my hope for the series going forward is that the next installment once again finds that perfect balance between action and comedy without compromising on the blood and gore the franchise is known for.