The Reel Review
Fighters from the Earthrealm are back in a deadly tournament against the villains of the Outworld, in this sequel to the 2021 action/fantasy film based on the popular 1990s video game. Karl Urban (Pete’s Dragon, the most recent Star Trek film reboot) joins the group of returning castmembers/characters as fan favorite Johnny Cage, along with a couple of new additions – Adeline Rudolph as Kitana and Tati Gabrielle as her bodyguard Jade, in this fantasy action/adventure.
Like its predecessor, Mortal Kombat 2 is filled with fan pleasing one-liners from the video game and a handful of truly gnarly kills. And although its visual effects are solid enough for its presumed bloodthirsty fanbase of teenage boys, unlike its surprisingly entertaining predecessor, this sequel makes the mistake of trying to fill the rest of the two hours with an actual story. It’s a boring, predictable, paint-by-numbers affair – the death knell for a purported fantasy action movie.
The return of Josh Lawson (St. Denis Medical, House of Lies) as wisecracking fighter Kano (back from the dead after the 2021 film) provides a bit of much needed comic relief, but it’s nowhere near enough to make this dull, dreary slog of a film worth watching. In the words of game, maybe its time to “finish him.”
REEL FACTS
• With more than 100 million games sold worldwide, The Mortal Kombat videogame franchise is one of highest-grossing media franchises of all time.
• Karl Urban’s son Indy plays the young Johnny Cage in the flashback of Cage winning a karate tournament.
• Adeline Rudolph and Tati Gabrielle portrayed two of the three Weird Sisters in the 2018 supernatural horror series Chilling Adventures of Sabrina.
Video & Photo
