Mortal Kombat II: A Step in the Right Direction, but Still Not Quite Enough (4K)

The Film:

Five years ago, Warner Bros. attempted to reboot the "Mortal Kombat" film series with a new cast & creative team, the result of which was a rather misguided take on the material that got bogged down in training montages and seemed to forget that there was supposed to be a tournament involved. However, that only ended up being part of the film's problems as its release was delayed a few months due to COVID, eventually getting released when theaters were still struggling to get back to normal, and ultimately resulting in a lower-than-expected box office.

A few years later, despite the under-performance of the first film, they opted to go forward with a sequel, simply called "Mortal Kombat II," in the hopes that the previous film's disappointing box office was merely a result of the pandemic, even going so far as to increase the budget by a rather substantial margin. With Simon McQuoid once again at the helm, and screenwriter Jeremy Slater taking over for Greg Russo & David Callaham, will the sequel be able to put right what the 2021 film got wrong, or will this merely be another instance where the filmmakers fumble the material?

The film begins with a quick flashback in which Shao Kahn (Martyn Ford), Emperor of Outworld, defeats the ruler of Edenia, claiming not only the realm, but Queen Sindel (Ana Thu Nguyen) and Princess Kitana (Adeline Rudolph) as well. Several years later, in preparation for the tenth Mortal Kombat tournament, Lord Raiden (Tadanobu Asano) and Sonya Blade (Jessica McNamee) try to recruit action star Johnny Cage (Karl Urban) to their cause, joining Liu Kang (Ludi Lin), Jax (Mehcad Brooks), and Cole (Lewis Tan) as their realm's champions, but he declines, only to be forcibly included anyway.

Meanwhile, Shao Kahn prepares by having Kung Lao (Max Huang) and Kano (Josh Lawson) revived, but more importantly, he recovers an amulet from the latter that gives him immortality, making it impossible to defeat him as long as it remains intact. With the fate of Earthrealm riding on the result of the upcoming tournament, our heroes must find a way to defeat the Emperor and his warriors or have their home become part of the wasteland of Outworld.

When it came to the previous film, it did indeed stray a little too far from what a "Mortal Kombat" adaptation should be, taking us through cliched training sessions and then not even including the tournament, which is pretty much the core of the material. However, for "Mortal Kombat II," screenwriter Jeremy Slater seems to have acknowledged his predecessors' mistakes and attempted to return to the core of what the franchise is, ditching the montages and getting back to basics. The question becomes: how successful is he in doing so?

Well, it's certainly fair to say that this sequel is definitely a step in the right direction, one that pretty much gets right to the point and follows through with its more focused & accurate plot. That said, a few issues of its own arise throughout, including the addition of the magical amulet (the film's rather silly MacGuffin & deus ex machina), which renders Shao Kahn immortal & undefeatable, making almost all of his battles rather pointless exercises (though they do reveal him to be a not-so-great warrior in the first place, making one wonder how he was able to win so many tournaments beforehand).

This forces some of our heroes to go on a fetch quest to find & destroy it so they can at least have a shot at defeating the Emperor, which makes for a rather unnecessary addition to what should be a more straightforward story. Throw in a sorcerer that can seemingly resurrect anyone at will, and it would appear that there just isn't much in the way of consequences for the Outworlders (though their loses still count against them in the tournament).

So while "Mortal Kombat II" was definitely a step in the right direction from its curious predecessor, there are still a few issues, primarily in the way of questionable additions to the material, that hold it back from being a satisfying film for the franchise. One really needs to look no further than the 1995 classic to see a great example of how this material should be adapted. It didn't need anything extra thrown in. It simply got our heroes together, got them to the tournament, and followed it through to the end, giving us several great fights along the way, as well as managing to counter the heaviness of the material with some humor throughout.

For one reason or another, the writers of the recent films have had a lot of trouble figuring this out, and now that this latest entry has also proven to be a box office disappointment, it's unlikely that there will be a third attempt, which is a shame because this one was somewhat close, and another try could see someone finally get it right. Pending another potential reboot several years down the line, fans will simply have to make do with the original classic to see this material done correctly.

Video/Audio:

"Mortal Kombat II" comes to 4K in a 2.39:1, 2160p Ultra High Definition transfer of outstanding quality. The film can be rather dark at times, but the picture remains beautifully sharp & clear throughout its entire 116-minute runtime, perfectly highlighting its multitude of special effects & creative designs. Likewise, the Dolby Atmos-TrueHD audio track is marvelous, giving you all of the dialogue, sound effects, and music in excellent quality. Overall, Warner Bros. has done a wonderful job in both departments for the film's 4K debut.

Special Features:

Mortal Kombat II: Evolving the Saga (7 Minutes): A featurette that takes a look at how the sequel expands the franchise.

Building the Realms of Mortal Kombat (6 Minutes): A featurette that explores the film's various settings.

Mortal Kombat II: Choose Your Fighter (6 Minutes): A featurette that delves into the new characters and the actors playing them.

Klose Quarters Kombat (7 Minutes): A featurette that focuses on the film's fight sequences.

A "Boon" to Gamers Everywhere (3 Minutes): A look behind the scenes with Mortal Kombat co-creator Ed Boon.

Conclusion:

"Mortal Kombat II" certainly comes closer to the mark than its 2021 predecessor as far as adapting the material for the screen, but sadly it suffers from a few issues of its own, including a rather silly & unnecessary subplot involving the film's MacGuffin, which ultimately hold it back just a little too much from being the fun, entertaining, and satisfying outing that it should have been.

Score: 3/5

Available on 4K starting tomorrow.

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