Mortal Kombat II

So real, it hurts!

Yes, it's true my time invested on reviewing films, Anime, and whatnot has diminished significantly. Perhaps it's time to inform the Jedi council about it. Yesterday, in what has been my partial winter break from work I had some time to wear my jammies, drink Pepsi and eat Doritos while watching Mortal Kombat II on premiere day on HBO Max. I did have the opportunity of going to the movies, but adulting got in the way and eventually, I never went to the theater. Save for Masters of the Universe, the hottest film in the universe in decades. 

As previously mentioned in the He-Man review, niche films are a good thing for the industry. The times of "all audiences" have caused enough suffering to an industry that is already in a coma thanks to the rise of streaming services. You see, when you like reading books, you like authors, genres, a specific type. This is the same with music, video-games, sports, and of course films and whatnot.  Mortal Kombat is a game franchise  that has been with us for since 1992. During that time, we've seen game sequels, live action films, TV series, a cartoon, comic books, crossover games, and of course the inevitable remakes. 

Finally, Jade.

Adjust your sunglasses in style.

Mortal Kombat II is the sequel, I know, Harvard is looking forward to meeting me, to the 2021 reboot film that basically retold the story of Scorpion & Sub-Zero while, Earth realm warriors prepared for the tournament while unraveling some of the game lore. From that film, returning characters are Sonya Blade, Jax Briggs, Cole Young, Raiden, Liu Kang, [Spoiler], Shang Tsung & [Spoiler II]. Now, here's the cool thing. If you didn't watch the previous film, but know about MK, you won't need to revisit the earlier. MK II has a self-contained story with more familiar characters for the game fans. One small detail from the previous film: Earth had been defeated 9 times in a row in the tournament by the Outworld. An extra defeat would mean an invasion to the Earth realm. So, part 2 is that tenth tournament. 

Nerdgasm!

Visually, the film offers an endless amount of references to the franchise. From battle stages like the acid pit, Fatality included, to characters using their special abilities just like in any MK game. Plot wise, writers took the more familiar elements from the original arcade games, and cleverly combined them with the more recent games and their plot twists. 

 

Get over here!

 

Noob!

Fights are also front and center in the movie, and they feel natural and realistic enough so that you know you're in the MK world. There are fatalities, there are Mercies, and there is a slight insinuation of some kind of Animality. The battles are staged beautifully. You can see they took good care of the martial arts aspects of the job. Johnny Cage (Karl Urban) is the best character on this sequel. His story offers a down-to-Earth perspective unlike any of the other characters. He used to be a great martial artist actor that definitely resembles Jean Claude Van-Damme's career. He made films in the 80s and 90s, and then nobody cared about him anymore. Yes, I know Johnny Cage was originally intended to be portrayed by the actor but he was on top of his game, so there was just no way for Midway (previous owners before it became Warner) to release an unknown game with a Hollywood star as one of the characters. On the other hand, the remaining characters feel a bit too fictional compared to Cage. Now, this shouldn't be a bad thing, but it is to a degree. All the emotional aspects of some characters feel plastic and as green-screened as most of the places our heroes visit in Edenia and the Nether realm. For example, Kitana's origin story graphically offers a painful glimpse on her past, but once she has the opportunity to even the odds, neither the actress nor the scene can make the viewer truly relate to what's going on. Nevertheless, this is a videogame adaptation, perhaps that plastic acting and superficial sensitivity can be easily accepted playing the game on your favorite console, but as a movie, it feels like the major weakness of the film. We know characters have a mission and bla bla bla ,but it just doesn't fully convince the viewer this is a real life-threatening combat.

 

Mighty Kitana.

Cheating outworld ruler.

Plotwise, the outworld cheats by acquiring an old amulet that allows the user to drain energy from gods and become immortal. The gem in question belonged to Shinnok (the MK 4 bad guy), and was accidentally stolen by [spoiler II] and retrieved by Quan-Chi. Earth realm heroes discover the only way to beat son-of-a-bitch Shao-Khan is by either retrieving the amulet, or by destroying it completely. Sadly, Noob Saibot took the amulet to the Nether realm where a retired Scorpion spends his days gardening. The battle between Scorpion and Noob Saibot is visually exquisite, one of the strengths of the film for sure. 

Overall, Mortal Kombat II excels when it's all about the fighting, just like in the original videogames. Leave the acting and plot for real actors and writers. Still, a fun film for fans of the franchise looking for some ass-kicking.