Mortal Kombat II (2026) Review

One of the smartest things Mortal Kombat II does arrives within its opening minutes. Karl Urban’s Johnny Cage is introduced via clips from a ludicrous fake 1990s action movie in which he growls dialogue like he’s auditioning for a Jean-Claude Van Damme knock-off. Explosions erupt for no reason. Henchmen fling themselves through windows before punches have properly landed. It looks superbly daft. More importantly, it immediately understands something the previous film only occasionally grasped: Mortal Kombat works best when it remembers how fundamentally silly it is.

That doesn’t mean Simon McQuoid has suddenly made a spoof. Far from it. Most of the returning cast continue playing this material with deadly seriousness, as if the fate of civilisation genuinely rests upon lengthy conversations about magical bloodlines and interdimensional combat tournaments. Perhaps it does. Frankly, after a while, trying to untangle the rules of Mortal Kombat mythology feels like trying to understand tax law after three pints. People die, come back, turn into ghosts, acquire glowing powers, then disappear into portals while someone else explains ancient prophecies with total conviction. And the ending is no exception.

But this sequel is noticeably more enjoyable because it stops fighting against the inherent absurdity of the franchise and goes all-in, fists and feet first.

Urban turns out to be one of the main missing ingredients. His Johnny Cage arrives as a washed-up relic of VHS-era action cinema, shuffling between fan conventions with fading bravado and exhaustion etched across his face. He’s arrogant, but faintly pathetic, and Urban pitches the performance at exactly the right level. If he pushed the self-awareness much further, it would collapse into parody. Instead he treats Cage like an ageing B-movie peacock desperately trying to convince himself he is still the hero.

It helps enormously that everyone around him behaves as though they’re trapped inside a solemn fantasy epic. Ludi Lin’s Liu Kang remains permanently burdened by destiny. Jessica McNamee’s Sonya Blade continues glaring with military intensity. Martyn Ford’s Shao Kahn stomps around looking like an angry fantasy warlord generated by a teenage boy’s notebook doodles. Meanwhile Josh Lawson’s Kano once again wanders in from an entirely different film, hurling insults around with chaotic delight. The punchines are playbook, the finishers are brutal and the enjoyment levels rise accordingly.

The fights are better this time. Considerably better, actually. McQuoid and his stunt team seem more confident staging prolonged combat without shredding everything into incomprehensible edits. There’s still plenty of CGI clutter flying around the screen, and some of the digital blood has the consistency of strawberry syrup, but the choreography lands with more force. The brutal showdown involving Kung Lao’s bladed hat drew audible reactions in my screening, ranging from delighted laughter to one genuinely horrified groan somewhere behind me.

The film still suffers whenever it stops to explain itself. Characters stand in circles explaining realms, amulets and tournament rules with the hushed intensity of monks preserving sacred scripture, even though half the plot appears to contradict itself five minutes later. Death has become so reversible here that the stakes occasionally evaporate entirely. Ghosts fight ghosts. Dead fighters return with new names. In fact, nobody seems overly concerned about mortality at all in a series literally called Mortal Kombat.

And yet – again – somehow, it works. Maybe because the film moves quickly enough that you stop questioning it. Maybe because Urban injects some badly needed personality into the machinery, particularly when bolstered by Lawson. Or maybe because watching someone get sliced in half by a spinning razor hat remains weirdly crowd-pleasing in a packed cinema.

It’s no flawless victory, but unlike many modern franchise films assembled with corporate exhaustion, Mortal Kombat II at least feels eager to entertain.

Movie Rating:

Mortal Kombat II trailer