Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)
Director: Simon McQuoid
Writers: Jeremy Slater, Ed Boon, John Tobias
I don’t know how to rate the 2026 film Mortal Kombat II, because its pacing can be quite challenging, the dialogue is often awful, as though it were straight out of the 1980s, but it also features some spectacularly fun fight sequences. Best to say that this is definitely a guilty pleasure watch for fans of the game and for those who enjoyed the first Mortal Kombat film. Plus, this one is 100% an improvement over the last, although the Hanzo Hasashi flashback remains the best emotional sequence across both films, courtesy of Hiroyuki Sanada’s memorable performance as the legendary Earthrealm warrior.
In fact, Mortal Kombat II also opens with a flashback, in which the evil Outworld emperor Shao Kahn (Martyn Ford) kills King Jerrod in a tournament, conquers Edenia and adopts his daughter, Princess Kitana. Adeline Rudolph plays the older Kitana, who trains hard to participate in Mortal Kombat, although it’s evident she hasn’t forgotten or forgiven Shao Kahn for brutally slaying her biological father.
Meanwhile, Earthrealm’s remaining fighters – Sonya Blade (Jessica McNamee), Liu Kang (Ludi Lin), Cole Young (Lewis Tan) and Jax (Mehcad Brooks) – led by Lord Raiden (Tadanobu Asano), welcome a new addition to their team: Johnny Cage (Karl Urban), a fading Hollywood action star. If Earthrealm doesn’t win the Mortal Kombat tournament this time, the planet will be conquered by Shao Kahn. To ensure their defeat, Shao Kahn’s nefarious underling Shang Tsung (Chin Han) hatches a sinister plot to steal Raiden’s powers.
I remember writing how some of the actors in the first film simply couldn’t pull off their larger-than-life characters, so the makers have cleverly shifted attention to new combatants and characters who earned viewers’ praise last time around. For instance, the foul-mouthed but entertaining Kano (Josh Lawson) was killed by Sonya Blade in the first film, making her an official fighter, but he’s resurrected to run some errands for Shang Tsung. Because, c’mon, he was one of the most entertaining characters in the previous film, thanks to his obnoxious, arrogant personality, and confidently cocky performance.
Adeline Rudolph is a treat to watch as Kitana in Mortal Kombat II, especially in the action sequences where she wields her deadly steel fans like a true warrior princess. Karl Urban’s Johnny Cage surprisingly doesn’t hog the limelight, but he’s entertaining as an ageing action star turned Earth’s newest hero. In one of the early rounds, Cage faces off against Kitana, and while the fight isn’t as tense as I’d hoped, it’s still a decent showdown, considering Cage is hardly prepared to be thrust into an interplanetary fight-to-the-death tournament.
One of the best fights in Mortal Kombat II belongs to Kung Lao (Max Huang), the one with the deadly hat, and Liu Kang. Ludi Lin is criminally underrated as the fire-wielding Liu Kang, bringing just the right amount of angst, energy and earnestness to the character. The sinister Bi-Han (Joe Taslim) is also brought back to life by an Outworld necromancer, although his fight scenes aren’t particularly impressive this time around.
Better dialogue, a more upbeat soundtrack and tighter pacing could’ve made Mortal Kombat II an action classic, but it seems the makers were content with delivering a serviceable, fun film for fans. And well, as I said at the beginning, it’s a good enough guilty-pleasure watch, with a few bad special effects, but also some seriously cool fight sequences.
Mortal Kombat II is on HBO Max and Prime Video.
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