From left: Ludi Lin as ‘Liu Kang’, Mehcad Brooks as ‘Jax’, Jessica McNamee as ‘Sonya Blade’ and Karl Urban as ‘Johnny Cage’. Photograph: Courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures / Click to view the trailer.

FILM DETAILS
Title: Mortal Kombat II
Director: Simon McQuoid
Running time: 116 minutes
Cast: Karl Urban, Adeline Rudolph, Jessica McNamee, Josh Lawson, Ludi Lin, Mehcad Brooks, Tati Gabrielle, Lewis Tan, Damon Herriman, Chin Han, Tadanobu Asano, Joe Taslim, Hiroyuki Sanada
Screen writer: Jeremy Slater, based on the videogame created by Ed Boon and John Tobias

The stakes are high.

If Shao Kahn (Martyn Ford) and the forces of Outworld win the 10th Mortal Kombat tournament, Earthrealm will fall into darkness.

Earthlings have had their share of bruises, beltings and brutal fatalities—literally head-ripping deaths, a kids’ favorite finisher in the 1990s video games.

The game grew so popular that movies followed, washed‑up adaptations that stripped away most of the blood in response to alarming headlines forecasting doom for the children exposed to the horror.

The games stayed popular, but the idea of future movies was buried.

Until now.

Australian filmmaker Simon McQuoid, who made a living shooting commercials for the video game industry, resurrected the saga in 2021, believing he could bring cinematic beauty and authentic grit to the big screen.

He did.

The film was enjoyable, but not as enjoyable as the sequel.

In Mortal Kombat II, you feel thrust into the tournament with a front‑row seat. Not for the faint-hearted: there will be blood, severed body parts and exquisite martial arts. There will be flips, kicks, hand traps, monsters, blades and wide shots that make the action feel authentic.

Many in the cast are martial arts experts, but one who is not is Karl Urban (The Boys), playing legendary Hollywood action hero Johnny Cage with the iconic dark sunglasses.

With no martial arts experience but plenty of willpower, his fight scenes are among the most enjoyable due to his devotion to the choreography (Michael Lehr, Malay Kim). Hell, if Keanu Reeves could pull off that kind of transition for John Wick, why not give it a shot?

Johnny Cage’s moves flow like beer from a tap on a Finnish summer night; limbs limber as if liquidated, sliding into a front split and uppercutting the opponent in the balls.

The Earth’s future may just be in safe but sweaty hands.

‘Mortal Kombat II’ premieres in cinemas on May 8.

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