The mighty Shao Kahn (Martyn Ford) and his Outworld realm are one tournament away from claiming dominion over Earthrealm. But the returning Earthrealm fighters have a secret card up their sleeves: movie star and action hero Johnny Cage (Karl Urban). 

I had the opportunity to watch 2021’s Mortal Kombat and this sequel as a double bill at the cinema on the eve of its release, and two things stood out to me above everything else. Firstly, this sequel is initially a little clunky in terms of continuity, as they have made a conscious decision to jettison some plot choices (arcana and birth marks) and change its focus in terms of lead characters (Cole Young is now a benchwarmer). This means watching the films back to back as I did is a little discombobulating, but nothing unscalable when watching a movie about mystical fights to the death between super-powered heroes! Secondly, this film does everything the first film does better. With its secret weapon being the humour of Johnny Cage so brilliantly played by Karl Urban, an actor fairly au fait with sarcastic, rude humour. 

The plot is pretty good at balancing exposition and character motivations with what most people are here for: brutal martial arts contests with the occasional execution. The story focuses heavily on Kitana (Adeline Rudolph), a captive stepdaughter of Shao Kahn, and her bodyguard Jade (Tati Gabrielle). Just consider them to be Gamora and Nebula to Thanos if you know your Marvel movies. Their new story is woven in amongst the returning heroes of Sonya Blade (Jessica McNamee), Jax (Mehcad Brooks), Liu Kang (Ludi Lin), and Cole Young (Lewis Tan). 

The fight scenes are more expansive and interesting, the sets more diverse, and the inherent comedy of the circumstances much more front and centre. And this is where Johnny Cage portrayed by Karl Urban elevates everything, giving us a lead character we can root for and someone to both laugh at and with. 

Whilst of course this is pitched at fans of the video game franchise, this time they have made something that should also entertain the casual viewer who just wants to see some supernatural kung fu as well. 

An enjoyable romp, in which you get exactly what you would expect.