Mortal Kombat is one of gaming’s great guilty pleasures. In arcades across North America, the gore you could dish out in a brawler had enthusiasts lining up for more. In the cinematic adaptation that continues in Mortal Kombat II, the lore leans into Robert E. Howard-style worldbuilding, mixing Bushidō-adjacent pulp fiction more than philosophy with enough mythology to make the stakes feel real. That blend is everywhere in the ongoing fight over who gets to claim the Earthrealm, with some cowboy diplomacy thrown into the mix.
This multiverse runs deep: there’s the Outworld and Netherworld, and the Realm of Order and Chaos, each with its own chosen champions. After the events of the first film, casual viewers may not remember enough to follow why Johnny Cage (Karl Urban) is being pulled into the conflict. The film opens with a flashback that introduces Emperor Shao Kahn (Martyn Ford) as the primary antagonist. After defeating King Jerrod (Desmond Chiam) in Mortal Kombat, he claims the kingdom of Edenia for the Outworld and takes two unwilling prizes home with him. Queen Sindel (Ana Thu Nguyen) and Princess Kitana (Adeline Rudolph) don’t go quietly.
Continue reading “Better Late Than Never, But Is Mortal Kombat II Too Late To Matter?”
In the past three decades Hollywood has recognized the appeal of adapting popular video games to film. They provide a ready-made audience of fans who will most likely see them, and some have become cult classics. These videogame movies are memorable because at some point in time, they’ll be broadcast television for all the world to see. Usually the adaptation is a fun romp in the director’s part in translating pixels to a more realistic product. More often than not, the video game’s appeal is missed in the translation and critics and fans are quick to point out what’s missing in the film. In this look at the worst of what cinema had to offer, maybe they are gems after all: