Mortal Kombat II (2026) review

If you’ve never played the more recent games in the series and your only exposure to Mortal Kombat is some of the earliest movies, you can safely skip this one. For you, it will probably feel like a B-movie in its worst form — and not even one with an expensive-looking package to save it.

But if you’re a fan of the more recent games, stick around. In my opinion, this is one of the best big-screen versions of Mortal Kombat so far. Yes, the games technically have story campaigns, but they are so weak and so thin that you can almost count them as nonexistent. And here, suddenly, the film gets an actual connected narrative: it creates a story where, to me, there was never really one before. The idea that grew out of the first film and finally moves to the center in the second is the Mortal Kombat itself — the tournament. That is a big plus.

Another plus is how the film brings over the game mechanics: special moves, Fatalities, signature lines, and a more cinematic version of those moments. It is absolutely insane — pure excitement.

And the last big plus is Karl Urban. At first, he looks kind of funny in this role, but after about thirty minutes you get used to him, and suddenly Johnny motherfucking Cage is cracking jokes and setting exactly the right tone.

That’s where the major positives end for me.

Now for the negatives.

Kitana is now the main female character with her own story. That would be fine, but the costume just hangs on her. In the front, it literally dangles. I once made videos saying that if you put a couple of socks in the right places, the whole picture already looks different. Nature abhors a vacuum.

Shaved Jade... What even is this? If the creators wanted to make beautiful women look unattractive, they succeeded.

Sindel is barely there and gives absolutely nothing. I don’t even want to go deeper into it.

The exception is Sonya Blade: beautiful, just like in the first film.

What stayed with me?

The second film decided to wrap up Cole Young’s story very quickly, and in my opinion, that was absolutely the right decision. His ending is excellent too: he came out of nowhere and went back into nowhere.

The best fights this time belong to the handsome Liu Kang, and his clash with Kung Lao is just wow. Liu Kang, in general, shows off excellent martial arts in every scene he’s in, complete with his fiery dragons.

In the first film, Hiroyuki Sanada got a lot of screen time and, in many ways, made the movie. He has less of it in the sequel, but his Scorpion is still excellent. The fight scenes with him held the bar in the first film, and they continue to hold it here.

So, where does that leave us?

The film is spectacular. The R rating is a huge plus: when everything flies apart, blood gushes everywhere, and bodies are full of holes, that is when Mortal Kombat finally feels like Mortal Kombat.

I deliberately didn’t mention all the little treats that fans of the game will notice in the film. Those discoveries will be pleasant.

That’s it from me.

This format is more of an exception than a promise of a regular series, so I’ll be very interested to read your comments.