I really wanted to like Mortal Kombat from 2022. The problem was that they took too many liberties and left the meat out of the story. They, instead, replaced it with wheat flakes. In this sequel, they fixed nearly everything! This was what we wanted! A coherent story with Mortal Kombat as a tournament, while giving us a bit of pandering. You can see the care and the fandom in mind as you watch. This movie isn't perfect, but is it the greatest MK film to date? VIRTUA KOMBAT TIME SPOILER WARNING!
This film uses and slightly misuses certain elements from the video games. If you hadn't noticed through the more recent games, there is a lot of coming to and from the land of the dead. If a character is killed, it apparently just takes some Netherrealm magic to bring them back and ready to fight. While they do the right thing and resurrect Kano, they also made it very clear that they are going to use and abuse this in a planned Mortal Kombat 3. Will that happen? Well, that's up to the Elder Gods of the failed box office.
One of this movie's biggest miscasts is Jade. Do I want a constant reminder of Naughty Dog's biggest oncoming garbage? No, not really. It's not in my nature to like people who flip off the audience they are supposed to be entertaining. Then they went and tipped the entire spectrum up-side-down and cast Karl Urban as Johnny Cage... okay, you know what? We'll call it a draw. The fact that Cage is the main focus of the story is a point in this film's favor. In fact, the fact that they brought back Kano, actor and all, is yet another huge strike in this movie's favor.
Then there are the massive deaths and loose ends. Jax is back, and he gives the same great performance as last time. Then he gets stabbed by the end of Shaokhan's hammer. Going to be honest, that was not expected and I didn't like it a lot. He and Sonya were great as a duo, and I can only imagine he is one of the ones they'll bring back if they get the chance. A death that was broadcasted like a UHF station very early on was Cole Young. Yeah, no one liked him from the first movie and they gave him a proper sendoff. The fact that Khan drops his tonfa into the acid pit with him was a much welcome added bonus.
Kitana was a definite plus to bring back into the Mortal Kombat lore. They played her story nearly flawlessly, other than her bodyguard. Her journey from a scared little girl to a warrior who is dedicated to avenging her family is actually rather heartfelt. In fact, this movie does the heartfelt seens rather well, especially when Liu Kang and an undead Kung Lao fight and he is forced to kill his former brother. All of these story elements don't get in each other's way because it goes with the flow of the tournament and we see how they serve the overall film. Instead of exposition and endless spoken lore, we leap from the first movie. We've seen these two were the best of friends and we feel their loss as it happens in real time.
Then there are the comedic elements, which are pulled right off without taking away from the main plot's gravity. There are sweet and sour elements that add to the flavor, especially when we see Johnny Cage's movie from the 80's. Then we see that he fell on hard times since then as he sits at a convention and no one is in line to see him. We don't need someone telling him what happened or grind in our faces that he's washed up. We see it and we see his attitude as it is affected. This is filmmaking 101 and it is so refreshing to see. This is especially true when we see him go out for a drink and is served a shot and a beer by Bartender, Ed Boon.
The two A and B plots collide in the tournament and the serious mixes with the humor right in front of us. Johnny is a loveable idiot but he's not completely inept. He just needs some time to start taking things seriously. Somehow, they even improved on Raiden's part of the story! He was insufferable in the first film and yet here we are actually seeing how he can help when he puts his mind to it.
This is probably the first time we have ever seen Baraka as an anti-hero. That is one thing I never expected but it is actually nice to see him in a different, more constructive role. He doesn't play a large role, but it was entertaining and quite memorable because his antics with Johnny Cage are gold! They even made the Tarkatans actual tangible characters. The wonders that this movie pulled off is still too many to count. Characters that normally hinder and distract from the plot are suddenly well implimented element into the film that carries it well on.
One mysterious element that never really concluded was: What happened to Liu Kang? He got stabbed in a fight with Shaokhan, vowed that he would return, and then disappeared into a puff of vapor. Whether he died is kind of up in the air, but it seemed more like... no, honestly I have no idea. That was a strange element. The violence in the film is kicked up a notch, which echoes what happened with the original games.
For the first time, we see Noob Saibot in live action where he doesn't really suck. This was actually a very well done sequence when both Kano and Cage work together to get an amulet that holds Raiden's immortality and powers within Shaokhan. This runs parallel with Kitana's final battle against her father's pretender. Her fight with Khan is very well put together, along with a gnarly, in every meaning of the word, ending.
From beginning to end, we finally get a coherent, perfectly violent Mortal Kombat film. The answer is, yes, this is the greatest Mortal Kombat film. It has all of the fights you could ever want. Scorpion vs Noob Saibot, Raiden vs Shang Tsung, and Shaokhan vs Cole Young as we see him get trampled, along with his plot armor. It's wonderfully gory and fast moving, while also knowing when to take a small breather. The pace is even, if not brisk. With just a few nitpicks, this film brings much more to the table than we've ever had with this franchise. Hopefully, it dodged the box office bullet. Only time will tell. Until then, this film exists in Virtua Legend.
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