Action-Adventure Mortal Kombat 2

[Da-Scribe]

Looks cheaper to me but still better than the first. I like that it feels narratively bigger. I dunno, this seems like it’s what the first film maybe should’ve been.

Also is Kuai Liang in this? I feel like I saw that early on but I can’t remember.

 

[Gee]

With Urban as Johnny, looks more fun than the first one. Otherwise, looks ****ing terrible...

I'm in.

 

[chintai80]

this looks both crappy and entertaining at the same time.
like a fun b-movie.

 

[Joe Von Zombie]

It looks perfectly fine for the IP. Costumes are on point, casting looks great. I would have preferred sets to so much green screen but it is what it is. It looks like a Netherrealm story mode come to life for better or for worse.

 

[Primal Slayer]

Why did they make it so johnny centric to kick things off....

 

[MagnarTheGreat]

Holy green screen, Batman! Return to the Quantum Realm.

Fish-out-of-water story again with Cage instead of new guy…meh. Urban looks like he’s having more fun at it and the old Johnny Cage gimmick is a different spin at least.

 

[Deck Rickard]

At least they had the good sense to cast a lead with some charisma (or allowed Urban to display some of it). I love that Cole is now one of the Out Of Focus Guys.

 

[SameOG86]

It doesn’t feel right having Liu Kang take the backseat. Not crazy about Jade’s bald look and the way Baraka’s mouth move is weird. They spent a very long time making And editing this movie.

 

[Sithborg]

The costumes look good. But, I saw the first movie, so, no real trust on the actual content of the movie.

 

[Deck Rickard]

It doesn’t feel right having Liu Kang take the backseat. Not crazy about Jade’s bald look and the way Baraka’s mouth move is weird. They spent a very long time making And editing this movie.

I agree but he was underwhelming as hell and maybe just a step up from Cole in the first one. Minimal personality, and he mostly just tripped a guy a few times and got his ass kicked by some character I didn’t even remember from the games.

 

[TheVileOne]

Looks extremely cheap and low budget. The CG looks terrible. Even cheaper than the last movie.

Looks like Johnny Cage is the lead now. Liu Kang looks even more marginalized in this one.

 

[Shinobi Shaw]

Seriously, a good lace front wig for Jade would not have hurt.

I bet she and Sindel both will have 4 lines in the whole movie.

 

[GothamCity1012]

Looks cheap for real.

 

[Mjolnir Reborn]

Big step up with Cage in it. By being intentionally ridiculous he's actually less ridiculous than the rest of the characters.

I don't expect much from this but if they can make it fun it may be worth it. MK doesn't work for me when it's serious.

 

[TheVileOne]

Looks cheap for real.

It looks like a Direct-to-video sequel basically.

 

[Pennywise]

Mortal Kombat II Trailer Showcases Karl Urban’s Down on His Luck Johnny Cage: 'He Has No Self-Confidence' - IGN

Ahead of the trailer’s global online debut, IGN chatted exclusively with actor Karl Urban – who brings the iconic Johnny Cage to life in Mortal Kombat II – as well as director Simon McQuoid and producer Todd Garner in their first extensive interviews about the highly anticipated sequel.

www.ign.com

 

[HammerDown]

Badass freaking trailer!
A lot of fun and it hit just the right beats for me. Very pleased with it.

Didn’t know anything about MKII but I think I saw the first one even though I can barely remember anything about it… still I am familiar with the game, having played alot of it and seen my fair share of the 90’s movie as well. So i just saw the Johnny Cage trailer yesterday and the main MKII red band trailer today and it looks awesome to me.

I’ll definitely see this in the theatre. It’s just the right amount of fun, otherworldly, cool and vintage for my taste and has a Kung Fury vibe to it too. I dig it.

 

[HammerDown]

I see some of the reactions over here and I think they’re fairly funny. I mean this is a MK film, what do people expect… I guess it’s fair to demand some better overall quality but knowing what it is I think it kind of succeeds in being just that, silly, over the top, sub par in places but fun as I would expect it to be.

Come on guys, lighten up…

 

[gohei_]

I've only seen about 10 minutes of the last film and decided it wasn't for me, but this one actually looks kinda fun, mainly thanks to Urban. Once this hits streaming I will probably check it out.

 

[Deck Rickard]

I see some of the reactions over here and I think they’re fairly funny. I mean this is a MK film, what do people expect… I guess it’s fair to demand some better overall quality but knowing what it is I think it kind of succeeds in being just that, silly, over the top, sub par in places but fun as I would expect it to be.

Come on guys, lighten up…

No offense, but I’m getting a little tired of the “Why does this movie actually need to be good?” defense. People did this with the last MK movie too to justify it being a piece of ****. Yeah I know it’s not the strongest source material. But they could have done a better job than THAT. The original MK movie was dumb fun and is kind of a bad movie, but at least it has some enjoyable performances, some heart to it and a satisfying conclusion. And they didn’t base the whole thing around some dumb audience surrogate no one cares about (and that they didn’t give the audience a reason to care about). This one DOES look like more of a step in the right direction, potentially, but after that last movie it’s hard to get interested. I like Urban a lot (it still feels like they missed a golden opportunity not casting him as Kano in the previous film but the actor they did cast turned out to be the one good thing in the movie so whatever) but I’m still not sure.

 

[DorkyFresh]

Karl looks like he's having fun with the movie, but that's about the only thing that feels particularly inspired by this one and even then it really does feel like Karl is miscast. His stunt doubles are SUUUUPER obvious and I agree with Deck that he's a much better fit for Kano. It's gonna be weird seeing him paired with McNamee as Sonya, unless they just avoid their relationship altogether.

Everything else looks like what I would expect from any random MK fan (with little filmmaking experience) being given millions of dollars to make a movie. The visuals and FX aren't particularly egregious but they also look so bland and lifeless. The only shot that struck me was the portal. I don't understand how the original movie from 30 years ago looks better than these modern MK movies.

I have to watch this in theaters because of my friend group, but if it weren't for them I'd definitely wait until streaming to catch this. They really need to get a filmmaker who conveys more personality and energy in their movies.

 

[BatLobster]

I think it looks fun and looks like a solid improvement over the first one. This movie feels setup for success in that the first one was meh, this one has the tournament/Urban as Cage and seems to be listening to fans’ complaints about the first one. Plus it only needs to clear Annihilation to be the best MK movie sequel, lol. It’s never going to match the charm of the original. That was a product of its time- a perfectly 90s martial arts B-movie about a perfectly 90s video game that pretty much nailed the assignment the first time. The soundtrack, the animatronic Goro…chef’s kiss.

Here’s the thing though- there’s a place for movies like this. I think sometimes we walk into franchise movies with this pressure/expectation for them to be GREAT. Or online discourse creates a false binary that the movie is either the best or worst ever. And while I do want all movies to be great, it’s also just inevitable that most are not going to reach that bar. This sometimes leads to a slight disappointment when a movie is ‘merely’ good. Sometimes “OK” is even more crushingly disappointing than outright bad. It can become a somewhat stressful or frustrating moviegoing experience, because you care so much and want it to be amazing if it’s an IP you care deeply about. I didn’t care much for the last movie, but it also didn’t really bother me. It was mostly a shrug of the shoulders and move on.

The idea of a Mortal Kombat movie in 2025 to me just helps kind of take all the pressure off and helps me take the inner critic hat off a little. I loved the games as a kid but it’s not something I’m precious about. I just need the movie to be decent, not boring, hopefully a schlocky good time with some cool fight scenes and funny over the top moments. This is a movie where a dumb plot can be a feature, not a bug. We’re being flooded with IP movies and reboots, but not with mystical martial arts movies. So that alone gives this some differentiation and reason enough to check it out. Plus I didn’t get to see the last one in theaters, so hoping this could be an excuse for a fun outing with some friends.

 

[Deck Rickard]

Karl looks like he's having fun with the movie, but that's about the only thing that feels particularly inspired by this one and even then it really does feel like Karl is miscast. His stunt doubles are SUUUUPER obvious and I agree with Deck that he's a much better fit for Kano. It's gonna be weird seeing him paired with McNamee as Sonya, unless they just avoid their relationship altogether.

Everything else looks like what I would expect from any random MK fan (with little filmmaking experience) being given millions of dollars to make a movie. The visuals and FX aren't particularly egregious but they also look so bland and lifeless. The only shot that struck me was the portal. I don't understand how the original movie from 30 years ago looks better than these modern MK movies.

I have to watch this in theaters because of my friend group, but if it weren't for them I'd definitely wait until streaming to catch this. They really need to get a filmmaker who conveys more personality and energy in their movies.

LOL you need better friends.

 

[Stringer]

I see some of the reactions over here and I think they’re fairly funny. I mean this is a MK film, what do people expect… I guess it’s fair to demand some better overall quality but knowing what it is I think it kind of succeeds in being just that, silly, over the top, sub par in places but fun as I would expect it to be.

Come on guys, lighten up…

What's interesting is we already got an enjoyably solid adaptation in the 90's so there is a standard there that could be passed. This looks cheap, bland, and uninspired, just like the first movie. I like Karl Urban as much as anyone here, but again, we actually had a good live action Johnny in the 90s movie. From what I'm seeing Karl isn't looking any better than Linden Ashby who wasn't even the lead in that movie.

 

[DarkKnight88]

Yeah, I mean the bar is at the 1995 film. Is that hard to surpass or even just equal at this point? Lol