This is the sequel to the 2021 film by Simon McQuoid. It's the fourth installment in the live-action adaptations of the video game series, which first started in 1992. The video game was a fighting contest where two characters go toe-to-toe until one of them is killed, a fatality. The premise is that people from various realms or alternate universes come together to battle in a martial arts tournament. Strangely, the 2021 entry didn't actually feature the tournament. It talked about the tournament, but the characters didn't actually participate in the tournament. There were brutal and bloody fights in that film, but they weren't framed in that they were happening in the actual contest but in between the contests. That 2021 film also introduced a new character that wasn't from the games but invented purely for that narrative. Arguably, the 2021 film wasn't as brutal and bloody, as the animated features have been, but this sequel ups the brutality and bloodshed. However, the kills in this film might not mean anything, once it's revealed that the kills from the last film didn't mean much. It fixes the problem of actually depicting the tournament, but what do the kills mean when there is a literal "Deus Ex Machina" that can negate all those kills?
Karl Urban (Star Trek and Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King) stars as Johnny Cage, a 90's action star, a Hollywood actor whose glory days are behind him. He was a big deal 30 years ago and can still get a spot at a convention, but no one really wants his autograph or to give him any shine. He's washed up or a has-been. Before becoming an actor, he was a black belt in various disciplines. He hasn't had an opportunity to use his skills. He instead gets drunk at a local bar. Out of nowhere, he's told that he's been chosen to be a fighter in this tournament. He doesn't believe it, but when he's magically teleported into another realm where he meets the other fighters, he changes his tune. Yet, he still makes a lot of sarcastic remarks and resists embracing his destiny here. It's difficult for him to embrace all of this because he sees that the other fighters have magical powers, and Johnny doesn't have any. He's forced to fight, but, somehow through it, he has to find his own power.
Adeline Rudolph (Resident Evil and Chilling Adventures of Sabrina) co-stars as Kitana, a woman from a realm called Edenia. She was also chosen to fight in the tournament. She was chosen by Shao Khan, an evil emperor who wants to conquer all the realms. Kitana is also the adopted daughter of Shao Khan who has been training ever since she was a little girl to be a champion in the tournament. She mainly trains with her adopted sister, Jade, played by Tati Gabrielle (The Last of Us and Chilling Adventures of Sabrina). If you've seen Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), the relationship between Kitana and Jade is similar to that of Gamora and Nebula.
Their adopted father, Shao Khan, is similar to the adopted father of Gamora and Nebula, that of Thanos. Kitana and Jade's dynamic to their adopted father is also similar to that of the adopted sisters in Guardians of the Galaxy. Mainly, one sister is more loyal to their adopted father than the other. There's obviously a big reason as to why. Kitana isn't totally on board with Shao Khan's goal of taking over all the realms, including Earth. She's against him because he wants to turn everybody into his slaves. Instead of being slaves, she thinks that all people should be free. The only thing standing in the way of Shao Khan becoming this evil emperor is the tournament. Shao Khan and his team have to win this tenth tournament in order for him to be deemed the ruler over everyone. One team stands in his way and Kitana has been secretly working to help that other team.
Tadanobu Asano (Shōgun and 47 Ronin) plays Lord Raiden, the god of thunder. It's funny because Asano was in Thor (2011) and the character of Thor is also the god of thunder in Norse mythology. Lord Raiden has the power, not of thunder, but of lightning. He can generate lightning, wielding it as a weapon. He can also generate lightning that can do other things like teleport him from one realm to another. It's his job to oversee the Earth champions chosen to fight in the tournament. He goes to Johnny Cage to try to convince him. He's also one of the few gods walking around in any realm. It becomes clear that Shao Khan wants to steal Raiden's powers. A magical amulet gives Shao Khan the ability to do so. Therefore, the so-called amulet becomes a MacGuffin that both sides bandy back-and-forth.
There's an opening action sequence, but once the tournament begins, which doesn't take that long to occur, there's a half-dozen fights with a non-tournament battle that happens in the middle of it. Every few minutes, two characters are teleported together into some random arena and they have to fight. The arenas look familiar, if one is familiar with the arenas in the games. As usual, the best match-ups and fights are the ones populated by the Asian actors. Ludi Lin (Kung Fu and Power Rangers) reprises his role of Liu Kang, a chosen fighter who possesses the ability to manipulate and shoot fire, and Max Huang, a stunt performer and a student of Wing Chun, also reprises his role of Kung Lao, the brother to Liu Kang. Kung Lao utilizes a metallic hat that has a rim of razors. Because Lin and Huang are both real-life martial artists, their fight scene is executed as the best of any other.
Hiroyuki Sanada (Shōgun and 47 Ronin) also reprises his role of Hanzo Hasashi aka "Scorpion." He's also very experienced with martial arts. He has a fight scene with Joe Taslim (The Night Comes for Us and The Raid: Redemption) who reprises his role of Bi-Han, aka "Sub-Zero." Again, because Taslim is a trained martial artist, a black belt, his fight scene with Sanada feels better executed. The fight between Scorpion and Sub-Zero has a lot of CGI, so that probably helps as well, but it still feels more assured when trained martial artists are at the core. It was revealed in the 2021 film that Hanzo is related to Cole Young, played by Lewis Tan (Cobra Kai and Wu Assassins). Cole was the main protagonist in that last film and this one does Cole rather dirty because he's relegated to the background basically. It was also revealed that Hanzo's spirit can return even after death. Yet, this film doesn't give Hanzo and Cole a scene together.
Urban isn't a trained martial artist, but he's done a lot of action films and he pulls off his fight scenes very well. In fact, him utilizing his experience doing actions flicks in order to fake his way through his fights becomes a plot-point in this film. Director Simon McQuoid is commenting on the silliness of all this at times. In addition to the action and the gore, McQuoid also has to juggle the tone here, which feels a lot more humorous this time around than last time. A lot of that humor comes from Urban himself. He has a charm and dry wit to him that carries through a lot. Everyone else is mostly deathly serious, but Urban keeps things light.
Josh Lawson (Superstore and House of Lies) also reprises his role of Kano. When it comes to comic relief, he was definitely it in the 2021 film, and he returns as additional comic relief here. For those wondering how Kano returns, given that he died in the last film, that's where the Deus Ex Machina enters the picture. Much in the way that Hanzo's spirit is able to come back and basically return from the dead, if briefly, it's revealed that other people who have died can also come back. This takes some of the stakes away, but I still found this film highly entertaining and funny, and even enjoyed this more than the previous.
Rated R for strong bloody violence, gore, and language.
Running Time: 1 hr. and 56 mins.
In theaters.
