Mortal Kombat II follows martial artist and actor Johnny Cage as he’s recruited to join Earth’s mightiest warriors in an interdimensional fighting tournament. The film’s many fights have some pleasing choreography, and heroism is highlighted. But extreme bloody violence and gore, along with strong, vulgar language, makes Mortal Kombat II a safe “skip” for families.
Johnny Cage has seen better days.
Once a martial arts champion and prolific kung fu movie star, Johnny is now little more than a washed-up actor resigned to lonely booths at fan conventions. If only there was something left for him to do. Something important.
He’ll get his chance.
Johnny is approached by Raiden, the embodied “god of thunder.” Raiden says that Johnny has been chosen by the “elder gods” to compete in an interdimensional fighting tournament known as Mortal Kombat. (The elder gods evidently didn’t spellcheck the name before printing out t-shirts.)
But Mortal Kombat is no friendly exhibition—there are real stakes here. Each fight is to the death, and if a realm should win 10 consecutive tournaments against an opposing dimension, they are given total control of that realm.
And, wouldn’t you know it, Johnny’s own “Earthrealm” has lost the last nine tourneys to a place called Outworld and its bloodthirsty warlord, Shao Kahn. The only way Johnny Cage and the elder gods’ other handpicked heroes can stop Earth’s impending doom is by winning Mortal Kombat.
Johnny’s not so sure he’s up for the challenge. He’s just an actor, after all. But the choice has been made for him. He’ll have to fight to protect his home. Or die trying.
Tough gig.
Heroes put their lives on the line to protect Earthrealm and its inhabitants. While Johnny is reluctant to risk his own neck, Raiden encourages him to expand his perspective: He’s not just fighting for himself but Earth’s 8 billion residents. Eventually, Johnny shows his bravery and even volunteers for a dangerous mission with little chance of survival.
A few fighters show their opponents mercy following a battle. A young girl’s father tells her that her true strength lies in her head and heart rather than physical prowess.
Raiden possesses magical powers and can command lightning. Shao Kahn seeks a magical amulet that will transform himself into a god. One of Shao Kahn’s lackeys is a necromancer, and we see him revive a handful of undead warriors.
Raiden often mentions the elder gods, powerful beings who created the different dimensions and select champions to participate in Mortal Kombat. Someone says that these gods “have abandoned their creation.”
A few characters travel to the “Netherrealm,” a hellish dimension that holds the souls of the dead.
Shao Kahn tells a vanquished foe to “give my regards to the devil.” We see a statue of Buddha. Someone references a “cosmic lottery.” A man is said to barely have “a soul left to corrupt.” A warrior seems to briefly pull someone’s spirit from their body.
Someone crosses himself.
A man discusses the things he likes about Earth, which soon devolves into a list of carnal activities. He also lets loose several crude and suggestive quips throughout the film.
One character identifies herself as Shao Kahn’s “consort.” A few female combatants wear revealing clothing. One character’s outfit shows much of his bare torso. We see a drawing of a scantily clad fantasy character at a fan convention.
Mortal Kombat II doesn’t shy away from the bloody business of its fighters’ death duels. In fact, the film revels in showing us a whole bunch of CGI blood and guts.
The violence here can get quite gory. A surprising number of characters get impaled by sharp weapons. One warrior gets bisected by a blade. A giant hammer pulverizes another guy’s head, resulting in a bloody spray. A blast of energy blows a hole through a woman’s body. Someone’s torso gets shredded by a makeshift buzzsaw. A man gets stabbed through the eye. Another loses his fingers and the camera lingers on his bleeding stumps. We see exposed brain matter when a man’s skull gets sliced open.
Throats get slashed. Bodies get stabbed. People get killed by a laser beam. Accompanying all that death and dismemberment are choreographed punches and kicks galore. People get beaten, bludgeoned and thrown through walls. Some fall to their painful deaths from great heights. A few warriors get burned with fire.
We see a scene from one of Johnny Cage’s movies, which contains plenty of over-the-top action violence: Johnny beats up several goons, a villainous woman gets impaled, and a helicopter explodes.
To top it off, the end credits of Mortal Kombat II include visual recreations of some of the film’s bloody moments.
The f-word is used more than 50 times. There are more than 25 uses of the s-word. God’s name is misused three times, all paired with “d–n.” We hear the c-word once.
Additional profanity includes uses of “d–n,” “h—,” “a–” and “b–ch.” A few harsh, crude terms for male and female anatomy are heard.
A rude hand gesture is used a couple of times.
When Johnny learns of Mortal Kombat and Earth’s peril, he says that he wants to “drink every beer on the planet.” We later see him drinking in a bar. Another character shares his own appreciation for liquor.
Johnny jokes about an aneurysm. He insults someone hoping to provoke a fight.
Mortal Kombat II is the fourth big-screen adaptation of the popular video game franchise, and a direct sequel to the series reboot that released in 2021.
I’ll say this for the film: It’s a faithful adaptation of the source material, stuffed to the gills with characters and lore from the Mortal Kombat canon. But that fidelity also extends to the movie’s more problematic elements, namely, violence and gore.
When Mortal Kombat was released in 1992, it didn’t take long for the game to amass a following—and generate controversy. The arcade brawler, with its (at the time) realistic depictions of human figures and gruesome “fatalities,” became a poster child for violence in video games. And it helped pave the way for the establishment of the Entertainment Software Rating Board. Even Ed Boon, who co-created Mortal Kombat (and makes a cameo appearance in this film) once admitted, “I wouldn’t want my 10-year-old kid playing a game like [Mortal Kombat].”
Well, Boon probably wouldn’t want his kid watching this movie, either, because it retains the video game’s commitment to excessive gore. In many ways, it ups the ante, as the gore found here is rendered far more realistically than even the most recent Mortal Kombat games.
Mortal Kombat II delights in the butchery, all too eager to showcase every bloody mangling, mauling and mutilation. Harsh, often vulgar, language jumps into this melee as well.
While the film contains some impressive choreography alongside messages of self-sacrifice and heroism, discerning viewers will likely want to decline this film’s challenge and wait for it to return to the Netherrealm.
Bret loves a good story—be it a movie, show, or video game—and enjoys geeking out about things like plot and story structure. He has a blast reading and writing fiction and has penned several short stories and screenplays. He and his wife love to kayak the many beautiful Colorado lakes with their dog.
