Mortal Kombat II: The Nastiest Death Scene Says Something About Fandom

This article contains some spoilers for Mortal Kombat II. (But like, you already know, right?) In what is probably not surprising for anyone paying attention, poor Cole Young did not make it to the next round in his match or his life. The one-time new protagonist of the rebooted MK franchise played by Lewis Tan […]

The post Mortal Kombat II: The Nastiest Death Scene Says Something About Fandom appeared first on Den of Geek.

This article contains spoilers for Mortal Kombat II.

For all that the 2021 movie Mortal Kombat did right, it did forget to include the actual Mortal Kombat tournament. Director Simon McQuoid and screenwriter Jeremy Slater more than make up for the lack in Mortal Kombat II, filling the screen with martial arts action.

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Mortal Kombat II delivers all the bone-crunching action you could want. But not consistently. In the same way that not everyone who gets the Sega Genesis controller passed to them can hit →←←←X, not every fight in MKII is equal. So let’s take a look at all the main fight scenes in the movie, ranking them from babality (as in, this could have done by babies) to brutality.

In the spirit of the games that aren’t Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero, we’re only focusing on one-on-one fights, which means that we’re leaving off major events such as Jax’s death and important characters such as Kano, Bi-Han, and Scorpion.

With that bit of rule-setting out of the way, it’s time to decide on the best fight… through mortal kombat!

Kitana vs Johnny Cage

Nothing against Kitana, who makes a lot of sense as the protagonist of this film, nor against Adeline Rudolph, who delivers her lines with conviction. But neither one of her fights stand out, nor does she get to be the star of them. In the case of her early contest against Johnny Cage, she largely exists to set up Karl Urban‘s bits as a Hollywood actor way over his head.

It’s cool to see Kitana use her fan blades both as weapons, and as a way to scale structures to chase after Johnny. And it’s fun to see Urban recreate the dazed wobble from the games. But the match needs to prioritize comedy and character-building over action, making the fighting feel underdeveloped.

Kitana vs Shao Kahn

On one hand, it might seem like a fatal flaw for Mortal Kombat II‘s climactic fight to be its weakest. On the other, it’s hard to imagine how a big blockbuster like this could deliver the type of story expected by modern audiences while focusing on a single fight.

Kitana’s final showdown with Shao Kahn has some incredible moments, especially the variation of the Fan Opener fatality that ends leaves the emperor with his brains leaking out onto the floor. But when the movie needs to keep checking in on Sonya, Kano, and Johnny—the last of whom needs to complete his arc by destroying Shinnok’s amulet—the bout between Kitana and Shao Kahn feels perfunctory.

Shao Kahn vs Liu Kang

For reasons we’ll get into shortly, Mortal Kombat II reasserts Liu Kang as the protagonist of the series. So even though we know that Shao Kahn has gained immortality via Shinnok’s amulet, we expect Liu Kang to mess up the emperor. And he nearly does. He immediately launches two fire dragons at Shao Kahn, threatening to end the fight as soon as it begins.

Shao Khan, of course, heals from the attack, but Liu Kang does not give up, resulting in an intense fight between the two. However, the climax of the fight, in which Liu Kang either loses or perhaps sacrifices himself to take on another form, feels like a set-up for the next sequel and undercuts everything that came before.

Sonya Blade vs Sindel

Sonya spent the first Mortal Kombat in a supporting role, gathering fighters to defend Earthrealm but unable to join the tournament because she lacked the special mark (which Johnny Cage doesn’t need, apparently). Mortal Kombat II had to make up for lost time by giving Sonya a chance to absolutely dominate an opponent, so as soon as Sindel was chosen, we all thought the same thing: too bad she will die.

And die Sindel does. Ana Thu Nguyen struts around like the last actor to portray Sindel in live action, but this is all Jessica McNamee’s time to shine as Sonya. She dodges around the spikes shooting up from the floor, she uses her energy rings to counter sonic screams, and she gets to execute one of the film’s gnarliest fatalities. Not only does Sonya blow a hole through Sindel’s body, but she shoves her opponent’s head on a spike, watching what little life there was fade away as the head slides down. Sonya wins, indeed.

Johnny Cage vs Baraka

Intimidating though he may look, the Tarkatan Baraka exists largely as a jobber in the MK universe. So when he goes up against Johnny Cage for the latter’s second mostly comedic fight, the pairing works better than it did with Kitana. Even the first half of the battle, which once again consists of Johnny running away and doing bits.

However, two things elevate this fight over Johnny’s previous one with Kitana. First, there’s CJ Bloomfield’s committed performance as Baraka, playing him both as a dangerous killer demon and as an excited fanboy. Second, there’s the fact that Johnny rediscovers his fighting ability, leading to some incredible shots of him leaping around, building to a classic Nutkracker. Absolutely unserious, but absolutely fitting within the MK world.

Shao Kahn vs Jerrod

Jerrod isn’t anyone’s favorite character. He’s not even playable, making him less important than Hsu Hao or Striker. And yet, the battle between Shao Kahn and King Jerrod that opens the film kind of rules.

Perhaps because he was aware of grumbling about the lack of Mortal Kombat in his first Mortal Kombat, McQuoid kicks things off with one of the best contests. A flashback to Shao Kahn’s conquest of Edenia, which allowed him to take Sindel as his bride and adopt the young Kitana as his daughter, the fight has to establish the movie’s big bad’s credentials. To do so, the scene has to make Jerrod a formidable fighter, and actor Desmond Chiam pulls it off. Yes, he loses, but after watching his speedy, lethal attack, viewers walk away wishing they could play as Jerrod.

Shao Kahn vs Cole Young

Apropos to the franchise they love, Mortal Kombat fans argue about everything. But they are likely all in agreement that the match between Shao Kahn and Cole Young is one of the best in the movie. Why they like it, however, may be a matter for further debate.

Some love it because it’s a genuinely great battle. It begins with a flat two-shot of the fighters on opposite sides of the screen, mimicking the classic game screens, and sees Cole using his defensive charge-up powers an offense-forward twist. Yet, it all comes to nothing, as the now immortal Shao Kahn shrugs off the cut across his throat, throws Cole to the ground, and splatters his head. Those who hate the addition of a new audience surrogate then cheer as Shao Kahn sweeps aside Cole’s remains like so many copies of Mortal Kombat Advance.

Jax vs Jade

Jax has giant metal arms, and therefore it’s always cool to see Jax fight. Even though foregrounding the Kitana storyline in Mortal Kombat II means that Mehcad Brooks gets less screen time than Tati Gabrielle as Jade, his opponent in the tournament, he makes the most of what he gets.

Jax pulls out all the moves against Jade, unleashing a strategic ground pounds and dash punches. He even gets creative when he discovers that Jade’s bo staff is unbreakable, and starts integrating that into his attacks. McQuoid adds character stakes to the fight by integrating the clash mechanic of recent Mortal Kombat games, giving Brooks and Gabrielle a chance to show off their movie star charisma while trading quips with one another.

Liu Kang vs Revenant Kung Lao

Thus far, even the best fights in Mortal Kombat II have been half martial arts action, half comedy banter. And many of the fights rely on stuntmen and editing to pull off the moves, limiting McQuoid’s options for shots and blocking. That’s not the case for the battle between Liu Kang and his close friend Kung Lao, returned from the dead as a corrupted revenant. Max Huang makes Kung Lao’s signature swagger into cruelty when playing the evil version of the hero, while Ludi Lin evokes genuine emotion while performing the martial arts moves.

The actors’ abilities allow for more dynamic shots, which McQuoid intensifies with a mesmerizing portal in the background and Kung Lao’s razor hat swirling around. The scene is everything you want from a Mortal Kombat fight, brutal and spectacular, ridiculous and intense. It climaxes with Liu Kang reversing the fatality, slamming his friend onto the razor hat, holding Kung Lao down to die while tearfully promising to restore him to his uncorrupted state. Flawless victory.

Mortal Kombat II is now playing in theaters.

The post Mortal Kombat II: All Fights Ranked From Babality to Brutality appeared first on Den of Geek.