As someone who grew up during the 90s and saw my causins playing Mortal Kombat on Super Nintendo, I have always wanted for this game adaptation movie to work out and this 2026 version has to be the best of all of them, because they actually learned something from the first one and the difference shows up in the very first scene. It does not spend twenty minutes explaining what Mortal Kombat is or trying to justify itself, although some of this characters that I knew nothing throw me off a bit but thats fine, ithe movie righta away just throws you into Edenia before you even settle in. We get this new scene showing young Kitana watching her father King Jerrod try to hold his ground against Shao Kahn, who shows up swinging a massive war hammer around like it weighs nothing and he dodges Jerrod clean before shoving the back of that hammer straight through the chest, doing it right there in front of the mother and the daughter, I honestly though that was kinda cruel for a game adaptation movie although it is the kind of dark cold open that earns its place because its clear we already know who is the villain but it also gives you the exact moment Kitana stops being a little girl, standing there she took her fathers blue ribbon with the sky going black around her, refusing to kneel for this guy who just told her he is her father now, that was a funny momento too "Im your father...". You understand everything about who she is and what she is fighting for from that single moment, no lazy voiceover needed, just a kid making a choice that locks in her whole destiny. That opening sequence told me the people behind this movie actually gave a damn about getting the emotional part of the movie right this time. I'm not going to pretend is the best action movie of 2026 but this kind of opening is the kind of setup that separates the decent action movies from the ones worth talking about afterwards.
- IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt17490712/
- Platform: PRIME VIDEO
Karl Urban jumps into this thing as Johnny Cage and immediately reminds everyone why he is one of the most watchable guys working right now, the character is this washed up action star still clinging to a fading nineties glory that nobody cares about anymore, and the movie introduces him with a very hilarious scene that is not far from reality as how some of the 90s action movies were although I didnt like it at first because it feels so much distant between the actual movie and the kind of movies Johnny Cage did. We first catch him filming this absurd movie scene where he does a full split in midair to dodge a rocket, the missile past him and takes out a helicopter in the background, it was obvious this was not part of the movie but there is a cool shot that brings you from a small tv screen to the convention he is sitting at as the total opposite enviroment nobody giving a shit about. The contrast between the guy he plays on screen and the sad parking lot reality he actually lives in is perfect to show how much of a looser he is now days and this goes along with him until the very end of the moment. Urban plays it with just enough feeling of exhaustion that you feel bad for him even while you are laughing. Raiden and Sonya show up to recruit him right there in the empty lot and Cage completely dismisses Raiden by telling him his big straw hat makes him look like a cheap cosplay character, which is exactly the kind of thing you would say if a god showed up to your lowest point and you were still too proud to admit it like you are actually still relevant. Raiden eventually tears open a lightning portal right there in the parking lot to prove he is the real thing, watching this arrogant guy go completely silent for the first time and then step through while complaining every step of the way is easily the most entertaining stretch of the whole movie. The human element Urban brings to all the magic ninja stuff is exactly what the first movie was missing, because having someone point out how ridiculous everything is makes the whole insane world feel more grounded, and the comedy lands without ever undercutting the action.
Here is where I have to be real about the stuff that does not work, because there are some sections of this movie that feel like they belong on a completely different production budget, in short words make it look cheap. The fight between Sindel and Sonya takes place inside this tight copper cage with metal blades randomly shooting up from the floor and the green screen behind them looks so flat and lifeless that it completely kills any sense of danger, the whole environment feels like something out of a daytime television show rather than a tournament deciding the fate of Earth. Sindel just stands there screaming with her sonic voice and they throw away her signature hair attacks entirely so instead of getting this savage and unique villain doing something awesome you get a fairly generic screaming lady who feels like a waste of a roster slot, who latter on looks more like the Sindel from the game when she gets resurrected. Sonya counters by blasting bright pink energy rings from her wrists and the whole scene is stiff from start to finish because you already know the outcome, they wouldnt let Sonya die that early right?, the scene really lack the kind of physical impact that makes you actually feel like you are on the scene and when the finish comes and Sindel ends up on one of those floor spikes the digital blood and the awkward framing make it look cheap. This kind of scene is the one that makes you look at your phone and in my case moving the mouse to see how much is left of the movie, tempting to fast forward, which is never a good sign and there is another moment where Sonya gets clipped by a hammer and spins sideways into a wall that just looks clumsy rather than devastating. The frustrating part is that the production clearly knows how to shoot action because other sequences in the same movie look fantastic, so the drop in quality in these particular fights feels less like a budget problem and more like a planning failure, like nobody went back to watch the footage and said hey this looks bad.
Im going to throw a bone to the movie here if we compare it to the first movie though and the improvement in character variety and straight up entertainment value is significant, and a big part of that comes down to Kano, yeah I didnt think he would be so important for the sequel, who Quan Chi resurrects and then gifts back his glowing red laser eye that Kano immediately starts using to blast random things while talking the most gloriously selfish trash imaginable. He is a complete scumbag who operates entirely in his own self interest but what makes you love the guy most is his trash talking and this feeling of antihero and the movie builds every scene of his character that it doesnt feel force and you actually get the character of the guy, not like Cage who is more cringe and sometimes do feel force like the movie is pushing him so hard to do things like putting on the glasses. Baraka is another awesome massive addition, living out in this bone covered wasteland camp that looks straight from the most savage lands from another world and when Johnny Cage has to fight him to earn any kind of respect you get this totally chaotic clash where Baraka is shooting giant bone spikes out of his forearms while Cage tries to counter with movie star kicks and his signature nut punch. There fight doesnt feel coordinated or the type of "pro" fight scene, does feel very random but at the same time it works because at first Cage is just running away from Baraka and the fact that Baraka ends up respecting Johnny after watching the split and the nut punch is the kind of absurd tonal shift this franchise takes and actually works, I always though Baraka was one of the bad guys but this movie makes it feel like he was just miss guided and a slave. The movie also gives us the standout fight of the entire thing when Liu Kang has to face the resurrected Kung Lao in front of a giant blue portal, a scene that clearly holds back and feels sad because Liu Kang clearly does not want to kill his brother, trying to reach the real person trapped inside the corrupted shell. Kung Lao keeps throwing that razor sharp hat across the arena forcing Liu Kang to move constantly and when the moment of truth comes Liu Kang does something you do not see coming, he grabs Kung Lao and pulls him down onto his own hat as it spins embedded in the ground like a buzzsaw, using the weapon against its owner in the most heartbreaking way possible, with Liu Kang vowing through tears to bring him back someday.
The ending of the movie does have a big impact not only because Kitana fights Shao Kahn but how she all of the sudden is allow to quit Shao Kahn "team"? , that moment I was like, is that allow?, but the most ridiculous is the Cole Young situation because lets remember that this is the guy that nobody wanted from the first movie and why it was so confusing in terms of the story, so on the sequel they didnt force him to be the hero, Cole fights hard and manages to wound Shao Kahn, landing a hit that would finish almost any other opponent, but Kahn is bonded to the Shinnok amulet and his body just heals itself instantly like the damage never happened, and then Kahn overpowers Cole and brings the hammer down before throwing what is left into the bubbling green acid pool. It is the kind of moment that resets your expectations for who is safe in this universe and who is not, and it makes the entire half feel unpredictable in a way that most tournament movies never quite manage. Even with the green screen problems in the middle sections and a handful of fights that land nowhere near as hard as the good ones, there is enough here to keep you entertained from that Edenia opening to the final moments that set up whatever comes next, might be a third movie most likely with more characters and with Cage with full powers and the humor from Urban and Kano doesnt let the whole thing from getting too heavy when the story starts piling up the losses. This is a better version of Mortal Kombat movie for the people who grew up on those games always wanted to a certain point, something that make you feel that world could be possible at least to certain extend, bloody and ridiculous and chaotic, I am giving it an 7 out of 10 because it course corrects the real problems from the first one and leaves you actually curious about where the story goes from here, as long as they keep the laser eye involved I am in.
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