MORTAL KOMBAT II

The film picks up right after the events of the first. Earthrealm's fighters, Sonya Blade (Jessica McNamee, 'The Meg', 'Battle of the Sexes'), Liu Kang (Ludi Lin, 'Aquaman', 2017's 'Power Rangers'), Jax (Mehcad Brooks, 'About Last Night', 'Just Wright') and Cole Young (Lewis Tan, 'Babylon', 'Deadpool') are forced to fight in a Tournament of Champions against Shao Kahn (Martyn Ford, 'Red Sonja', 'Fast and Furious 9') who plans to take over Earthrealm. Kahn has his own team, including Kitana (Adeline Rudolph, 'Hellboy: The Crooked Man', Netflix's 'Chilling Adventures of Sabrina'), but Earthrealm still needs one more fighter to compete. In comes Johnny Cage (Karl Urban, 'Thor: Ragnarok', 'Star Trek' franchise), a 90s action star, who has been out of the fighting world for some time. Together, Earthrealm must deliver flawless victories to stop Kahn's takeover.

'Mortal Kombat II' soars when focused on the action. Even with an MA15+ rating, it still manages to deliver on the gory fatalities the franchise is known for. The film knows this is its selling point, and every time that 'Mortal Kombat' theme kicks in for fans of the game, it's an absolute blast. The stunt choreography is expectational and you can a lot of love and attention went into these sequences. I cannot state enough just how delightfully crafted every punch, kick and right-hook feels. The stunt choreography is like watching 'Swan Lake' with the world's best ballerinas; everyone brought their A game to craft these perfect action sequences. The showdown between Liu Kang and Kung Lao is one of the most electrifying action scenes of the year, and is the perfect encapsulation of translating the games to the big screen.

The story is where the film suffers, much as in the first. Unlike the first, however, this is toned down with most of the run time being action beats, so while it's still there, it does stunt my overall enjoyment. There is a little too much backstory; one too many talks about the MacGuffin device, and I would often check out until the next battle began. It's a bit of a Catch-22: it's a film, and it has to have some semblance of a plot to function, but there are too many characters and backstories, and it soon starts to crumble. The franchise is yet to find the perfect balance between the action and plot.

The cast expands with Karl Urban as fan favourite character Johnny Cage, and Urban, along with the rest of the cast, is having a blast. They all capture their video game counterparts flawlessly and make the plot-driven scenes a tad more enjoyable.

Your enjoyment of 'Mortal Kombat II' will come from how you feel about the games. For a franchise known for its fight sequences, it more than delivers on that front, but it still gets weighed down by its reliance on plot. For fans, it's a Flawless Victory, but for those unfamiliar with the source material, they will deem it a Fatality.