Mortal Kombat II

“If you like your action loud, bloody and fun, this one delivers without apology.”

“Mortal Kombat 2 gets many things wrong, but the one thing that it gets absolutely bang on is the Fatality sequences. They're murderous, bloody, creatively grimace inducing and it will turn the fans into ancient Roman Colosseum spectators, baying for more kills, more blood. If you've grown up playing the game, this movie will please you to no end.”

“Leaning fully into camp and carnage, Karl Urban's arcade bloodbath is dumb fun done right.”

“Mortal Kombat II has a lot of flaws, but it remains fun throughout, especially if you are a fan of the video game franchise. The script might be the worst thing about the film; it feels full of holes, lacks connective tissue between scenes and ideas, and also starts to set up a sequel a bit too early. This is a perfect example of wasted potential, as the Mortal Kombat franchise could have really been an amazing story for the silver screen.”

“This film does not follow any logic (even in-universe), is extremely corny, and some of the sequences belong in the 1990s. Yet, despite all that, it never lets the fun metre dip.”

“There's something maddeningly unexciting about them, a two-hour tease of something that never clicks into place. It all has the distinctly cheap whiff of something that should have gone direct to the small screen – hammy acting, stilted dialogue, chintzy effects, tinny score, Halloween costumes – but without the raucous fun that should come with it.”

“The violent set pieces, exaggerated villains, zany dialogue, and non-stop fan service all work in the moment. But once the credits roll, there is not much left to hold onto.”

“The problem is that the film keeps treating its enormous roster like unlockable skins. Several performances suffer because the film's fidelity to the game's dense lore makes a majority of the non-fights feel like skippable cutscenes. But the overall action produces mixed results despite finally delivering the tournament structure audiences expected five years ago.”

“What's genuinely mystifying about the film incarnations is how boring they are despite the non-stop action, which is competently staged but lacking the kinetic fun of, yes, the John Wick films and its many imitators. The whole thing comes off as low-rent, with underwhelming CGI effects and creature costuming and make-up that pales in comparison to a typical NYC Village Halloween Parade.”

“Dependable Action, Sludgy Story in an Old-School Mediocre Video-Game Bash”