Mortal Kombat II

Prequels:
“Mortal Kombat: Annihilation” (1997)
“Mortal Kombat” (2021)

“Mortal Kombat 2” opens with a father preparing for battle and giving his daughter a necklace of protection. We learn that this is Kitana, and we proceed to see a very gruesome battle where her father is defeated by Shao Kahn. Within that opening, we see more of Kitana’s origin, which was fun as a longtime fan. We then fast forward to a Comic-Con type scene where we see a washed-up actor replaying reels and old fight scenes from his movies. It’s revealed that this is Johnny Cage (Karl Urban), and he’s clearly underwhelmed and disappointed with where his current life. Raiden and Sonya Blade (Jessica McNamee) approach him and tell him he has been chosen to help defend Earthrealm in Mortal Kombat.

Let’s start with the acting: very consistent with the tone of Mortal Kombat. The characters come off like video game characters, but with real desperation because they are literally trying to defend Earthrealm. It is over-the-top at times, excessive and loud in the way Mortal Kombat tends to be, but honestly it worked for the movie. It feels like playing the game, and that’s something I enjoyed.

As for the plot, as someone who grew up watching the first movie and playing the games, I loved this. Minus little things, like Jade being African American and bald, which personally pulled me out a little as someone who grew up with the franchise, the lore actually felt very accurate overall. It genuinely felt like playing the game on story mode, and I loved that as a fan.

Now for the objectionable content.

The swearing, blood, gore, death scenes, fatalities, and brutalities are all explicitly shown. Johnny Cage is shown drinking and his trademark is flipping people off. The violence is very much canon to the games, so if you know Mortal Kombat you already expect that going in. The swearing, however, felt completely unnecessary to me. There is blasphemous language throughout the film and, personally, it just pulls you out of it. It feels unnecessary in the same way it usually does in modern movies.

From a Biblical point of view, this is textbook fantasy, but it also depicts the Netherrealm and hell-like environments in a very unbiblical way. There are moments where it almost presents those places as somewhere that could become peaceful or balanced, and as a Christian that gave me pause. Biblically speaking hell is no place for peace or balance and our only salvation from that which we rightly deserve is Jesus.

If you grew up watching the original movie and playing the games, you may find this enjoyable. As a Christian, the swearing definitely pulled me out of parts of the film, but overall I enjoyed it as a nostalgia throwback. It absolutely reminded me of sitting up late watching the first film and playing Mortal Kombat growing up.

Please use discernment regarding the language, gore, violence, and spiritual themes.

• Violence: Extreme — Gore, blood, dismemberment
• Vulgar/Crude language: Extreme — • 50+ F-words • C-words • “Son of a b*tch” • “P*ssy” • “D*ckhead” • S-words • A**hole • Arse • Fr*cking • Scr*w • innuendos • infrequent comic references to one-night stands, threesomes, foursomes • word “dildo” used as comic insult
• Profane language: Very Heavy — • G*d • D*mn • H*ll
• Drugs/Alcohol: Heavy — • including reference to cocaine
• Nudity: Moderate
• Occult: Moderate
• Wokeism: Moderate
• Sex: Mild

Be wise, every follower of Christ should avoid spiritual darkness and seek spiritual light

Learn about DISCERNMENT, wisdom in making personal entertainment decisions

See list of Relevant Issues—questions-and-answers.