‘Mortal Kombat II’ Review: Dependable Action, Sludgy Story in an Old-School Mediocre Video-Game Bash

May 6, 2026 9:00am PT ‘Mortal Kombat II’ Review: Dependable Action, Sludgy Story in an Old-School Mediocre Video-Game Bash

Adeline Rudolph is Kitana and Karl Urban is cheesy action star Johnny Cage in an energetic team-of-heroes movie, the super-one-dimensional version.

By Owen Gleiberman

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Owen Gleiberman

Chief Film Critic

@OwenGleiberman

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“Mortal Kombat II” opens with an ultraviolent duel — the movie is one fight scene after another after another — in which Shang Tsung (Chin Han), the Outworld sorcerer who’s like a warrior from ancient times, faces off against Shao Kahn (Martyn Ford), who looks like the Lord Humungus meets Darth Vader under a helmet that’s a horned metal skull. (He wields a spiked version of Thor’s hammer, swinging it like an executioner’s ax.) Shao Kahn will be the film’s reigning badass monster, who tries to defeat 10 warriors from Earthrealm, all so that he can claim dominion over the other realms.

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