The inevitable sequel to 'Scorpion's Revenge' sees Shao Khan and his many many minions waging war on Earthrealm. At the same time another Mortal Kombat tournament kicks off, only this time it could be the final battle. Raiden enters the deadly tournament as a regular Human to help Earthrealm. Scorpion is still being used by the bad guys, this time Shinnok. Characters new and old pop up as expected...but is it enough this time?
Well the movie starts off really well with Shao Khan's forces of Netherrealm demons and Outworld warriors attacking a monastery being held by the good guys. This entire sequence is essentially a rip-off (homage?) from the 'Battle of Helm's Deep' in the classic 'The Lord of the Rings' franchise. Thick towering stone walls lined with arrow-wielding monks fending off legions upon legions of demons both on land and in the air. Beasts of burden dragging huge wooden siege towers loaded with Tarkatan warriors all hell-bent on killing anything Human. Hordes of demons marching mindlessly into incoming arrow fire and just stepping over fresh arrow-ridden bodies. There's even a very similar wall breach moment in the thick of the action.
Naturally we see all the usual faces back again. Hero regulars Jax, Sonya, Cage, and Lui Kang are present and correct. This time they have assistance from Stryker and Kung Lao. On the baddies side we get new appearances from Kintaro, Reiko, D'Vorah, Jade, and Baraka, with cyborgs Sektor, Cyrax, and Smoke also. Gotta say the choice of characters for this sequel is odd and seemingly random. There are still many regulars missing yet they pick someone like D'Vorah from Mortal Kombat X? I do like how well-known characters are killed off, makes things more interesting not knowing who will make it to the end, to a degree at least.
Story-wise it's a bit convoluted really and things aren't really addressed. Sub-Zero and Scorpion are STILL battling it out in their little subplot but with the cyber Kin Kuei thrown into the mix. This doesn't last too long before the plot fixes everything and moves on. Kitana (Mileena anyone?) isn't really explored whereas Jade is a mere cameo. Shao Khan is still invading Earthrealm with no consequences from the Elder Gods? Yet they know about it? They just allow another tournament and Khan to carry on with his clearly evil plan. Shinnok still manages to carry out his plan to unleash a super being that will destroy all existence (why would you want to do that?). Personally, I didn't really like the finale of the movie with everyone fighting this Marvel-esque super God-like being and Liu Kang morphing into a huge dragon because he has the power of Grayskull or whatever. Meh just went off the rails and became some generic superhero-type crap.
But anywho, the visuals are on par with the first movie with the same animation style (obviously all made at the same time in one go). This is a good thing of course. Likewise all the brutal violence is still here and just as gooey if not more so! We get some nice tournament fighting within the classic MK arena showcasing some nice nods for the fans (although they still leave out SO much). All the action is just as kinetic as before and again the voice casting is spot on (same cast from the first movie obviously). Both this sequel and the first entry have followed the Mortal Kombat blueprint to a tee, no question about that. Highly enjoyable and engaging but still just lacking the final killer blow that would knock this out of the park making it a full-blown classic.
6/10
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