‘Mortal Kombat II’ Review: A Shein-Level Guardians Clone With a Mortal Kombat Skin
I sometimes wonder if James Gunn, with a face like Cillian Murphy’s at the end of Oppenheimer, stares into the mirror, haunted by Guardians of the Galaxy's success and its ripple effect, with Hollywood and lesser writers creating endless drab clones that ruin franchises that should have their own unique flair. Earthrealm's Guardians are the latest characters that would probably make Gunn stare into that void with Mortal Kombat II. In Simon McQuoid’s follow-up to the poorly directed but mildly entertaining 2021 R-rated film reboot of one of the most iconic fighting franchises of all time, Kitana, Jade, Johnny Cage, and Shao Kahn take center stage to spill some guts. But this time, a change of screenwriting hands in Jeremy Slater slaps the overfamiliar GotG paint job on the kombatants. If the Borderlands film was Guardians from Temu, then MKII is Guardians from Shein.
Image copyright (©) Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures
MPA Rating: R (for strong bloody violence and gore, and language.)
Runtime: 1 Hour and 56 Minutes
Language: English
Production Companies: New Line Cinema, Atomic Monster, Broken Road Productions, Fireside Films
Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures
Director: Simon McQuoid
Screenwriter: Jeremy Slater
Cast: Karl Urban, Lewis Tan, Jessica McNamee, Ludi Lin, Mehcad Brooks, Joe Taslim, Hiroyuki Sanada, Josh Lawson, Tadanobu Asano, Adeline Rudolph, Tati Gabrielle, Martyn Ford, Damon Herriman, Chin Han, Max Huang
U.S Release Date: May 8, 2026
In Edenia, young Princess Kitana (Sophia Xu) watches her father, King Jerrod (Desmond Chiam), get murdered and her land colonized by power‑hungry, hammer‑wielding tyrant Shao Kahn (Martyn Ford). As she grows up, Kitana (Adeline Rudolph) trains with her sister figure and best friend Jade (Tati Gabrielle), while secretly planning to overthrow her oppressive ruler. Today, he’s out to extend his conquest over the realms to Earthrealm.
Meanwhile, Earthrealm's champions – Sonya Blade (Jessica McNamee), Jax (Mehcad Brooks), Cole Young (Lewis Tan), Liu Kang (Ludi Lin), and Lord Raiden (Tadanobu Asano) – enlist washed‑up, prolific ‘90s actor Johnny Cage (Karl Urban) to fight in the Mortal Kombat tournament. With each matchup, the combatants are transported to various locations to fight to the death (or mercy, if they choose). Cage reluctantly joins the fight between Earthrealm's defenders and Outworld's Kahn and his minions.
Mortal Kombat II goes all in with less setup and more slaughter.
Caption: Adeline Rudolph as “Kitana” in New Line Cinema’s “Mortal Kombat II,” a Warner Bros. Pictures release.
MKII does everything in its power to rectify its predecessor's missteps, from being clearly shot by a first‑time director to "Why did you make an OC avatar?" in Cole Young, an MCU‑styled introduction to the series that delivered no middle ground. Its best improvement is Simon McQuoid's action direction: far cleaner, better composed, and easier to follow. Unlike its predecessor, which had no real momentum in its R‑rated fight scenes, this one does when it chooses to lock in. The set design transforms iconic stages from the early games into actual set pieces, incorporating goofy practical effects and wire fu to honor its Hong Kong cinema-inspired roots. The action choreography is genuinely exhilarating in several instances, like a resurrected evil Kung Lao vs. Liu Kang showdown that, despite being thematically underdeveloped, is “fan service” done right. When the film delivers as an all‑you‑can‑eat gorefest, it's solid fun, and some fatalities are fucking gnarly.
The shift in focus from Cole Young – getting the Channing Tatum in G.I. Joe: Retaliation treatment – to fan favorites Johnny Cage and Kitana bodes well on paper. The latter is where the real movie is, chronicling a triumphant quest to defeat Kahn and save her Edenian people. It's essentially a Gamora AU; imagine Thanos as Shao Kahn and Jade as Nebula. Adeline Rudolph is the standout as Kitana, capturing the rebellious grace and fierce demeanor of the ribbon-weaponizing, blade-fan-wielding princess.
Josh Lawson is still the best boy as the now laser‑eyed Kano, who is an utter delight whenever onscreen. Hell, I’d argue that the best upgrade is Slater excreting all the character’s prior racism and retaining the right amount of wit, scene‑stealing, charismatic, shit‑talking Aussie energy. One day, I hope to watch whatever Mortal Kombat movie he thinks he's in. I bet it's good.
Mortal Kombat II annoyingly trades its identity for MCU leftovers.
Caption: (L-R) Karl Urban as “Johnny Cage”, Hiroyuki Sanada as “Scorpion”, and Josh Lawson as “Kano” in New Line Cinema’s “Mortal Kombat 2,” a Warner Bros. Pictures release.
Listen, we can all agree MK 2021’s plot was a long-gestating setup for a sequel. But to shamelessly rip off Guardians of the Galaxy in your sequel, with Urban's Cage as the Star‑Lord of the picture, is simply lazy. While it's very digestible for the average moviegoer (and I'd assume hardcore fans) as a summer action blockbuster – despite its original October 2025 release date getting pushed back at the final hour – it's a pitiful change of pace. Jeremy Slater’s script applies a “best‑case scenario” balm to maximize watch value, yet it’s exhausting as it’s the umpteenth franchise to do this.
MKII establishes Khan as an ultra-powerful fighter, but introduces an Infinity Stone MacGuffin in the Amulet of Shinnok (a real relic from the games), which threatens to make Tha—I mean, SHAO KHAN immortal on top of being ultra-powerful. The movie pauses its own tournament to become a wild goose chase for the damn stone. No, I’m not calling it an amulet, you know what it is. Like Cole Young, the predecessor’s main protagonist Shang Tsung (Chin Han) is demoted to the underling role right next to Quan Chi (Together’s Damon Herriman, what are you doing here? Man, this movie is so Australian).
Many of the predecessor's negative mechanics persist: choppy editing that makes some story beats unintelligible, a wasted Joe Taslim and Hiroyuki Sanada as Bi-Han and Scorpion, and middling performances that vary, from Josh Lawson to “yawn, son.” Karl Urban is decent as a washed-up Johnny Cage; he’s like if Jean-Claude Van Damme had to do the convention circuit, one bender away from ending it all. It’s by far the most original idea for a “chosen one” self‑actualization arc, but it doesn't mesh well with the film’s overall environment. As dull as Cole Young was, Cage doesn't fare much better as his hero’s journey fights for screen time against Kitana’s. However, Cage’s arc is rushed and genuinely not as enticing. Slater's script splits attention between him and Kitana, making this already-messy Kombat tournament (full of MCU‑flavored nonsense) disorienting and repetitive. It could've stuck to the playbill with a hyperactive, over-the-top, cheesy macho guy like Glen Powell.
Key-jingling franchise filmmaking at its bloodiest.
Caption: Martyn Ford as “Shao Kahn” in New Line Cinema’s “Mortal Kombat II,” a Warner Bros. Pictures release.
After a certain point, I began experiencing the same numbness as in Mario Galaxy . Then it dawned on me: this is the adult equivalent of that. It's a key‑jingling “fan service” fest keen on making longtime Kombat heads proud while forgetting about a functional narrative. It just copies the MCU playbook, specifically Gunn's chapter, because everybody's doing it. While I disliked the predecessor, I give Greg Russo and David Callaham's script credit for having its own merit. It was a mess, but it did its best to honor its source in the most original way it could. Slater's script relies on reheating Gunn's nachos, rather than making his own toasty plate. By the time Baraka (C.J. Bloomfield) entered the fray and revealed his personality as a Drax echo fighter, I audibly sighed in frustration and second-hand embarrassment.
Listen, I love Guardians as much as the next person. The best clone was Dungeons & Dragons. But we all can’t be overt in being Guardians of the Galaxy knockoffs. You're Mortal Fucking Kombat II. It’s frustrating as both a critic and a fan (whoa, that exists?) to see a sequel package its lore in overtly commercialized clothing. It’s as lazy as all the palette-swapped ninja designs in MKIII For lack of a better word, it’s some weak‑sauce shit only Borderlands should do. Girl, get up, get over there, and stand on your own legs. The MCU-enshittification really comes for us all.
