With Mortal Kombat II now in theaters, we're breaking down the sequel's biggest talking points. Of course, this being an MK movie, the most noteworthy moments are brutal Fatalities and character deaths, so if you haven't seen it yet, beware of major spoilers from this point on.
Though the stakes aren't particularly high (it's always handy to have a sorcerer around who can resurrect the dead), MKII is pretty ruthless when it comes to main character deaths.
This won't come as much of a surprise, but Cole Young does indeed check out after having his skull crushed by Shao Kahn's hammer (he then takes an acid bath). After being brought back as a revenant under Shao Kahn's control, Kung Lao dies (again) following an epic Blue Portal battle with Liu Kang, who manages to drag his former friend onto his own spinning hat.
In the final act, a now-immortal Shao Kahn dispatches Jax by impaling him on the pointy end of his war-hammer, and Liu Kang goes out the same way. Upon his death, the powerful Shaolin warrior ascends to Fire God status, promising to bring Kung Lao's spirit back from the Netherrealm as he's engulfed in flames.
This brings us to the final battle between Shao Kahn and Sonja Blade, who is defeated, but not killed (the rules aren't exactly rigid). Sonya manages to free Kitana, who had been imprisoned by Kahn after he learned of her betrayal. Kitana then declares for Earthrealm and faces the man who killed her father in a brutal, if a little one-sided, showdown.
Fortunately for Kitana, a badly wounded Raiden had sent Kano, Scorpion and Johnny Cage - who finally gains powers after accepting his destiny as one of Earthrealm's champions - to destroy the amulet held by Bi-Han, aka Noob Saibot, that gives Kahn his immortality. Cage delivers the final blow with a Shadow Kick, allowing Kitana to defeat the megalomaniacal warlord by slicing through his head with her bladed fans.
With Kitana now serving as the queen of Edenia, surviving heroes Sonya Blade, Johnny Cage, Baraka, Kano, and Raiden, set off with a captive Quan Chi to bring back their fallen comrades.
Somewhat surprisingly, there is no post-credits scene to set up a third movie (which is already in the early stages of development, but we do get an awesome closing credits sequence set to the classic tune from the original movie, “Techno Syndrome” by Belgian duo The Immortals.
From New Line Cinema comes the latest high-stakes installment in the blockbuster video game franchise in all its brutal glory, Mortal Kombat II. This time, the fan favorite champions—now joined by Johnny Cage himself—are pitted against one another in the ultimate, no-holds barred, gory battle to defeat the dark rule of Shao Kahn that threatens the very existence of the Earthrealm and its defenders.
Karl Urban stars as Johnny Cage, alongside Adeline Rudolph, Jessica McNamee, Josh Lawson, Ludi Lin, Mehcad Brooks, Tati Gabrielle, Lewis Tan, Damon Herriman, with Chin Han, Tadanobu Asano as Lord Raiden, Joe Taslim as Bi-Han, and Hiroyuki Sanada as Hanzo Hasashi and Scorpion.
Director Simon McQuoid returns to helm the follow up to his explosive 2021 cinematic adventure, from a screenplay by Jeremy Slater, based on the videogame created by Ed Boon and John Tobias. The film is produced by Todd Garner, James Wan, Toby Emmerich, E. Bennett Walsh and McQuoid, and executive produced by Michael Clear, Judson Scott, Slater and Lawrence Kasanoff.
Joining McQuoid behind the camera are director of photography Stephen F. Windon, production designer Yohei Taneda, editor Stuart Levy and costume designer Cappi Ireland, with casting by Rich Delia and music by Benjamin Wallfisch.
New Line Cinema Presents an Atomic Monster/Broken Road Production, a Fireside Films Production, Mortal Kombat II.