Mortal Kombat II (2026)
Directed by Simon McQuoid
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.
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31 films that influenced Mortal Kombat II
What critics say influenced Mortal Kombat II
…not even a fight scene worthy of the anarchic mania of Paul W.S. Anderson’s 1995 transposition of the game, which at least had a sense of emotional grandeur in the action.
More enjoyable than its predecessor, it is still not strong enough to dislodge my absolute adoration for “Mortal Kombat” (1995).
…part of me yearns for the comparatively simple fights from the first Paul W.S. Anderson Mortal Kombat movie…
Just like its predecessor, Mortal Kombat II starts with a powerful sequence that sets a character up for a great journey, then mostly abandons it in favour of another character and half-asses both characters’ stories.
Unlike the first Mortal Kombat, the stakes here lack any weight, even if Earth is at risk.
Unlike the 2021 film, which simply introduced a bunch of characters, MK2 at least has the tournament to act as a structure to hang the narrative on.
For proof, look no further than the reaction to the trailer for Zach Cregger's "Resident Evil," which has begun the fight all over again.
…oozes that kickass yet sexy early 2000s heroine chic seen in Angelina Jolie’s Lara Croft (Tomb Raider), Milla Jovovich’s Alice (Resident Evil) and Uma Thurman as The Bride (Kill Bill).
…martial arts films like “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” and “Bloodsport,”…
The series has always been a “Bloodsport” x “Enter the Dragon” mashup with Marvel-style fighters…
Mortal Kombat isn’t Bloodsport — it’s fantasy…
After all, the "Mortal Kombat" game was heavily influenced by martial-arts films such as "Enter the Dragon" and "Bloodsport," and while those movies weren't exactly character studies, they didn't need to choose one aspect over the other.
While a “Street Fighter” reboot hits theaters later this year, “Mortal Kombat” got its own back in 2021.
With the new Street Fighter movie on the horizon and going for a much sweatier, colorful, caffeinated vibe, it makes you all the more sad that the other gold standard of fighting games can’t find its footing on the big screen.
In October, Street Fighter will hadouken its way back into cinemas.
…with classics such as Silent Hill, Resident Evil, Tomb Raider, Sonic the Hedgehog, Mario and Minecraft being remoulded from the consoles to the big screen…
Who could have anticipated, when all of these games first launched, that the best big screen adaptation of all-time would currently be a Sonic the Hedgehog threequel?
In the other corner, weighing in at "Sonic the Hedgehog," we have the Radicalists.
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…it didn’t minimize him or cartoonize as in 1997’s “Mortal Kombat: Annihilation.”
MK II is still a good Johnny Cage kick above Mortal Kombat: Annihilation…a realm no MK film wants to be in.
…followed by a 1997 sequel, Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, by John R. Leonetti.
Landing on the latter end of that scale was Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, an original attempt to make a live-action sequel in this franchise…
…the last time we got a Mortal Kombat II in theaters (folks of my generation can remember feeling ripped off when we saw Mortal Kombat: Annihilation)…
The same can't be said for its sequel, Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, which was so disastrous that almost none of the original cast returned.
The series has always been a “Bloodsport” x “Enter the Dragon” mashup with Marvel-style fighters…
After all, the "Mortal Kombat" game was heavily influenced by martial-arts films such as "Enter the Dragon" and "Bloodsport," and while those movies weren't exactly character studies, they didn't need to choose one aspect over the other.
Mortal Kombat has always existed in the weird nexus of Shaw Brothers-esque Asian mythmaking, high-fantasy adventure, Saturday-morning cartoon silliness, and Hellraiser-style gore…
…in the vein of The X-Files and Marvel's expanding Cinematic Universe, no one here is ever truly dead…
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It's a question we've been asking since at least 1993's "Super Mario Bros.," and we're not likely to have a solid answer to it anytime soon.
…martial arts films like “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” and “Bloodsport,”…