Mortal Kombat

Mortal Kombat II Review: A brilliant, action-packed adaptation

Brighton Nelson

08 May 2026 — 5 min read

I haven't played much of Mortal Kombat, and I haven't checked out many of the past movies, but I was pretty dang hyped to see such a faithful adaptation hit the big screen, especially in the kickoff to the summer movie season! So, did this movie live up to my hype and convince me that I need to binge-play every Mortal Kombat game? That's what I, Brighton Nelson of The Reel Ranker, will be delving into in today's review. Thanks so much for stopping by the site, and I hope you enjoy your time here!

Let's start with a couple of negatives before we move into the positives. There were a few decent times when the script felt really clunky, even compared to video game voice lines. While many quotes were absolute cinema in the campy video game way, not all of them were.

If you don't want spoilers, skip to the next paragraph. Only this paragraph has spoilers. I was also really disappointed with the way Cole Young was killed off. I know he wasn't well-loved, but there's not much cooler than when media can take a disliked character (à la Ahsoka Tano) and turn them into a fan favorite. Cole could've been made into an important character, or at the very least could've died in a major heroic way, saving his family in real time. But here, he just gets his head exploded by a hammer early on, and the film promptly forgets about him. While the story is really simple, if Cole had a meaningful redemption, the film could've been really elevated.

The last gripe I have is how predictable the tournament turned out to be. While I'm not expecting it to be as deep as Squid Game, shows like that do a great job of surprising the audience with their character deaths. I know this is purely a personal preference, but I'd rather have a couple of surprises, underdogs, and emotional beats than predictable death. You might be wondering why I sound hypocritical with Cole, but that death was predictable and only worked on a superficial, fan-pleasing level. I think it could've been more surprising, and I like when films take less-loved characters (like the MCU did with Iron Man and The Guardians of the Galaxy) and elevate them.

However, all that said, this film was so much fun and succeeded in making me want to binge all these games—and I say that as someone who says fighting games are one of the weakest genres of video games. This movie has some of my favorite action in any film I've watched! Every character's unique abilities are wonderfully integrated into the combat, making every scene an absolute spectacle. And while the majority of the story doesn't have much great emotion fueling each fight, the fights involving Kitana actually do have solid stakes and emotion behind them.

From seeing heads be sliced like watermelon slices to blowing up people's stomachs with energy blasts, it's awesome to see. And, while the dialogue is hit-or-miss (outside of Kano and Lord Raiden), the characterizations of every character are fantastic. Unlike Super Mario Galaxy, the film still manages to feel cohesive and give the characters the spotlight in a mostly satisfying way, which obviously can't be said about Rosalina in that one. Overall, if this is a film that makes a fighting game anti-enthusiast want to play a bunch of fighting games, then you'll sure adore this movie if you're a Mortal Kombat megafan.

The Reel Ranker Verdict

Reel or Unreel? - Reel
The Reel Ranker Score: 75%
Letter Score: A
Star Ranking: 4 out of 5

While it could've treated Cole Young a little better and could've used a few more passes on the script, Mortal Kombat II does a fantastic job bringing the game to life and has such incredible action that the simple story still feels super engaging throughout.

Interested in checking out some recent reviews about other video game adaptations? Check them out below!