Mortal Kombat II Not Only Clears the Video Game Movie Bar, It Twirls It Around Like a Bo Staff

Mortal Kombat II will be released in theaters on May 7. A good chunk of the way into Mortal Kombat II, a character says something along the lines of “Never forget who you are!” – a well-worn cliché that’s totally in line with the source material’s cool-sounding pseudo-mysticism. Who could fail to not forget to keep remembering MK3’s introductory adage of “There is no knowledge that is not power,” a long-winded way of saying “Knowledge is power.” Well, if there’s one piece of knowledge that Mortal Kombat II harnessed the power of, it’s knowing exactly what it is: a movie called Mortal Kombat II. If you’re sitting up close, sitting bolt upright and paying close attention, that means the film is the direct continuation of Simon McQuoid’s 2021 adaptation of the beloved and long-running fighting game series. If you’re sitting a little further back, it’s the sequel to Simon McQuoid’s 2021 reboot of the mostly-beloved 1995 Paul W.S. Anderson adaptation of the beloved and long-running fighting game series. Wherever you’re sitting, it’s a movie about a bunch of colorful weirdos beating the shit out of each other – and only half the words in the title are spelled korrectly. Before we get int