Commentary: ‘Mortal Kombat 2’ Had To Made A Choice Between Tones
by Frank Martin
The Mortal Kombat franchise has a surprisingly rich mythology. After publishing so many games, the characters and plot have expanded to become deeply infused with drama and feuds. At the same time, the game series is also very campy. It glorifies a ridiculous amount of violence and gore to the point of becoming cartoonish. The first Mortal Kombat film series tried to lean more into the story side. It featured fighting and violence, but it wasn’t the highlight. The Mortal Kombat reboot dives much more into that category, and Mortal Kombat 2 only continues this trend.
The sequel focuses on Shao Khan (Martyn Ford) after he takes control of Edenia and sets his sights on Earthrealm. He adopts Edenia’s princess, Kitana (Adeline Rudolph), as his new daughter and uses her to fight in the tournament. Kitana, meanwhile, remembers Shao Khan killed her father. Thus, she works as a double agent for Raiden (Tadanobu Asano), the thunder God in charge of Earthrealm, and eventually turns on Shao Kahn to defeat him in the final battle.
Of course, Kitana and Shao Khan don’t have the only feud in the film. There are tons of other characters, each with their own backstory, who take turns sharing the spotlight. The film could have taken a very serious approach to this deep mythology and spent time building up the drama. But that would have required a more nuanced and serious tone that the film chose not to have. Instead, the sequel revels in campy gore and violence, featuring grotesque fatalities and plenty of blood. The film could have attempted to satisfy both tones and found a balance, but in the long run, it’s probably better that it chose one over the other.
Mortal Kombat 2 is now streaming on HBO Max.
