Mortal Kombat II is coming out on October 24th, and I couldn't be happier (well, kind of. It would be cooler if the 24th was a Monday, so that it could come out on Mortal Monday. Real ones know).
Anyway, as an apologist for the 2021 film, it does my heart glad to hear that test screenings for this upcoming Mortal Kombat have gone swimmingly. Because even though I've come around on the 2021 flick, I still want a MK movie that can get me as pumped up as the first one did back in 1995.
I still consider that to be one of the best video game movies of all time. And, if Mortal Kombat II can do five things for me, then I might have to update that list. So, here are those five things!
If Cole Gets Killed Off In The First Few Minutes, I'm Gonna Scream
Look, I have nothing against Cole Young. In fact, now that I've come around on the 2021 film, I actually kind of like his character. He's scrappy and unlike any other character from the series.
Even so, dude needs to go ASAP for the sequel. With Johnny Cage looking to be the star of Mortal Kombat II, all signs point to Cole either having a much smaller role or, catching a FATALITY. Personally, I'm hoping for the latter.
Longtime MK fans know that this very scenario happened to Johnny Cage in the so-bad-it's-good sequel, Mortal Kombat Annihilation. In just the first few minutes, Cage is killed off by Shao Khan, and he never comes back.
I would scream my head off if there's a callback to that in MKII, where Cole is killed in the same manner. Really, this is one of my biggest requests. If they just give me this, I'm pretty sure the movie would be an automatic 8 out of 10 for me, because how great would that be? It would be perfect, that's what it would be.
I Need Liu Kang, Raiden, And Sonya Blade To Play A Bigger Role In This Movie
One of my biggest complaints with the 2021 movie is that Liu Kang, Sonya Blade, and Lord Raiden were barely in it. I mean, they were, but they didn't really play much of a role.
This felt like a missed opportunity since they are the cornerstones of MK, right alongside Scorpion and Sub-Zero, who played a much bigger role in the 2021 film. Even so, the movie just felt off, and Kano pretty much stole the show. It felt weird, is what I'm getting at.
Thankfully, with the story centering around Johnny Cage this time, I have high hopes that the old gang will be much more prominently used, because they NEED to be used for this to truly feel like Mortal Kombat to me.
Though I love Johnny (he's one of my favorite characters!), I don't want this movie to just be focused on him in the same way that the recent film was focused on Cole. No, I want Liu, Sonya, and Raiden to also have interesting arcs, just as they did in the ‘95 film. Is that too much to ask?
Goro Felt Wasted In The Last Film. Bring On Kintaro!
Is Mortal Kombat II the best MK game ever? Well, there's definitely a case to be made. Personally, I'd go with MK X, but I've heard people from the Fighting Game Community (FGC) say that MK2 is the game's peak.
Cool. I can dig it. That said, one aspect that I always felt was kind of lame about the second game was the sub-boss, Kintaro, who really just felt like a less interesting version of Goro. Another member of the four-armed Shokan race, Kintaro was the character you faced right before the final boss, Shao Khan, and he was nowhere near as cool as Goro.
Be that as it may, I still want to see him in the MK II movie, because Goro was absolutely WASTED in the first flick. I mean, just think of the 1995 movie, and how awesome (and intimidating!) he was.
Honestly, if you ask most fans of the first movie what was their favorite part, they’ll likely either say the Johnny/Scorpion fight in the woods, or, the Johnny vs. Goro battle. So, I want something similar to that with Kintaro. Sure, I kind of consider him to be like Temu Goro (I’m sorry, but it’s true), but I want him in the film, just so we can get a PROPER Goro fight this time around.
I Want To See Stages From The Mortal Kombat II Game, With Secrets Galore!
Do you know how many times I’ve watched the Mortal Kombat II trailer? A lot, and one thing I will say is that it looks like some of the stages from the second game somehow snuck their way into the movie.
For example, there’s a scene in the trailer with a portal that looks similar to the stage with the floating monks in the game. There's also a shot of a forest, and that can very well be the living forest from the game, which is one of my favorite stages ever.
Seriously, give me all of the fan service, and all of the stages! I remember the first time I went to the arcade and saw that beautiful MK2 cabinet. The first thing that struck me were the stages, like the double pit (with the guy literally on fire in the background, who we'd later learn is Blaze), the bridge over the acid pool, and my favorite stage, the one with Sonya and Kano tied up while Shao Khan watches you fight.
Give me all of that, and also secret characters. (I mean, we already see Jade and Noob Saibot in the trailer, so now we just need Smoke and Ermac!) Plus, bonus points if they include Dan Forden popping in at the bottom of the screen and singing, “Toasty!” when somebody delivers an uppercut. Oh, man. My heart would explode if that happened!
No MK Movie Has Surpassed The First One From 1995, And I Want This Movie To Blow It Away
A while ago, I wrote about how I'd rather watch the 1995 Mortal Kombat movie over the recent film, and I stand behind that comment. The thing is, the first movie isn't even that good (I mean, when it comes to the first Street Fighter movie, and MK, I'd say that they're about neck and neck).
Now, don't get offended. I LIKE the original, but mostly because I liked it as a kid, and it was relatively faithful to the games at the time. In other words, it's a video game movie in a time when video game movies were historically terrible.
My final wish, then, to make this the “perfect” MK movie is for it to just be better than the first flick. That's really it. All of the things I listed above could push this sequel over the finish line, but that's what I truly want - A Mortal Kombat movie that is better than the one from 1995.
What do you think? Could this sequel be the one? I'd love to hear your thoughts.
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