Video game adaptations have a reputation for being hit-or-miss; however, some big wins over the recent years (The Minecraft Movie, The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, Five Nights at Freddy’s, etc.) have made gamers feel somewhat safe wading back into those waters. Mortal Kombat II is hitting the 2026 movie calendar on May 8, and while the critics have plenty of opinions about Karl Urban’s Johnny Cage and the R-rated fight sequences, it’s another scene-stealer that is dominating the reviews.
Josh Lawson is back for the sequel as Kano — despite the events of 2021’s Mortal Kombat — and the reviews are hailing the St. Denis Medical star as one of the upcoming action flick’s biggest highlights. Our own Nick Venable caught an early screening and had this to say about Mortal Kombat II:
Mortal Kombat II may be the most inscrutable movie imaginable to watch without any prior knowledge of the franchise, due in part to clashing tones and performances. But in that way, it’s possibly also the most faithful adaptation possible, and the filmmakers are self-aware enough to ride that bizarre line successfully enough with the sequel. Karl Urban’s brash-but-vulnerable Johnny Cage joins the fun as a counterpoint to Liu Kang’s innate goodness, while Kitana brings in a tale of vengeful rebellion. But the biggest scene-stealing highlight is Josh Lawson’s return as Kano, whose laughs-per-minute average could make this the funniest movie of the year with the right metric. 3.5 out of 5 bicycle kicks to the face.
Max Scoville of IGN rates it a “Great” 8 out of 10, writing that it’s a big win to have Josh Lawson back after he stole the show in the first movie. Between Kano and Karl Urban’s Johnny Cage, the pop culture wisecracks flow in this adaptation of “colorful weirdos beating the s#!t out of each other.” Scoville writes:
It might not be Oscar-caliber cinema, and hardcore fans of the game with encyclopedic knowledge of the game may have a bone to pick, but it’s big and loud and gruesome and not afraid to have fun. The bar for video game movie sequels isn’t very high, but this one not only clears the bar, it twirls it around like a bo staff.
Amon Warmann of Empire gives the movie 3 out of 5 stars for creatively gory fighting and shallow-but-amusing characters. The story is paper-thin, the critic says, but it’s still “a lot of dumb fun.” Warmann’s review reads:
Thankfully, just as he did in the first movie, Kano (Josh Lawson) is on hand to constantly and entertainingly remind us how ridiculous all of this is. Indeed, he might as well be breaking the fourth wall given the Deadpool-esque nature of his jokes and one-liners, which are consistently hilarious. Lawson is a blast in the role, and the knowing nods to the absurdity of Mortal Kombat helps everything else go down a little easier.
2026 is a big year for video game movies, but in the opinion of Aidan Kelley of Collider, Mortal Kombat II pales in comparison to the 1995 cult classic. However, the critic still rates this sequel 7 out of 10, saying it’s a “bloody good time,” thanks in part to CJ Bloomfield’s Baraka and Josh Lawson’s Kano, the latter of whom should be considered the definitive version of the character, due to how entertaining he is every time he’s on the screen. Kelley’s review of Mortal Kombat II reads:
Once the second half gets going, it becomes a bloody good time and a bone-crunching spectacle from start to finish. Sure, there’s some clear lack of stakes, since it feels like every dead character can come back at any time, but this is Mortal Kombat we’re talking about. Dead characters coming back to life is a staple of the series, and if a third chapter can continue the upward trend, seeing what else this iconic cast of characters could get up to is a more than compelling proposition.
W. Andrew Powell of The Gate also gives it high marks with an 8.5 out of 10, as the critic lists the reasons Mortal Kombat II works: It stays true to the game, features a bit of gore, boasts jaw-dropping special effects, and is “a little dumb” but still “loads of fun.” In Powell’s words:
Josh Lawson as Kano was the biggest surprise, as a character that ends up being a lot more fun than I expected, but the entire cast works together like a charm. There are a lot of scenes, and characters, that could have been cheesy, but this cast sells every moment, and delivers what I can only call the best of Mortal Kombat. It feels like the natural evolution of the game on-screen.
Not all of the reviews are so kind. Kristy Puchko of Mashable stands by the opinion that not a single good live-action movie has come out of the Mortal Kombat IP, calling this offering an “ugly, nonsensical mess.” Yet even she gives Kano his flowers as the only character who refuses to take any of it seriously. In Puchko’s words:
This crusty criminal and unrepentant asshole died in the last movie, but like other MK fighters, he’s resurrected for this sequel. Thankfully, rather than being brought back as another humorless revenant, Kano is as chaotically insulting as ever, slinging barbs with reckless abandon. When he mocks necromancer Quan Chi (Damon Herriman) for his ‘eyeliner,’ I howled with laughter. And for a brief moment I thought that between Cage and Kano, this movie might actually begin to get fun!
That moment may have been brief for that critic, but overall the Mortal Kombat II reviews have been more positive than not, earning 70% so far on Rotten Tomatoes. If you’re excited to see Johnny Cage join the fighting fun or to see the humor Josh Lawson brings to the sequel, you don’t have to wait long. Mortal Kombat II hits theaters Friday, May 8.
In case you want a refresher or need to catch up on its 2021 predecessor, Mortal Kombat can be streamed with an HBO Max subscription.