Multiplex Madness
Mortal Kombat II
⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre: Action, Fantasy
Director: Simon McQuoid
Starring: Lewis Tan, Karl Urban, Adeline Rudolph, Jessica McNamee, Ludi Lin, Josh Lawson, Mechad Brooks, Tati Gabrielle, Damon Herriman, Chin Han, Tadanobu Asano, Joe Taslim, Heroyuki Sanada
Sometimes it takes me a red hot minute to remember that Mortal Kombat was rebooted a few years ago. I'm not against it, because there is more that you can do with the franchise than was achieved in the 90's, up to and including making it a hard R with absurd levels of violence. PG-13 made sense in 1995, because Mortal Kombat players were mostly teenagers while the grown-ups were condemning it for its violence. Now we're in a generation of adults who grew up with fatalities and Mortal Kombat proper would be more than welcome. The R-rated movie they released in 2021 was not really a movie worth watching, unfortunately. The influences of films like Enter the Dragon and Bloodsport were sorely missed, opting for a more Marvel take on Highlander with CGI blood. That's not even mentioning that the movie took place before the tournament and used an avatar character that wasn't from the games as its main focal point. Usually, if you're going to make a movie, it's best to try and make one that people actually want to see. Mortal Kombat 2021 was a movie about a man discovering that maybe he had superpowers and the superpower he wound up with was an Aquaman t-shirt. Where the fuck is my Mortal Kombat?
I'm not even going to bring up how they used Goro in the movie. If I did, I'd be ranting at you for a full hour.
Finally getting to the tournament, Mortal Kombat II uses the previous movie's absentee Johnny Cage as it's fresh eyes character, played by the dependable Karl Urban as an aged 90's action movie icon. Johnny is mostly used as an excuse for rapid-fire exposition, setting up all of the relevant things that they took an entire movie explaining last time. I suppose this is just in case you're going in blind and, frankly, you might as well. There is little important that happened in that movie outside of character introductions. But the tournament begins, and Shao Khan is ready to smash some skulls with fighters Kitana, Sindel, Jade, and a resurrected Kung Lau. Earth's fighters include Johnny Cage, Cole Young, Liu Kang, Sonya Blade, and Jax, ready to give their lives to protect their realm from invasion for Outworld. Round one, fight, ect. And yes, Scorpion is back. Eventually. You never make a Mortal Kombat movie without Scorpion.
So, to get to the question most probably have about this movie, which is whether it's worth watching is the last one underwhelmed you. The short of it is that it's clumsy but satisfying. The plotting of the film is choppy and fractured, but it manages to achieve a danger level of "anything goes and everyone can die" that previous movies didn't accomplish. Normally, watching a movie like this brings a conception of plot armor over certain characters for the story to function, but the movie's progress hinges on the fact that these characters are willing to die for their cause, which brings up the need for that plot armor to evaporate. I was certainly surprised at what characters they were willing to impale and which ones made it to the finish line. I can't say that for most action movies. And when we get to the final fight and who participates, it feels like the correct choice. Based on that, Mortal Kombat II is full-blown Mortal Kombat.
It's not a smooth ride. Digressions and subplots feel pointless and plot threads from the last movie that this one chooses to pick up fail to function. It occurs to me that the previous movie tried too hard to find a story within the video game and this movie doesn't want to make the same mistake, not bothering with lore building and just becoming hell on wheels in martial arts spectacle. Considering that's what Mortal Kombat has always been, I'd dare say that this is a movie made by people that understood the assignment.
The Sheep Detectives
⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2
Genre: Comedy, Mystery
Director: Kyle Balda
Starring: Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Hugh Jackman, Bryan Cranston, Chris O'Dowd, Nicholas Braun, Molly Gordon, Nicholas Galitzine, Hong Chau, Patrick Stewart, Emma Thompson, Regina Hall, Bella Ramsey, Brett Goldstein
Based on the German novel Three Bags Full, you can tell that the movie version is aiming to be less wry than its inspiration by changing its title to the far more bland "The Sheep Detectives." That shouldn't dissuade one from seeing it, especially if one has a family to entertain. The Sheep Detectives is a child-friendly crowd-pleaser which sees shepard Hugh Jackman murdered in the middle of the night. His flock of sheep take up the case, trying to figure out what happened to their beloved owner because the humans are failing to do so. This is a film that is a pretty exemplary example of how witty and fun one can make a family film, full of zest and funny business. The mystery at the center sometimes takes a backseat to the screwball antics, making it a better comedy than a mystery, but the twists and turns do keep one invested. It also features fairly sweet and resonate stories of family bonds, both in the sheep and in the humans. There are points where the movie deflates itself with some far-fetching displays of incompetence from its characters, but it's all in the name of laughs and the movie is never not funny and always endearing.
Movies Still Playing At My Theater
Animal Farm ⭐️
The Devil Wears Prada 2 ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Hokum ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Michael ⭐️⭐️
Project Hail Mary ⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2
The Super Mario Galaxy Movie ⭐️⭐️1/2
New To Digital
The Drama ⭐️⭐️
Exit 8 ⭐️⭐️⭐️
A Great Awakening ⭐️1/2
Ready or Not 2: Here I Come ⭐️⭐️⭐️
New To Physical
GOAT ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Solo Mio ⭐️⭐️
Wuthering Heights ⭐️⭐️1/2
Coming Soon!
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