(film review) - Mortal Kombat II

What’s wild to me is that back in the ‘90s, they actually tried to make a Mortal Kombat movie and at the time… we just accepted it. To be fair, it was definitely better than Street Fighter, but that still didn’t make it good. It was just the best of a bad bunch.

But back then, that was all we had. A bit like those early X-Men films in the 2000s—whether they fully worked or not, fans just had to take what they could get.

Then a few years ago, they rebooted the franchise with Mortal Kombat and while that film was definitely an improvement over the ‘90s version, I still wouldn’t call it amazing because it made some genuinely questionable choices.

This sequel though? Yeah, this is leagues better.

The film pretty much picks up where the last one left off. The tournament is finally here and Raiden needs a new champion pr the Earth Realm will fall. Alongside Sonya Blade, they approach Johnny Cage, an actor who initially brushes the whole thing off after meeting the likes of Liu Kang, Jax and Cole. But once he’s dragged properly into the chaos, Johnny has no choice but to stop acting like a hero and actually become one.

And honestly, I had a blast with this film.

The plot itself is still pretty basic—stop the bad guys from taking over Earthrealm—but the difference this time is that almost everything else has been improved. The action is better, the pacing is better, the characters are more enjoyable and the fight choreography is on another level compared to the previous film. The previous film kind of felt like an action film with fighting where this one feels more like a action martial arts film.

Seeing classic moves from the games finally translated properly onto the screen was a genuine game changer.

The dialogue is still cheesy in places, but I found myself laughing, chuckling and fully enjoying the ridiculousness of it all throughout the film. The movie knows exactly what it is and leans into it.

The addition of Karl Urban as Johnny Cage was honestly perfect casting, especially with how they handled the character. He brings the exact kind of energy the movie needed.

The visual effects are solid too. Not groundbreaking or Avatar-level spectacle, but they absolutely do the job. And there are loads of moments that reminded me of other cult classics and fantasy properties like Big Trouble in Little China, Game of Thrones and even Pennywise at one point.

There’s even a fake movie within the movie called 'Uncaged Fury' and honestly? I’d genuinely watch that. It is all the nonsensical and over the top action from a B-rated (I think it is called B-rated) movie, from the early 80s...almost like Dolemite Is My Name (see my review on that).

Overall, this is just a fun time. Good action, brutal fights, decent humour, solid performances and way more entertaining than the previous film. If you enjoyed the first rebooted movie, you’ll probably have a great time with this.

But if you’re expecting some deep, serious masterpiece… this definitely isn’t that.

(trailer review) - The Odyssey

 

Here is something interesting straight away—I don’t actually think I know this story all that well. It’s been a long time since I properly read up on Greek mythology and while I’ve always found it interesting, this particular story feels fresh to me. That said, when you’ve got Christopher Nolan behind it, you already know it’s going to be elevated into something much bigger, or at least, this is how I feel, and honestly? This trailer looks epic.

It looks grand in scale, finely acted by everyone involved, and shot with that kind of precision that just screams big-screen cinema. I genuinely can’t see this being anything less than awards-worthy. And yes, maybe I’m biased because it’s Nolan, but damn… this looks good.

The trailer opens with Tom Holland floating alone in the ocean on a piece of wood, with the line: “Tell me what you remember.” The response: “A wife, a son, and we won the war.” Straight away, it sets the tone. From there it’s flashes of everything—Anne Hathaway, the Trojan Horse with soldiers emerging from it, armies storming in, Jon Bernthal roaring, and Charlize Theron asking question after question until it lands on: “And then what?” Then Matt Damon delivers the simple but powerful line: “Help me go home.”

From the trailer, it looks like his journey back is where all the chaos unfolds, while back home things seem tense, with Robert Pattinson seemingly wanting Anne Hathaway’s character to choose him while she holds out hope for her husband’s return. There are loads of quick shots of battle, despair and survival, but the standout for me was Odysseus and his men fighting what look like giant soldiers, with one literally being launched into a tree hard enough to snap it.

Then you’ve got Anne Hathaway’s delivery of “That world is gone”—which lands perfectly—followed by the line: “No one can stand between me and home, not even the Gods.” That’s the moment the trailer really locks in and I am fully engaged into the story. We then get soldiers charging across beaches, ships battling brutal waters, a whirlpool sequence, what looks like a giant figure moving through the trees (possibly the Cyclops), burning cities, and that final line: "I think it’s asleep.” Naturally, whatever “it” is… moves.

Everything about this looks huge, intense and classic Nolan. And from what I’ve heard about the Trojan Horse sequence already, that’s apparently one of the most tension-filled moments in the whole thing.

Yeah… this looks incredible.

(trailer review) - Resident Evil

There have been a couple of attempts at making Resident Evil work properly on screen and honestly, I still don’t know why they keep struggling with it.

Because to me, the answer always seemed simple—stick as closely to the games as possible, make changes where necessary for film, but keep the core of what made the games work. That way, you satisfy the fans and you can still bring in general audiences if the story looks compelling enough.

But after watching this teaser… I’m still not fully convinced.

And that’s the strange thing because this comes from Zach Cregger, the director behind Barbarian and Weapons, and those recent horror projects have been genuinely strong. So there’s clearly talent behind this.

The teaser itself is definitely creepy though.

It opens with a man walking through heavy snow towards a house. He knocks on the door, enters, and explains he had trouble on the road and needs to use the telephone. Straight away, the atmosphere feels cold, isolated and uneasy.

From there, the trailer slowly builds tension through quick flashes and fragments.

We see him trying to use the phone, desperately attempting to make a connection while repeatedly saying “hello” into dead silence. Eventually the line connects and he leaves a message for someone he loves, apologising for being disconnected earlier before saying something has happened and there’s a chance they may never speak again.

That entire voice message plays over the chaos unfolding around him.

While he’s speaking, we get flashes of him being chased, searching the house for weapons, hearing creatures screeching somewhere nearby, and trying to grab keys from what looks like a dead body… only for the body to suddenly move.

There’s also a genuinely unsettling shot of him going down into what looks like a sewer tunnel where, sitting deep in the darkness, is this huge human-like figure. Naked, oversized and fully visible with some dark shadows on it.

That image alone feels like something straight out of a nightmare, or at least, almost lifted straight from the original Blade movie with Wesley Snipes.

The teaser keeps escalating from there. Arms burst through an open door reaching for the walls outside, creatures lunge at him as he slams doors shut behind him, an overturned police car sits wrecked as he approaches it, and there are shots of him possibly seeing dead bodies or these creatures for the first time as he discovers them.

There’s a great moment where he’s running through the street, looks upwards, and these creatures suddenly begin falling from rooftops onto cars around him.

The whole teaser is backed by the constant sound of a busy tone from the phone line, which honestly makes everything feel even more tense and hopeless.

And right before the title card appears, he quietly says: “I love you.”

Then the tone continues.

I can’t lie, visually and atmospherically this looks strong. It definitely leans more into horror than action, which is probably the right move. I’m just still not fully sold yet on whether this is finally going to be the adaptation that truly gets Resident Evil right.

But the potential is definitely there especially as I have heard, it is not based on any one computer game story, but a story within that world; that is what might save this, if they do it right!