Joey Magidson
This weekend, Mortal Kombat II hit theaters. It’s the latest film adaptation of the video game franchise and easily its most successful one to date. Video game movie franchises being of any quality are a pretty new occurrence, with only the Sonic the Hedgehog series seemingly able to maintain a steady barometer, or even get better with time. The Mortal Kombat II release got me thinking about that, so an Awards Radar Community Question was formed. What’s your favorite video game movie franchise?
As a reminder, this here is some of what I said about the Mortal Kombat sequel:
Five years ago, when I reviewed Mortal Kombat (here), I said that it was “not bad” and that there was “fun to be had with this deeply silly, overly violent, and paper thin action flick.” Well, that all holds true with Mortal Kombat II, though this time around, there’s a bit of a course correction here with the things that held the first one back. Now, part of the upward trend here is actually coming out in theaters, as opposed to a hybrid day and date release on HBO Max due to Covid, but there’s also a sense that this film paid attention to what worked and didn’t work last time. Here, we have a silly movie, but one that does succeed more than it fails.
Mortal Kombat II is an upgrade over the first one due in large part to it not only knowing what kind of a film it is, but also knowing what it doesn’t need to be. There’s far less generic action/fantasy stuff here, though it’s still peppered throughout. Instead of it being the main course and the fights being the tasty treats, the fighting tournament is what makes this movie turn. That allows the flick to lean into its strengths, alongside an added dose of welcome comedic beats.
Now, the choice is yours. Are you going with Mortal Kombat? Maybe it’s Sonic the Hedgehog for you? Or, is it something else entirely? However you fall here, we’re curious to hear about it. So, don’t be shy and have at it…
What is your favorite video game movie franchise? Let us know!
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