MORTAL KOMBAT 11

(director: Simon McQuoid; screenwriter: Jeremy Slater, video game by John Tobias & Ed Booth; cinematographer: Stephen F. Windon; editor: Stuart Levy; music: Benjamin Wallfinch; cast: Karl Urban (Johnny Cage), Adeline Rudolph (Kitana), Jessica McNameee (Sonya Blade), Josh Lawson (Kano), Ludi Lin (Liu Kang), Mehcad Brooks (Jax Brooks), Tati Gabrielle (Jade), Lewis Tan (Cole Jung), Shao Kahn (Martyn Ford), Damon Herriman (Quan Chi, the sorcerer), Chin Han (Shang Tsung), Tadanobu Asano (Lord Raiden), Joe Taslim (Bi-Han), Hiroyuki Sanada (Hanzo Hasashi/Scorpion), Desmond Chiam (King Jerrod, of Edenia), Josh Lawson (Kano); Runtime: 114; MPAA Rating: R; producers: Toby Emmerich, Todd Garner, E, Bennett Walsh, Simon McQuoid, James Wan; Warner Bros/New Line Cinema; 2026)

“Not worth beans.”

Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz

A game to movie sequel not worth beans, except maybe to the fanbase of the 2021 original who find this kind of violence entertaining. The game also made it to the screen in 1995, but with poor results. Returning director Simon McQuoid (“Mortal Kombat”) does a good job keeping it superficial and bloody. Writer Jeremy Slater bases it on the video game by John Tobias & Ed Booth.


The jokey Johnny Cage (Karl Urban) is a washed-up former ’90s action movie star who excels in the martial arts, but has no special powers. He’s brought into another realm, in the Mortal Kombat tournament, to help a squad of specially powered fighters save the world: Sonya Blade (Jessica McNameee), Jax (Mehcad Brooks), Liu Kang (Ludi Lin), and Lord Raiden (Tadanobu Asano). They try to defeat the tyrant emperor of Outworld, their mortal enemy, Shao Kahn (Martyn Ford). If the tyrant, who just took control of Edenia, gets a magical amulet he will become immortal.


The story is well-photographed in IMAX. But I found it dull, the acting wooden, the nonstop fights exhausting, and the overlong martial arts/sci-fi film to be a video game disguised as a movie.

REVIEWED ON 5/12/2026  GRADE: C
dennisschwartzreviews.com