Mortal Kombat II

It plays better than it reviews — the watch lands harder than the write-ups suggest.

• “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.”

  Matt Scoville, IGN · 80

• “It's easily one of the biggest surprises of this year. While it doesn't yet settle the debate about where video game movies will go from here, it proves the subgenre is evolving. Video game movies, especially "Mortal Kombat" movies, don't have to be radical reinventions, nor do they need to be relegated to fan service slop. They can be more.”

  Bill Bria, Slashfilm · 80

• “Mortal Kombat II ends with a pretty clear set-up for a third movie, which is already in development, and fingers crossed it'll do what this movie did: Improve on what came before, take the piss out of itself whenever possible, and never forget, at the end of the day, the reason people want to watch movies like this in the first place.”

  Liz Shannon Miller, Consequence · 75

• “Mortal Kombat II is a sterling example of an action movie that starts out dumb but gradually becomes kind of awesome — and a little bit smarter.”

  Bob Strauss, San Francisco Chronicle · 75

• “Mortal Kombat II isn’t the best Mortal Kombat movie, but it’s hard to deny that it comes second. At least with the number 2 and all.”

  William Bibbiani, TheWrap · 73