If you went into the 2021 Mortal Kombat reboot and thought, “This is okay, but it needs 200% more Johnny Cage, a lot less Cole Young, and a budget that relies entirely on green screens,” then Mortal Kombat II is exactly the movie you asked for. For better or worse.

As someone who grew up hearing the iconic “TEST YOUR MIGHT” echo through arcade halls, I went into this sequel with tempered expectations. What we got is a loud, incredibly gory, aggressively fast-paced apology tour that completely pivots from the first film. It’s an undeniable upgrade in terms of fan service, but it trades in what little narrative restraint the first movie had for a structure that feels less like a cinematic story and more like a two-hour sequence of Let’s Play videos.

Here is how the sequel stacks up.