Movie Review: Mortal Kombat II

2021's Mortal Kombat-which was notable for being the first R-rated take on the legendary fighting game franchise-had two very common gripes from fans: 1. The titular tournament wasn't featured at all. 2.The main character (Lewis Tan's Cole Young) was an original creation for the movie who struggled to leave much of an impression when sharing the screen with MK's stable of iconic characters including Scorpion, Subzero and Sonya Blade. The creative team for the sequel Mortal Kombat II headed up by returning director Simon McQuoid and new screenwriter Jeremy Slater (Moon Knight, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire) listened to fan feedback and came up with a really groundbreaking solution: Break out the tournament and make fan favorite character Johnny Cage (Karl Urban) the protagonist.  This application of constructive criticism/olive branch fan service is exactly the remedy MKII needed to improve upon its predecessor.  

Structurally, Mortal Kombat II tests the limits of the definition of narrative storytelling. About 90% of the film is a breathless upchucking of frantic, CGI gore-soaked fights, quips that were collected off the cutting room of all three Deadpool movies and lore dumps about magic amulets that make fighters invincible and warning of the horrors that would fall upon the people of Earth if a tyrannical monster from another dimension were to win the latest edition of an interdimensional martial arts tournament where the losing contestants are typically killed in an over-the-top gruesome manner.  These smooth-brained shenanigans will drive certain viewers absolutely fucking insane as they chug along for a little under two hours until it reaches a conclusion that features wait for it... a tease for the next movie. 

For me, this particular configuration of a Mortal Kombat movie is pretty ideal. The first thing that comes to my mind when I think of Mortal Kombat is a relentless stream of over-the-top fights and building a movie around this cornerstone of the game just feels right. Honestly, the only time I wasn't entertained was when they attempted to build an emotional core surrounding Kitana (Adeline Rudolph) and her quest for revenge against big bad Shao Khan (Martyn Ford) for killing her father when she was a kid. Trying to establish even just a single somewhat substantial arc for one of these characters is just entirely antithetical to the rest of the movie that is built around things like Character X ripping Character Y's head off or Character A sparing the life of Character B to remind the viewer that they're one of the good guys, and it shows in the complete lack of heart that is put into this subplot. There was really no need to try to apply some half-assed personal stakes to a plot that basically boils down to "if Shao Khan wins the tournament, he will be free to enslave the Earth" and it's really hard to argue that it serves any purpose other than to than fill up the small bursts of dead air that exist between fights. Just let the cartoonish martial arts do the talking and leave the emotional resonance to movies that don't include spontaneous trips to Hell, a recently resurrected man melting goons with the laser eye that some corpse paint-covered wizard conjured up in a few seconds upon request and an avatar for Jean-Claude Van Damme helping save Earth from the brink of extinction. 

Assuming Mortal Kombat III gets greenlit, the path forward for this franchise could suddenly get murkier. Doubling down on the tournament/lore formula could swiftly erase the goodwill that was built up here and pivoting to a weightier story just doesn't make much sense for a franchise that is at its worst when its characters aren't trying to fight each other to the death. While there are certainly far worse outcomes than a fighting game adaptation peaking with something that's on the level of Mortal Kombat II, there's still some room for these movies to grow in terms of leaning into the inherent ridiculousness of this material and upping the creativity of the fight choreography in a world where the possibilities for combat fireworks are basically endless (more stuff on the level of the Kung Lao vs. Liu Kang fight in this installment would be awesome). A flawless victory is in sight, the people behind the controller just have to lock in and put the work into making it happen. 

Grade: B

Karl Urban Ranked

Welcome to "Ranked", a weekly series where I rank a franchise or filmography from worst to best and hand out assorted related superlatives. This week, I'm profiling the work of Karl Urban-whose latest project "Mortal Kombat II" releases in theaters today.

Karl Urban's Filmography Ranked:

16.The Loft (D+)

15.Priest (C-)

14.The Chronicles of Riddick (C)

13.The Bourne Supremacy (C) 

12.The Bluff (B-)

11.Riddick (B-)

10.Star Trek Beyond (B-)

9.Doom (B-)

8.Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (B-)

7.Acts of Vengeance (B) 

6.Red (B)

5.Star Trek Into Darkness (B+)

4.The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (B+)

3.Dredd (B+)

2.Star Trek (A)

1.Thor: Ragnarok (A)

Top Dog: Thor: Ragnarok (2017)

Taika Waititi coming in and revitalizing Thor after The Dark World turned the Norse God into the MCU's biggest liability as a solo movie headliner is one of the best things that's ever happened in the history of this massive franchise. Ragnarok is a big, colorful blast of a movie that is unafraid to get weird and show off Chris Hemsworth's underutilized range by turning Thor into this magnetic goofball who is finally forced to be vulnerable as his home faces extinction from his estranged sister Hela (Cate Blanchett in a delightful scenery-chewing villain turn).

Bottom Feeder: The Loft (2015)

It would be very hard to find a throwback sleazeball thriller attempt that's as misguided as The Loft. Belgian director Erik Van Looy-who is remaking his own 2008 movie Loft in English!-establishes a bafflingly serious tone for a movie with a logline that basically amounts to "five friends find a dead woman in the luxury apartment that they all use for their extramarital affairs and have to figure out who is responsible for this unidentified corpse before the authorities are alerted", none of the actors save for Matthias Scohenaerts-who also appeared in the original-invest any energy into trying to sell the fractures in the group's dynamic that this heinous crime has exposed and the obligatory avalanche of plot twists that arrives in the final act is too clumsily deployed to provide the intended seismic reconfiguring of the lens that the preceding events are viewed through. 

Most Underrated: Dredd (2012)

Plan and simple, Dredd fucking tips. The bloody, slow motion-driven action sequences hit like a truck, the simple plotting and confined apartment complex setting keep the suspense at a very high level throughout and the interactions between Urban's stoic brute Judge Dredd and Lena Headey's cartoonishly evil drug lord Ma-Ma are consistently electrifying. I would be absolutely overjoyed if Urban finally got his longstanding wish to get a sequel off the ground.

Most Overrated: Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)

Being on an island when it comes to Return of the King is one of the loneliest places you can ever find yourself in the world of movie takes. The reality is that I was very underwhelmed by this as a kid and that feeling has stuck with me as an adult. Padding out the runtime by tacking on nearly an hour of inert drama following the destruction of the ring adds a huge anticlimactic streak to what is supposed to be this soaring conclusion to an epic story. Looking back on it now, I'd argue that this creative choice proved to be a harbringer of what was to come with Peter Jackson's drawn-out adaptation of The Hobbit. Perhaps, a rewatch of the full trilogy would unlock something that I missed all of those years ago but for now, I remain firm in my belief that this is easily one of the most overrated movies I've ever watched.  

2026 NFL Position Rankings: Top 25 Quarterbacks

Blooming flowers and the promise that summer is within reach isn't the only thing that May always brings. That's right, there's also the considerably less exciting arrival of my annual NFL Position Ranking series. This was a tradition that was born out of pure boredom during the seemingly endless offseason about a decade ago and it's something that I really enjoy putting together every year. Here are a few notes on how this series works before we get started.

1.Rookies are barred from inclusion.

2.Players are judged on where they currently stand in my opinion, not the player they once were or could potentially go onto be.

3.Each player is listed as a member of the team they're currently rostered by. If a player is not on a roster at the time of the publishing of their position's rankings, they'll be listed as a free agent.

Quarterback has the honor of kicking things off as per usual and for the first time in a long time, there's a new guy occupying the top spot. Hope you enjoy and I encourage you to regularly check back over the next 8-9 weeks as the remainder of the series is published. 

()=2025 ranking 

+=Unranked or ineligible in 2025

25.(16) Kyler Murray (Vikings)

24.(+) Kirk Cousins (Raiders)

23.(+) Jacoby Brissett (Cardinals)

22.(23) Bryce Young (Panthers)

21.(25) Aaron Rodgers (Steelers)

20.(+) Daniel Jones (Colts)

19.(12) C.J. Stroud (Texans)

18.(+) Bo Nix (Broncos)

17.(8) Jayden Daniels (Commanders)

16.(11) Baker Mayfield (Buccaneers)

15.(24) Caleb Williams (Bears)

14.(18) Trevor Lawrence (Jaguars)

13.(9) Jared Goff (Lions)

12.(13) Brock Purdy (49ers)

11.(17) Jordan Love (Packers)

10.(20) Drake Maye (Patriots)

9.(5) Jalen Hurts (Eagles)

8.(10) Dak Prescott (Cowboys)

7.(6) Justin Herbert (Chargers)

6.(15) Sam Darnold (Seahawks)

5.(2) Lamar Jackson (Ravens)

4.(4) Joe Burrow (Bengals)

3.(1) Patrick Mahomes (Chiefs)

2.(7) Matthew Stafford (Rams)

1.(3) Josh Allen (Bills)

Movie Review: Deep Water

 

Picture this: It's the first weekend of the summer movie season and you're in the lobby of your local multiplex. Among the offerings playing is a Renny Harlin-directed disaster movie-turned-shark survival thriller starring Aaron Eckhart, Ben Kingsley and Angus Sampson. A reasonable follow up question would be what year is it? 1998? 2004? Perhaps, 2010? Believe it or not, this was a scenario that could've played out if you had walked into any of the 1,675 theaters in the United States/Canada that were playing Deep Water this past weekend. What's just as surprising as something like this making its way to the big screen in 2026 is that it's a legitimately solid piece of throwback entertainment.

Deep Water is the kind of movie that Harlin should always be considered for but rarely gets hired to make these days. His largely uninspiring filmography over the past 25 years has painted a distorted picture of who he is as a filmmaker and getting the chance to direct this two-for-one schlock special is his way of proving that he's still the same guy he was in the 90's when he was one of Hollywood's preferred hires when they needed a reliable pro to direct a dumb blockbuster. The pride he takes in being able to stage a massive plane crash that kills dozens of people via flying objects, slamming their heads off their tray tables, etc. then immediately shift gears to having the some of the people that survived the impact of the plane hitting the open ocean water promptly get eaten by sharks can be felt through the screen. This material doesn't require buy-in from the director, but Harlin can't help but get earnestly invested in the plight of these one-note characters, their struggle to survive back-to-back catastrophic events and the horrific dismemberment of the (mostly) unlikable souls who don't make it out of the shark-infested, debris-filled waters alive. After seeing him slip back into his old form here, I'm actually kind of excited to see what he did on the whale attack movie he made with Melissa Barrera and 2-4 Travoltas last summer.

Deep Water isn't the next Deep Blue Sea (although there are a few moments in the final 20 minutes where Harlin channels the same demented over-the-top cartoonish energy that made that movie so much fun), let alone the next Jaws. It is however a reminder of the special entertainment value that a disaster/survival movie that's earnestly cheesy and dumb enough can hold. This is a recipe that has threatened to be lost with time, and it was nice to see a trusted steward of its legacy allow it to stave off extinction for now by cooking up a damn fine meal with it at a time where it was widely believed he longer knew his way around a kitchen. 

Grade: B-

Movie Review: Hokum

Hollywood has tasked the blockbuster trio of The Devil Wears Prada 2, The Mandalorian & Grogu and Mortal Kombat II with being the primary driver of audiences to theaters during the month of May. What's lurking in the shadows and eager to feast on whatever scraps come their way during this opening month of 2026's summer movie season is a whole lot of horror movies. There are a whopping five horror movies releasing in May (which as of this writing, is more than June-August combined!) and this upcoming weekend is the only one this month that doesn't have one on the calendar. Batting leadoff in this spooky lineup is the Neon-backed supernatural/psychological chiller Hokum from Irish filmmaker Damian Mc Carthy (Oddity, Caveat). If Hokum is a harbinger of what's to come from Obsession, Passenger, Corporate Retreat and Backrooms in the coming weeks, this is going to be a very enjoyable stretch for fans of the horror genre. 

The setup to Hokum is a pretty familiar one as it centers around an American writer (a really terrific Adam Scott) who travels to Ireland to spread the ashes of his deceased parents outside of the remote countryside hotel they honeymooned at, only to quick discover that this idyllic place is haunted by a witch and some other evils that aren't of the supernatural variety. Seeing another story involving a haunted hotel and tortured creatives confronting the trauma that made them miserable is going to have zero appeal to some folks out there that have had their fill of movies that are in the mold of The Shining or 1408 over the years. Safe to say, I'm not one of these people. Once Hokum settles into a groove after a pretty slow first act where it establishes the central players that are going to help make this writer's trip to Ireland unforgettable (the desk clerk who is seemingly only employed there because he's the owner's son-in-law, a psychedelic mushroom-loving drifter with a troubling past who lives in a van in the woods next to the hotel, a friendly bartender who is the only member of the hotel staff that Scott's prickly character is even somewhat nice to, the aspiring writer bellhop who is naive enough to believe that a famous author would be anything other than bluntly dismissive upon being asked if they were interested in reading a stranger's manuscript, the hotheaded groundskeeper) and a bit of folklore surrounding the witch that haunts the hotel's long decommissioned honeymoon suite, the film becomes so fucking terrifying that I didn't give two shits about any similarities it may or may not have shared with other movies.  

It's been quite a bit since I've watched a haunted house movie where it felt like the main character was being haunted by a dangerous evil that could be lurking around every corner. The seemingly endless corridors and ambient wall-mounted lighting that run through the hotel are designed in a way that screams "SOMETHING EVIL LIVES WITHIN THESE WALLS" without feeling like they were explicitly built as a nightmare playground for a horror movie. Naturally, this feeling of unease and inherent creepiness intensifies when the action eventually shifts to the honeymoon suite. This long vacant space is a cavernous maze full of secret tunnels and old elevators that serve as portals to various evils that are better left unspoken until you actually see the movie. Trapping the viewer in an area where the sense of confinement and danger from the various threats the protagonist is facing aren't just seen but felt in the deepest pits of your stomach is the most surefire way to know that a horror movie has done its job and Mc Carthy finds so much success on that front that I hope the producers give him a bonus for all of the internal distress he caused through the relentlessly nightmarish materialization of his vision.  

Hokum isn't quite as successful with handling the subtext around the long-held trauma that has made Scott's character the miserable loner alcoholic writer he is today. But when the movie is this scary and compelling, it becomes a lot easier to forgive a somewhat underwritten emotional arc that forces the main character to finally obtain the courage to face their inner demons. Mc Carthy is well on his way to keep on rising through the horror ranks and may he not lose sight of the meticulous visceral craftsmanship that fueled his ascent once he moves onto bigger projects. 

Grade: B+

Aaron Eckhart Ranked

Welcome to "Ranked", a weekly series where I rank a franchise or filmography from worst to best and hand out assorted related superlatives. This week, I'm profiling the work of Aaron Eckhart-whose latest project "Deep Water" releases in theaters tonight. 

Aaron Eckhart's Filmography Ranked:

16.The Bricklayer (D)

15.The Pledge (D+)

14.Any Given Sunday (C-)

13.I, Frankenstein (C)

12.Paycheck (C)

11.Line of Duty (C)

10.The Rum Diary (B-)

9.Battle: Los Angeles (B-)

8.London Has Fallen (B-)

7.Olympus Has Fallen (B-)

6.Bleed for This (B)

5.Thank You for Smoking (B)

4.Erin Brockovich (B)

3.Sully (B)

2.Rabbit Hole (B+)

1.The Dark Knight (B+)

Top Dog: The Dark Knight (2008)

While I'm downright negative on it compared to a lot of people out there, The Dark Knight is an unquestionable cultural touchstone movie that really cemented Christopher Nolan as the Hollywood pillar that he is today and provided the world with one final showcase of the late Heath Ledger's extraordinary talent with his career-defining turn as The Joker. 

Bottom Feeder: The Bricklayer (2024)

Deep Water is the second collaboration between Eckhart and Renny Harlin in recent years. It won't take much for it to be an improvement over their first. Ironically, The Bricklayer is considered to be one of the better VOD action vehicles Eckhart has fronted since he got demoted to Hollywood's minor leagues in the late 2010's and if that's the case, I'm glad that I haven't bothered to watch the ones that are viewed as the worst. This is just a completely lifeless slog with incoherent action and an even more incoherent espionage thriller storyline that takes itself far too seriously for something that's so deeply stupid at its core. Both Harlin and Eckhart are above this kind of thing and it's a shame to see them be forced to take on these kinds of projects to remain steadily employed.  

Most Underrated: Rabbit Hole (2010)

Thumbing through streaming service to find a couple of Nicole Kidman titles to watch for this piece ahead of the release of The Northman 4 years ago this month led me to watching Rabbit Hole and I'm thankful that it happened to be on HBO Max at that time because this is a great little movie that otherwise would've evaded my radar. Kidman and Eckhart are terrific are a married couple trying to put the pieces of their life back together after their 4-year-old son is killed in a tragic accident and the film manages to tackle the grieving process with a full compassionate heart without glossing over the ugly emotions that accompany it or resorting to shamelessly over-the-top melodrama to upsell the emotional turmoil its characters are facing. 

Most Overrated: Any Given Sunday (1999)

The timing of Any Given Sunday showing up here once again couldn't be more impeccable as some clips from it have been recirculating online in honor of Al Pacino celebrating his 86th birthday last weekend. Oliver Stone let's all of his worst impulses take the wheel here as he churns out a cartoonish, shockingly dull examination of the petty, ego-driven landscape that is a professional football organization. Pacino and Jamie Foxx's swagger gives the movie pulse at times, but a couple of cool scenery-chewing performances can't provide this film with the level of maximalist spark it needs to deliver on its aspirations to be a relentlessly chaotic gridiron soap opera.

10 Most Anticipated Albums of Summer 2026

10.Your Spirit Dies-It Is Well... (Release Date: May 22)

9.Ariana Grande-Petal (Release Date: July 31)

8.Vince Staples-Cry Baby (Release Date: June 5)

7.Boundaries-Yearning: The Unbeautiful After (Release Date: July 17)

6.Genesis Owusu-Redstar Wu & the Worldwide Scourge (Release Date: May 15)

5.Periphery-A Pale White Dot (Release Date: May 15)

4.Static Dress-Injury Episode (Release Date: May 29)

3.August Burns Red-Season of Surrender (Release Date: June 5)

2.Converge-Hum of Hurt (Release Date: June 5)

1.Loathe-A Stranger to You (Release Date: July 17)

Also Plan on Listening To:

Haste the Day-Dissenter (Release Date: May 1)

Isaiah Rashad-It's Been Awful (Release Date: May 1)

Kacey Musgraves-Middle of Nowhere (Release Date: May 1)

Frozen Soul-No Place of Warmth (Release Date: May 8)

Ingested-Denigration (Release Date: May 8)

Drake-Iceman (Release Date: May 15)

JPEGMAFIA-Experimental Rap (Release Date: May 21)

Sublime-Until the Sun Explodes (Release Date: June 5)

Kelsey Lu-So Help Me God (Release Date: June 12)

Olivia Rodrigo-You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love (Release Date: June 12)

Muse-The Wow! Signal (Release Date: June 26)

Electric Callboy-Tanzeid (Release Date: August 7)