Mortal Kombat II on HBO Max

HBO Max has added a live-action video game adaptation starring Kiwi Karl Urban (The Boys) to this month’s slate.

Mortal Kombat II will stream from July 24, nearly three months after its theatrical release.

Directed by the original’s Simon McQuoid, it grossed nearly $130 million worldwide.

Urban won some of the movie’s best reviews for playing action hero Johnny Cage “in the ultimate, no-holds barred battle to defeat the dark rule of Shao Kahn that threatens the very existence of the Earthrealm and its defenders”.

“For a while, we’re cheered at the prospect that Karl Urban might lighten the movie’s load with his meta ironic balsa-wood Don Johnson presence,” Variety said. “And he does — a bit.

“But Mortal Kombat II, a sequel to the 2021 Mortal Kombat reboot, is still an old-school video-game trash extravaganza: all sound and fury and flying bodies and jargony world-building, propped up by a sludgy excuse for a story.”

According to an AI summation, “Reviewers note that Urban perfectly balances the character’s arrogance and insecurity, portraying him as a self-aware, washed-up ’90s action star who anchors the film’s chaotic action.”