Mortal Kombat 2 Forgets A Major Plot Point From The First Movie

Contains spoilers for "Mortal Kombat 2"

Simon McQuoid's "Mortal Kombat 2" is a master class in course correction that ought to please franchise fans who were unhappy with the first film. The fights are bloodier and more brutal than before, and the story moves away from aspects that weren't well received the first time around, with Karl Urban's Johnny Cage taking center stage over Lewis Tan's Cole Young (a non-game character invented for the "Mortal Kombat" movie). One major element from the first film that's forgotten in the sequel is the concept of the Arcana.

In 2021's "Mortal Kombat," every Earthrealm warrior who has the dragon birthmark (it's the Mortal Kombat logo) has an inner ability known as the Arcana. Part of their character's arc is unlocking this power, which comes in handy during combat. For instance, Cole spends much time in the film pondering and trying to discover his Arcana, which turns out to be body armor that absorbs his opponent's blow and enables him to use the energy against them (viewers with a sense of humor jokingly dubbed his Arcana plot armor).

The concept of the Arcana is all but gone in "Mortal Kombat 2." Yes, Johnny Cage is told to discover his inner power by Earthrealm's warriors, but there's no mention of the Arcana here. Instead, every fighter simply possesses a special skill or ability — there's no longer a need to label or describe it.

Yes, "Mortal Kombat" was something of a flawed victory, but the Arcana wasn't one of the first film's flaws. While it may have never existed in "Mortal Kombat" canon before the 2021 movie — and the mythology around it is kind of hazy — it's still a valid way to explain to casual viewers how ordinary humans develop special powers in the story. A lot of the in-universe rules of the "Mortal Kombat" games have a "just go with it" nature to them, and the Arcana concept condenses and simplifies a storytelling aspect for the wider audience.

By ignoring the Arcana in "Mortal Kombat 2," it's as if the filmmakers were ashamed of their own creative decisions. Remember, many of the people involved in the sequel were part of the first movie, so if they didn't like the Arcana then, they could have cut it out entirely before releasing the first film. Alternatively, they could have taken the opportunity in the sequel to expand and improve upon the aspects that may have seemed unclear before.

It's messy storytelling to simply ignore a major plot point and move on from it. However, while the Arcana is excluded, "Mortal Kombat 2" at least fixes the games' most unfilmable aspect in a clever way. The franchise is known for its fatalities, but having characters die left right and center isn't really feasible for a film — at least, not if they're going to stay dead. To get around this, the necromancer character Quan Chi (Damon Herriman) is given the ability to resurrect people, meaning more brutal deaths are possible.