Posts Tagged ‘Karl Urban’

Mortal Kombat II

Director: Simon McQuoid

Cast: Karl Urban, Martyn Ford, Tati Gabrielle, Jessica MacNamee, Mehcad Brooks, Hiroyuki Sanada, Josh Lawson, Damon Herriman, Ludi Lin, Max Haung, Lewis Tan

Running Time: 1 hour 56 minutes

Film Rating: 6.5 out of 10

Australian director Simon McQuoid returns as director to the sequel of the 2021 film Mortal Kombat with the new film simply titled Mortal Kombat II but this time he employs lots of laughs and sufficient martial arts, blood and gore to make this film entertaining although downright crazy at times.

Thankfully for the casting of New Zealand actor Karl Urban (Thor: Ragnarok, Star Trek: Beyond, Riddick) as the washed up 1990’s martial arts star Johnny Cage complete with black sunglasses and attitude that makes this film enjoyable. Karl Urban, channelling some of his bad ass character from the hit TV show The Boys currently streaming on Amazon Prime, he makes this film believable and hilarious combined with Josh Lawson as the one eyed Kano.

Mortal Kombat II is a combination of Australian humour and dazzling martial arts complete with a mostly Asian cast including Ludi Lin (Aquaman) who reprises his role as Liu Kang and Golden Globe winning Japanese actor Hiroyuki Sanada (Bullet Train) who reappears as the vengeful Scorpion aka Hanzo Hasashi.

Female power is represented in the form of Jessica MacNamee who returns as Sonja Blade and Adeline Rudolph as Kitana complete with killer fans, who lives by the mantra that everything is a weapon.

Jeremy Slater’s screenplay for Mortal Kombat II needed some more context and backstory as the multiple characters in this martial arts action fantasy jump between worlds which distorts an already confusing narrative. Fortunately Slater saves the script with some really funny one-liners uttered by Karl Urban and Josh Lawson in the raw Australian humour which is so hilarious.

Mortal Kombat II is loads of fun and definitely a fun popcorn film but it is not as good as the first film due to a confusing narrative and a plethora of characters that just appear to be cardboard cut outs hoping to inspire fans to dress up as their cosplay alter egos at the next Comic Con.

This fantasy martial arts action film is filled with fascinating visual effects coupled with enough gore to make the fights worthy of bloodlust but then pivots into a surreal scene stealing moment featuring Johnny Cage fighting a group of strange Mad Max like characters in a bid to win them over to the human side of Mortal Kombat. Weird and bizarre.

This sequel will make its production budget back and will be a big hit with gamers and those fans of the first film and the 1995 original. Mortal Kombat II should do well at the box office in the Asian markets and of course in Australia & New Zealand thanks to the antipodean cast.

Mortal Kombat II gets a film rating of 6.5 out of 10 and is big on humour, special effects and action but weak on a comprehensive storyline which makes the characters unbelievable and hollow. Recommended for those that love the niche genre of fantasy martial arts.

Thor: Ragnarok

Director: Taika Waititi

Cast: Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Tom Hiddleston, Cate Blanchett, Anthony Hopkins, Jeff Goldblum, Idris Elba, Tessa Thompson, Benedict Cumberbatch, Karl Urban, Ray Stevenson, Scarlett Johansson, Luke Hemsworth, Sam Neill, Taika Waititi

New Zealand director Taika Waititi was Oscar nominated back in 2005 for his Live Action Short film Two Cars, One Night.

Marvel Studios recruited him to inject new life into the Thor films and that he certainly does with Thor: Ragnarok, a neon inspired family feud of mythical proportions featuring Thor played again by hunky Australian actor Chris Hemsworth along with his pesky brother Loki played by Tom Hiddleston and new addition to the family Hela played with vampish delight by Oscar winner Cate Blanchett (The Aviator, Blue Jasmine).

Thor returns to Asgard only to discover that Loki has banished Odin, their father to a virtual retirement home. Upon a brief visit, the brothers discover that Odin, wonderfully played with a sombre delight by Oscar winner Anthony Hopkins (The Silence of the Lambs) has got an elder daughter Hela who was banished from Asgard for being the Goddess of Death and wreaking havoc on the nine realms.

Cate Blanchett relishes her role as Hela, the Goddess of Death, inspired by Maleficent and certainly quite intent on destroying her defiant younger brothers.

Thor and Loki land up on a weird dystopian outer planet overseen by the demonic Grand Master, a superbly camp performance by Jeff Goldblum (Jurassic Park, Independence Day), who immediately instructs Thor to fight in a massive arena against a formidable beast: The Hulk. Enter Bruce Banner aka The Hulk, played with bewildering amusement by Mark Ruffalo (The Avengers, Foxcatcher, Spotlight).

Eventually Thor gets Loki, The Hulk and a hard-drinking Valkyrie played by Tessa Thompson last seen in the HBO series Westworld, to return to Asgard to defeat the demonic Hela who is assisted by a reluctant henchman Skurge played by Karl Urban (Dredd, Star Trek and The Loft).

The only criticism is that the middle section of Thor: Ragnarok detracts from the film’s central narrative, which is essentially a legendary family conflict.

Thor: Ragnarok is a fun-filled comic book film which thankfully does not take itself or the characters too seriously and is a clear indication that Marvel films are definitely trying to create memorable characters for the lucrative toy manufacturing market just before Christmas.

As with all the latest Marvel films, franchise opportunities abound. Thor: Ragnarok is light-hearted and hellishly entertaining. Audiences should look out for a great cameo by Benedict Cumberbatch reprising his role as the illusive Doctor Strange.

If audiences enjoyed The Avengers and the first two Thor films, then they will definitely savour Thor: Ragnarok which is comically inspired from another Marvel hit franchise, The Guardians of the Galaxy.

Thor: Ragnarok gets a film rating of 7.5 out of 10.

Star Trek: Into Darkness

Director: J. J. Abrams

Cast: Chris Pine, Anton Yelchin, Benedict Cumberbatch, Karl Urban, Alice Eve, Chris Hemsworth, Jennifer Morrison, John Cho, Peter Weller, Simon Pegg, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, Bruce Greenwood

Director J.J. Abrams dazzling reinvention of the Star Trek franchise continues with the glossy sequel to the 2009 smash hit Star Trek with Star Trek: Into Darkness, pulling together the same cast from the original and then adding the amazing talents of big screen-newcomer Benedict Cumberbatch (last seen in the extraordinary Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy) as the evil villain and celestial terrorist Khan, a reinvented character from the 1982 film: Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.

Star Trek: Into Darkness opens with a spectacular volcanic sequence on a primal planet in which Captain Kirk rescues his half Vulcan friend Spock from near extinction to the 23^rd century high tech metropolises such as London and San Francisco. Meanwhile back on Earth the sinister superhuman Khan destroys an Enterprise space library in central London and then wages an attack on the commanding officers of the Enterprise fleet at their Californian headquarters before fleeing Earth for a Klingon refuge on a distant planet.

Captain Kirk played with boisterous heroism by Chris Pine and his team including Zachary Quinto as Spock, Simon Pegg as Scotty, Zoe Saldana as Uhura and ubiquitous Karl Urban as Bones, John Cho as Sulu and Anton Yelchin as Chekov head to the outer reaches of Klingon galactic territory and capture Khan, whose wily ways are only revealed as they head back towards earth. Cumberbatch is really superb as the sinister villain and far out does any of his co-stars maybe with the exception of Quinto’s slightly robotic yet sensitive Spock.

The unrequited love between Kirk and Spock is highlighted in a particularly touching scene when the dashing Captain appears to be dying in the heart of the Star Trek Enterprise and Chris Pine’s gorgeous blue eyes make the audience feel for his unfulfilled love as he seemingly expires due to radiation exposure under the mournful gaze of Quinto’s Spock.

But never fear Trekkies, Spock takes revenge on Khan and in a brilliantly orchestrated chase sequence through 23^rd century San Francisco resulting in an extraordinary fight sequence aboard an industrial spacecraft, not to mention a crashing spacecraft taking out Alcatraz.

Whilst Star Trek: Into Darkness has less characterization as the 2009 Star Trek, it really is Cumberbatch’s film as he makes the villain into a truly deceptive sinister terrorist with some superb dialogue.  The rest of the supporting cast ham it up in their Trekkie uniforms without too much in depth characterization whilst the only subplot to attract minor interest is Alice Eve as the blonde weapons expert Carol channeling the Nicole Kidman look as she reveals her complex relationship with her dubious father veteran Captain Marcus played by Peter Weller from Robocop fame.

Star Trek: Into Darkness is for true sci fi fans and whilst not in the same thought-provoking existential vein as Ridley Scott’s Prometheus or Joseph Kosinski’s Oblivion, it is pure glossy sci-fi entertainment and sure to remain an inspiration at future Comicon conventions , not to mention Trekkie conventions from Tokyo to Anaheim.

After all what can audiences expect from the producers of the successful Hawaii 5 0 series, Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman but another action-packed brilliant bromance, however this time the visual effects and excellent sound editing triumph over characterization whilst the script retains its mythological narrative that has made the Star Trek franchise so enduring and iconic.