Mortal Kombat II Producer Clarifies Criticism of Reviewers Who Don't Know the 'Rules and Canon' of the Video Games
· IGN
The producer of Mortal Kombat II has hit out at critics who, in his words, have either never played the games upon which the movie is based, or are unaware of the rules and canon of the franchise.
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With a 73% Tomatometer rating on Rotten Tomatoes, Mortal Kombat II is one of the highest-rated video game movies of all time, behind only 2024’s Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and 2021’s Werewolves Within. IGN’s Mortal Kombat II review returned an 8/10. We said: “The bar for video game movie sequels isn’t very high, but this one not only clears the bar, it twirls it around like a bo staff.”
Still, Todd Garner took to X / Twitter to bemoan some reviews he clearly felt unfairly criticized the game. One reviewer, he said, was “mad that a guy had a laser eye.” This is a clear reference to the veteran Mortal Kombat character Kano, who is famous for his laser eye.
“Some of these reviews are cracking me up,” Garner began. “It’s clear they have never played the game and have no idea what the fans want or ANY of the rules / canon of Mortal Kombat. One reviewer was mad that a guy ‘had a laser eye!’ Why the f**k do we still allow people that don’t have any love for the genre review these movies! Baffling.”
While there are a number of comments in support of Garner’s take, not everyone is on board with it. Griffin Schiller, movie critic and founder and host of FilmSpeak, took to social media to say he was “kinda over this wave of anti-criticism sentiment.”
“Your movie has a 77% on RT and counting,” he continued. “You won. You can make something for the fans without excluding the opinion of those who aren't. I don't think playing the games or knowing the lore should be a prerequisite for viewing. Films should be reviewed on how they function as… films, not as a piece of fan service.”
That sparked a response from Garner, who clarified his position.
“I’m really sorry you feel this way,” he said. “My comment was very squarely directed at a couple of reviewers that did not like the ‘zombies’ and the fact that there was a ‘guy with a laser eye,’ etc. Those are elements that are baked into the Mortal Kombat IP and therefore we were dead in the water going in. There is no way for that person to review how it functioned as a film, because they did not like the foundational elements of the IP.
“I just wish when something is so obviously fan leaning in its DNA, that critics would take that into consideration.”
Garner also faced pushback from some Mortal Kombat fans who highlighted issues the Mortal Kombat community had with the first film, specifically the divisive new character Cole Young, and further issues with some characters who appear in this sequel.
“Bro to be fair, you invented Cole Young, Arcana, and couldn't even get the simple lore of Mileena and Kitana correct,” one fan said. “I'd say you shouldn't be tossing any stones here.”
To that, Garner replied: “Fair.”
Arcana is a power introduced in 2021’s Mortal Kombat that awakens within an Earthrealm Champion who possesses the dragon mark. In perhaps the most controversial scene from Mortal Kombat, Cole Young’s Arcana power awakens when Goro threatens to kill his family. He gains golden armor that helps him defeat the much-loved — and overpowered — Mortal Kombat boss. Arcana does not feature in the video games.
Despite Garner’s issue with some reviews, Mortal Kombat II looks set for big box office success, and Mortal Kombat III is already confirmed to be in development.
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at [email protected] or confidentially at [email protected].