Oi, Liu Kang, Shao Kahn done killed me wife and took me bloody daughter, womp womp. That’s all I can hear inthe Mortal Kombat 2 trailer, as the cracks of Karl Urban’s real accent slip through into his awful American one.
There are attempts to make it feel like Johnny Cage, with Urban playing the naive, dumbstruck actor dragged into a larger-than-life bout for the fate of humanity, cracking one-liners and rolling up his middle finger. He’s cocky, but miraculously has the moves to throw down with trained assassins. It’s all the right ingredients for the character. But it’s uncanny.
Cage is too old, and with an iconic Kiwi in the lead, with such a distinct accent, it’s impossible to see anything but Karl Urban in cosplay. Warner Bros. needed fresh blood, preferably with a solid American accent, not stunt casting in a vain hope to get butts on seats.
It’s Borderlands All Over Again
We all ragged onBorderlandsfor the exact same thing—Kevin Hart was an awful choice for Roland, not embodying the character whatsoever, Cate Blanchett was too old for Lilith, and Jack Black as Claptrap …How do you mess up a character who’ssupposedto be annoying? The cast was comprised of the biggest names in Hollywood, hoping that would be enough to sell tickets. It wasn’t:the movie was a historic failure.
The Legend of Zeldahas it right,casting complete unknowns in the lead roles. They canmake Link and Zelda their own, whereas Karl Urban will just be Karl Urban doing a funny voice.
Mortal Kombat 2’s casting reeks of the same desperation. An older Johnny Cage a la MK11 would be fun, but that’s not what this is. He’s a washed-up actor, but this is also his first tournament, and he hasn’t even met Sonya yet, let alone had Cassie. He should be a young, virile actor in his prime for an origin like this—an arrogant up-and-comer. Urban is a 53-year-old man. It’s just jarring.
I don’t have much faith in the sequel, anyway; writer Jeremy Slater is being positioned as the man to steer this ship back on course, but with Fan4stic, The Umbrella Academy, and Moon Knight under his wing, it’d be strange if I were optimistic. But even with a stellar script, it would be next to impossible to invest in a story where the lead is hamming it up with an American accent that makes Keanu Reeves’ English one sound good.
Cole Young may have been so bland thatfans are now actively rooting for his death in the sequel, but at least I could take him seriously. Sure, we’re meant to laugh at Johnny Cage’s over-the-top antics and macho bravado, the epitome of a does-his-own-stunts actor exuding unearned confidence, but, in Mortal Kombat 2, we’re laughing at him for all the wrong reasons.
Sonya, played by Jessica McNamee, will be 37 in the movie.
I know video game adaptations can be better than this, but for some reason, studios keep banking on big names, even if they’re horribly out of place. Karl Urban is the perfect Butcher, but he might just be the worst Johnny Cage.
