The ‘Mortal Kombat II’ Cast Reveals What Kind of Game Player They Are

Now that the long-awaited Mortal Kombat II movie is finally here, Rachel Leishman from The Mary Sue asked the cast a question that fans are dying to know the answer to: Does everyone from the cast actually know how to play the game, or are they all just smashing the buttons for dear life?

Leishman said she’s the latter type of player, hoping to get the best outcome by the end of the match. Director Simon McQuoid confessed, “I’m very much like you. I get destroyed all the time by whoever I play against.”

He revealed that the stunt team in the production is “way too good” at the game and avoids playing with them.

Leishman noted that Johnny Cage has an ’80s undertone to his character and asked if this was intentional. Despite the high-collar looks and slicked-back hair, it was apparently not intentional. Simon explained, “It wasn’t a conscious decision to do that.” Instead, he focused on the use of color in the movie to tell the story.

But the director isn’t the only button-masher in the cast.

Can the rest of the cast play Mortal Kombat?

Martyn Ford (Shao Khan) is also a hope-for-the-best type of guy. “We’re actually good players,” Ford sarcastically said during the interview. Is it out of character? “I just hammer the buttons as hard as possible and hope for the best,” he said, saying Shao would do the same.

His co-star, Joe Taslim (Sub-Zero), said, “It depends on the character.” If he knows the combos of one character, he claimed he’s “quite confident” with the fighting game. But when using a character he’s unfamiliar with? Taslim also just presses random buttons to get through the game.

Jessica McNamee (Sonya Blade), when asked the question, immediately said, “That’s me.” She’s a self-professed button smasher in games. Mehcad Brooks (Jax) said that he’s now a button masher, but it wasn’t always like that. He said, “I was incredible as a kid, and now, I’m a button masher for sure.”

Meanwhile, Ludi Lin (Liu Kang) says he’s much worse. “I just got the opportunity to play against a bunch of gamers in London, and I didn’t even know Mortal Kombat had a block button.” He explained that he was only able to play Mortal Kombat II Genesis, which explains why he was unfamiliar with the block feature in the updated games.

Button mashing is its own chaotic strategy

Adeline Rudolph (Kitana) didn’t hesitate, also claiming to be a ‘hit any button and hope it works’ type of player. Tati Gabrielle (Jade), who is a fan of the game, says she tends to button mash but tries to do the combinations anyway. She said, “I try to do a combination of both… When you can get the perfect combination of the right buttons and do the move you’re actually trying to do, it’s so rewarding.” But Tati isn’t quite sure if being in the movie has helped her gameplay at all.

Josh Lawson (Kano) and Karl Urban (Johnny Cage) don’t fare any better, and both just try to bash their way into finishing the game.

“I’m a bit of a button basher,” Urban said. He explained his strategy: “If I find a move and a sequence that works, then I just keep doing that one thing until my opponent figures out a countermeasure.”

While starring in the movie hasn’t helped their gameplay, they were able to talk about their filming experience, the costumes, and the movie set in the exclusive interview with Leishman. The cast can definitely play the game—it’s just that their strategy is pure chaos.

(featured image: Warner Bros.)

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