S: Frankenstein, Lonesome Dove, Crime and Punishment, The Sound and the Fury, East of Eden
A: The Death of Ivan Ilyich, Blood Meridian, Beloved, Invisible Man, Cat's Cradle
B: The Time Machine, Native Son, The Road
C: The Picture of Dorian Gray, Wuthering Heights
How the hell could they do Cole so dirty like that? Same director and producer from the first film where they build up his backstory connecting the saving of Earthrealm to his goal of saving his family. He even mentions them in this film as one of his only lines.
Head smashed. Body in acid. Dead. Gone.
One mention of him not being with the group afterward and everyone being sad for a moment and then nothing else for the entire story? What the literal actual flying fladoodle, dude.
I get that he was a character that not everyone liked in the first movie and he was one of the only throwaway heroes for the sake of the plot and making Shao Khan look like the big bad villain, but this is a SEQUEL MOVIE... TO HIS STORY!!!!
I WAS HALF EXPECTING A DAMN MID CREDITS SCENE OF COLE'S FAMILY WONDERING WHERE HE WAS AND BEING SAD TO DRIVE THE POINT HOME THAT HIS CHARACTER MEANT NOTHING. BUT HEY WE GET JOHNNY CAGE TALKING TO ORC CHILDREN ABOUT HOW HE SAVED THE WORLD. AND DOESN'T EVEN TALK ABOUT THOSE THAT DIED ALONG THE WAY.
I loved the action and comedy in this a lot more than the last film, and I think the actors did a terrific job in their roles. All solid performances. The main plot was decent.
There's very little character arc with anyone but that was to be expected.
I just can't get over Cole. You might as well not even watch the first movie because actually getting to know his wife and kid will just make you sad if you thought about the way he died for a second concluding that they will probably never know how he died. Which is actually part of the speech that Raiden gives Johnny before thinking he was going to die in Neatherrealm, huh.