Deliberate mistake: When Sub-Zero is talking to Liu and Kitana, he says, "Legend has it that the princess is the key to stopping Kahn's plot!" This line literally makes no sense. Where did this supposed "legend" come from? Kahn's plot was a last-ditch attempt to conquer the Earth after his warriors lost the tournament, which happened mere hours before this scene. Legends can't be made in a matter of hours. And if there was a legend, his attack wouldn't have been a surprise then. Absolutely nonsensical writing.
Deliberate mistake: When Sonya finishes Mileena, Mileena's shoulders are muddy and she is face down, but when we have a close up of the dragon tattoo the right shoulder is cleaned off and what mud is left is dry. (00:42:25)
Deliberate mistake: When Jade is killed, Kahn is holding her up by her neck about a foot above the ground as the monster appears behind her. Right before the monster bites down and eats her, Kahn lets go over her neck... and she just sort-of floats in place. She should have fallen back down given she was being held above ground. (In all likelihood, the actress was standing on a box or something to make it look like Kahn was holding her up.) This happens a bit quickly, so it can be hard to catch.
Deliberate mistake: During the opening fight between Rayden and Kahn, at one point Kahn is kicked and lands on the ground in front of his generals. A few seconds later, he is hit and lands on the ground again... in the exact same spot, landing in the exact same position. (Watch for the somersault he does.) It's clear these are two different takes of the same stunt. It wouldn't necessarily be a mistake, except when he gets hit the second time, he flies backwards a bit, so it makes no sense for him to land in the exact same spot as before. Sloppy editing.
Answer: Mortal Kombat 2 was given a budget around the same as the first one probably indicating that New Line (makers of the film) were not convinced the film would not be as much an success as the original was. The buget of 30 million is not too high of a risk for a major film studio. The original was more built on the novelty of the video game and the interest of how it would translate to the screen so a sequel was always going to be tough. While it's hard to find out why the quality was unimpressive, this can just be more from different film crews from the first or just tougher f/x to try and create for the film in the time available. Take The Mummy Returns for example. The Scorpion King near the end looked far too computer generated. This was despite a massive budget and impressive CGI for both films.
Lummie ★