Statistically, you in all probability haven’t seen the Monster Hunter film, in all probability as a result of it got here out at precisely the unsuitable time. Paul W.S. Anderson’s adaptation of Capcom’s online game collection was launched in December 2020, throughout a interval the place many individuals had been nonetheless staying residence fairly than going to the theaters. It’s one of many solely box-office disappointments of Anderson’s profession, but it surely’s certainly one of his finest collaborations with Milla Jovovich — an epic style mashup that successfully delivers on the size and hazard of the video games.
The setup is actually an isekai: Captain Artemis (Jovovich) leads a U.N. Joint Safety Operations group despatched to analyze a mysterious disappearance within the desert, earlier than being transported to a fantastical world the place they encounter many monsters and ultimately an ally known as The Hunter (Tony Jaa). There’s additionally a positively feral Ron Perlman, nearer to his Magnificence and the Beast look than something he has finished since.
An important factor to get proper in a Monster Hunter film is the sense of scale, and Anderson and his group completely nail it. The huge landscapes are peppered with impossibly massive skeletons, and our heroes use large weapons to face off towards the hulking monsters. Anderson makes use of top-down pictures and prolonged gradual zoom-outs to evoke a larger-than-life fantasy world earlier than going huge and letting the monsters fill the complete body. He’s in a position to create moments of spectacular awe by spare and efficient use of slow-motion results. Plus, the entire thing seems to be nice — it may be straightforward to overlook within the nonstop motion and frantic modifying, however Monster Hunter has terrific lighting, with vivid white sands within the desert contrasting darker scenes stuffed with meticulously positioned pops of sunshine and shade to attract your eye.
However my favourite half upon revisiting the film is how Monster Hunter mashes genres collectively. On the floor, it’s a fantasy film pitting troopers towards hulking creatures. However Anderson makes use of that premise to seamlessly cycle between inspirations from a number of the biggest monster motion pictures in historical past, with an Alien-style egg laying, a Jurassic Park-esque stampede, a Shelob-like large spider lair, some Jaws-inspired sequences with monsters swimming within the sand, and different kaiju and creature characteristic staples.
That’s all on high of the terrific buddy comedy setup between Artemis and The Hunter. Neither can perceive the opposite’s language, which ends up in an at first contentious and ultimately fairly charming and humorous dynamic, pairing his impish giggle together with her sternness. (A specific spotlight: Her delivering an epic “Let’s do that” earlier than an enormous battle and him responding with a confused “Hmmm?”).
One of many extra controversial parts about Monster Hunter, even amongst my fellow Paul W.S. Anderson die-hards, is the modifying model. Anderson introduced in Doobie White, who had beforehand labored with him on Resident Evil: The Ultimate Chapter however is probably finest identified for his work with Neveldine and Taylor on the chaos-cinema staple Gamer. The result’s lots of fast-paced modifying. At instances, it’s too frantic, particularly in the course of the motion sequences, the place you lose out on a number of the fluidity of Jaa and Jovovich’s terrific motion abilities. One of many biggest athletes to ever grace film screens, Jaa nonetheless delivers with some killer flips, spectacular kicks, and one hell of a sword, even when the film typically struggles to maintain up with him. However the strategy does successfully promote the turmoil of the world, particularly as Artemis tries to know precisely what the hell she’s gotten herself into and what guidelines this land is ruled by.
Anderson has an extended historical past adapting video video games, beginning along with his basic Mortal Kombat, operating by his Resident Evil franchise, and searching ahead along with his upcoming Home of the Useless adaptation. Some followers of the Resident Evil video games rejected his motion pictures on the time due to an absence of perceived faithfulness (these are positively “vibes over fealty” diversifications), and whereas Monster Hunter brings in lessons, costumes, and weapons from the sport franchise, the precise monster hunts don’t resemble those within the video games all that intently. However that’s OK! It appears like a Monster Hunter film, and what separates Anderson from many different filmmakers adapting online game and comics tasks nowadays is the truth that he isn’t embarrassed of the supply materials. He’s a real fan who additionally occurs to have immense technical ability. And there could also be extra on the way in which, sometime: The ending units up a attainable Monster Hunter sequel, and each Anderson and Jovovich have stated they’d prefer to make one other one and that Anderson has labored on a script. Add Tár into the combination, and you’ve got a complete universe of nice Monster Hunter motion pictures.
Monster Hunter is streaming on Hulu.
