Monster Hunter (2020)

Movie Info

Let’s fight monsters!

Ranger Natalie Artemis (Milla Jovovich) and her team of soldiers are sent on a recovery mission to find a missing team.  When they are swallowed by a storm, they find themselves in a different world inhabited by monstrous beasts.  Natalie finds herself teamed with a Hunter (Tony Jaa) who could be her only hope for survival.  The gateway to Earth is far away and the danger is growing.

Directed by Paul W.S. Anderson (who also penned the screenplay), Monster Hunter is a fantasy action-adventure film.  Based on the popular Capcom series Monster Hunter, the film was released during the COVID pandemic and received mixed reviews.

I may have miscalculated this fight…

I only played a little of the Monster Hunter game and don’t have a good feel for it (it feels like a lesser version of Skyrim to me).  I do enjoy the occasional sloppy popcorn movie and Milla Jovovich seems to be queen of that genre.

The story meanders.  The first part of the story feels a bit like Pitch Black and actually is kind of compelling as Jovovich tries to communicate with Tony Jaa to fight the monsters surrounding them.  Once the movie hits the desert, the plot stalls and the very basic “portal to Earth must be sealed” storyline takes over.  It feels less like a real story and more like a set-up for a sequel…I wish the movie wrapped up the story some other way.

Milla Jovovich has proven to be one of the biggest actions starts, now and she has staying power since she’s been doing it for decades now.  I like Tony Jaa but due to his character’s inability to speak English, it feels like he’s more of a second banana than a partner.  Ron Perlman obviously was going to show up again after the beginning sequence, but he’s also part of the weaker part of the movie…everyone else just feels like lunch for the monsters.

Aren’t you supposed to be blowing up Westeros or something?

A movie about giant monsters has a tough standard to live up to.  While the monsters usually look pretty good, some of the human special effects are not as strong (like the zipline weapons used in the Monster Hunter world).  It also hurts that the big baddy was just a dragon…and with shows like Game of Thrones, we’ve seen some pretty cool dragons already.  It feels like there were some shortcuts taken and the visuals could have been shorn up a bit stronger.

Monster Hunter is a popcorn movie and revels in it.  It seems to exist to just be fun, and there is a good chunk of the movie that is fun…but it feels like the second half (despite finally adding more monsters) is pretty shaky.  The movie sets up an obvious sequel and I’m sure that Monster Hunter will rear its head again (even if the storyline isn’t continued).