Even if you’re into mindless chaos, Monster Hunter will still be a challenge to like.
Monster Hunter (Film) Synopsis
A mysterious storm transports Captain Natalie Artemis and her military team to a desolate world, one that’s populated by deadly oversized monsters. After her team is decimated, Artemis teams up with a Hunter to retrieve her weapons and find a way home. She then discovers that her team and her are hardly the first ones to crossover into the dangerous world.
Snappy Review
I’d reviewed several video game movies over the years and I’ll admit it, I tend to be very forgiving towards them.
As long as one is not downright unbearable, I’d have something favourable to say. For productions like the Resident Evil franchise, I discovered not having played the games helps too. As it, when one watches without any fanboy expectations.
Yeah, not having any fanboy expectations helps. NOT for this cinematic adaptation of Capcom’s Monster Hunter games, though.
How to put it? This is mindless pandemonium from start to end. One extended messy fight to another from prologue to epilogue, with only the laziest of story in between to form some semblance of a plot. Worse, it’s also confusing chaos throughout. The cuts and editing barely display any regard for audience comprehension or comfort. My eyes were hurting ten minutes into the show.
Milla Jovovich, whom I’m so fond of for years, delivers her usual kicks but overall feels uninvolved. The classic case of “going through the motions.” Or in this case, rushing through the kills.
Similarly, Tony Jaa is just there to look cool, intense, or cheeky. An entire sub-story about his family and his esoteric worship practices was even abandoned in favour of more cheeky outbursts. (Chocolate!!! Bait!!!!!!)
And then there was the dialogue, which counts amongst the lamest I’ve heard this year. The short of it, after the promise displayed by recent video game movie adaptations, this show seriously returns the genre to its unglamorous days.
I can only hope Paul Anderson doesn’t decide to do a sequel. Grinding for gear fight after fight in a game is addictive fun. Watching a movie do that for over an hour is downright unbearable.
Check out my other snappy movie reviews.
