Monster Hunter

Milla Jovovich and Paul W.S. Anderson may be done with Resident Evil and zombies, but their Monster Hunter is more or less the same thing. Only there are dragons and dinosaurs, but otherwise this duo once again serves up solid action wrapped in a very contrived and uninteresting story with characters you'll be glad you remembered their name. Unfortunately, the decent action loses out on points to an uninteresting story and boring characters. But perhaps that's all one can expect from Anderson. (02/22/2021)

Monster Hunter offers a decent show from the audiovisual point of view with nice locations and generally good and imaginative looking monsters, but the script it's not such a hit parade, which is to be expected considering the director. I've never played the game, so I can't judge to what extent the film sticks to the source material, but plot-wise it felt like a patchwork of other stories: Tremors, Journey to the Center of the Earth, Jurassic Attacks (or a light version of Jurassic Park), Riddick, King Kong and 300, and I'm sure there would be other bits and pieces. The "cat" character went completely beyond my comprehension, but whatever. For one viewing with your brain turned off, Monster Hunter is an ideal and unpretentious choice for an evening. Sort of. (02/17/2021)

The biggest gadgeteer of genre cinema has again come up with a delightfully childish and ostentatiously formalistic flick. Anderson’s films can evoke the innocent amusement and wonder that we experienced in childhood when we first encountered genre spectacle. However, that does not mean that he works with nostalgia. On the contrary, his work – in terms of overall style and the formalistic treatment of individual sequences and shots – reaches a level of avant-garde that goes beyond most conventionally staid Hollywood blockbusters. Whereas those are childishly immature in their flattery of fans, would-be seriousness and false depth, Anderson remains idiosyncratically childlike and playful. Grouches will always look condescendingly down their noses at his films, but they will also never see the true delight in his movies. Monster Hunter is a typically pure action fantasy in Anderson’s style, where straightforwardness, spectacle and unrealism become superlatives. As is typical of the master, part of the joy is how Anderson works with video-game elements and finds formalistic and narrative equivalents for them, and how Mila Jovovich perfectly personifies the ethos of his films. In comparison with his previous projects, we also see gratifying progress in the merging of physical and digital attractions, which confirms the fact that Anderson reflects contemporary trends while also forging his own path in the cinema of spectacle. (10/25/2021)

The coronavirus has made me miss a lot of things, but mindless CGI blockbusters like this is certainly not one of them. It can hardly be considered a movie, Paul W.S. Anderson has stopped making them, now he makes expensive long videos where his wife can play the action heroine, that’s the only reason why Monster Hunter exists. Seeing Ton Jaa and Ron Pearlman contributing to this in their less than dignified roles is just sad. (02/16/2021)

What could I have expected? Paul W.S. Anderson and his significant other once again decided to make a film where the main heroine is the badass Jovovich, who takes down all the monsters that stand in her way. If this concept sounds familiar, yes, Resident Evil was built on a similar premise, except for one thing (swap "monsters" for "zombies"). To be fair, the film can be quite entertaining at times and the visuals aren’t among the worst (the monsters surprisingly look decent, and the CGI is acceptable), but the story, oh, the story. Within a few training sessions with Tony Jaa, the marine captain transforms into an invincible fighter who isn’t intimidated by monsters as tall as skyscrapers (like... what?). Ron Perlman must have mixed up his casting, as his presence felt out of place (why does he need this?). The ending with the army is probably the best part, along with the spider nest (this spider scene reminded me of Anderson’s early directing days, when he made Event Horizon, which at least had some atmosphere). It’s truly the most average entertainment you can choose to watch. For me, it’s 5/10. P.S. After watching the film, I definitely don’t want to try the game :D (02/20/2021)