Directed by:
Paul W.S. AndersonScreenplay:
Paul W.S. AndersonCinematography:
Glen MacPhersonComposer:
Paul HaslingerCast:
Milla Jovovich, Tony Jaa, Ron Perlman, Meagan Good, Diego Boneta, T.I., Josh Helman, Jannik Schümann, Nanda Costa, Jin Au-Yeung, Schelaine Bennett, Nic Rasenti (more)VOD (4)
Plots(1)
Behind our world, there is another – a world of dangerous and powerful monsters that rule their domain with deadly ferocity. When an unexpected sandstorm transports Captain Artemis (Milla Jovovich) and her unit to a new world, the soldiers are shocked to discover that this hostile and unknown environment is home to enormous and terrifying monsters immune to their firepower. In their desperate battle for survival, the unit encounters the mysterious Hunter (Tony Jaa), whose unique skills allow him to stay one step ahead of the powerful creatures. As Artemis and Hunter slowly build trust, she discovers that he is part of a team led by the Admiral (Ron Perlman). The brave warriors combine their unique abilities to band together for the ultimate showdown. (Home Box Office)
(more)Reviews (12)
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.
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Ron Perlman’s hairstyle and make-up in the opening scene give us a hint of what’s to come. And then everything in the film only gets better. Monster Hunter is a videogame-based ultra-farce with an utterly primitive plot, but it’s even more of an admittedly guilty pleasure that’s just straight-up entertaining. The explicitly dry humour made me laugh more than I do with most forced comedies. And with visual effects that only a few top-tier Hollywood productions can boast (Godzilla vs. Kong). Otherwise, Paul W.S. obviously steals from everywhere, from Aliens to Dune (or Transformers or Star Wars) to The Lord of the Rings, sometimes so blatantly (a group of soldiers walking across a stone bridge to a hellish mountain covered in burning lava) that it’s rather more a declaration of love for those films than a case of creative helplessness. Conversely, the monsters themselves are magnificent and the visual dynamics of the action are highly polished. And there is an abundance of that here. One slaughter after another. Plus nice locations. Despite that, take my third star with a grain of salt, because I’m giving it for the gut-punching sound. My downstairs neighbour is on vacation, so I’m running Atmos in the living room with an unmuffled subwoofer. And with this movie, it was almost an orgasmic experience.
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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.
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Paul W.S. Anderson sure knows how to turn total nonsense into something entertaining. It’s absurd to the max, but I have to admit, it kinda worked for me. A complete brainless thrill ride.
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I'm satisfied. I got what the trailer promised. An hour and a half long epic battle between Milla Jovovich, Tony Jaa and monsters. There is action from start to finish, the visuals are awesome, the soundtrack is intense, the monsters look great (quite possibly the best dragon on screen ever), and there are two badass scenes (the spiders!). I didn't miss a more interesting story that would have slowed down the pace. Dramas come out ten a week, but such an epic monster slaughter comes out only once a year and I definitely find this more enjoyable to watch than self-absorbed arthouse crap. Maybe switching the desert location for a jungle wouldn't have been a bad idea, but otherwise I really don't know what else an adaptation of a game that's about nothing but action and monsters has to offer; the film certainly doesn't disappoint in that regard, and to only have 12 percent more than the ultra cheap shit Sharknado is absolutely laughable. Anyone who likes monsters, action and likes to have fun at the movies can't be disappointed. Story**, Action****, Humor** Violence**, Funniness****, Music****, Visuals*****, Atmosphere****, Suspense***. 7.5/10.
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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.
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Quite entertaining hogwash with a nicely OTT finale. The monsters look really great, the action is easy to follow and is a dream come true for little fans of fantasy who love dragons and dinosaurs. Anderson is a B-movie director to a T and he gets great joy out of making this sort of thing with Mila. It’s interesting to see how they steal things from the "Dark Tower" saga by Stephen King (the parallel worlds, and the Tower that unites them; come on, now - give it a rest!). It’s dumb as anything, Ron Perlman has awful hair, the relationship between the heroine and Tony Jaa is really shaky, but it’s bearable. It isn’t so much about people anyhow.
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Despite Ron Perlman's hairstyle and Paul W.S. Anderson's reputation, it’s not bad! I believed in Milla Jovovich more than when she is among zombies, the action scenes were great, I have nothing to complain about in terms of the special effects, and I was pleasantly surprised by the number of monsters. The biggest weakness of the film, however, is that it was obviously created mainly so that another part could be made, because a lot of things would remain unresolved, and although I enjoyed the desert-like, literally horrible stay, in the end I just had to ask: What was it all for? I wouldn't think I'd write this after a Resident Evil mess, but this time I will - I'd quite like Anderson to make a sequel.
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As awful as it can be. I should probably admire the reluctant development of a cinematic (and purely blockbuster) speech that rejects action set-pieces, but everything in it is so laughable. There isn’t a hint of a story, there characters are bland and have shallow to stupid interactions, the pace goes from frantic to boring and, on top of that, it has the most ramshackle concept of a dual fictional world cinema has ever seen. As a bizarre showcase of every possible source of inspiration (mainly video games, of course) and timeless narrative tropes, it is certainly unique, but as a well crafted fantasy adventure the only thing worthy in it are the decent visuals. An incredibly shabby and unfocused film that has seen no equal in its weight category. 25%
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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.
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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
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A real washout, unfortunately not in a good way. From the narrative techniques, to the portrayal of the characters, to the technical execution, it's average at best, in objective terms more like below average. Milla Jovovich is likewise bland and flat in her performance like in Resident Evil; here, unfortunately, it's a lot of severed limbs worse. I felt a slight glimmer of hope at the beginning, when it started out as a military survival film (though the dialogue awfully grated on the ears), but after the transition into the "fantasy world" there wasn't really much to praise about it. That is to say, nothing at all. [30%]
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