Monster Hunter

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% (16/02/2021)

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. (22/02/2021)

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. (21/02/2021)

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. (17/02/2021)

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. (16/02/2021)