288. Monster Hunter; movie review

 

MONSTER HUNTER

Cert 12A

103 mins

BBFC advice: Contains moderate violence, threat

"Master White would have loved this when he was about ten years old."

Never was a movie damned by faint praise quite as much as Mrs W did with her words to sum up Monster Hunter.

It's the sort of film which she used to enjoy taking in with our son when he was a child.

He is now 31 and I reckon both he and the cinema have moved forward in the past 21 years.

Shame then that nobody told director Paul W.S. Anderson and the team behind this picture.

Their issue was the same faced by others who have attempted to adapt video games into movies - their fans want a non-stop diet of action.

However, while this lends itself to gaming, more depth and especially character exploration is needed for a cinematic experience.

The focus of Monster Hunter is Natalie Artemis (Milla Jovovich), an American army captain who leads a United Nations security team in search of a missing military unit.

They are pulled through a wormhole into a parallel world during a storm and find themselves confronted by the Diablos, a huge monster which has echoes of Dune.

Once it is overcome, many more monsters await in this waking nightmare.

I read a very brief review in which an audience member said that he was keen to see a fantasy action movie with monsters.

If no more than that is needed, Monster Hunter surely ticks the box - there are many of various shapes ad sizes but they are all huge and quick.

However, because this battle of survival has such a brief narrative, we weren't bought into its characters and, consequently, didn't care whether they lived or died.

As suggested, such depth may not be important to 10-year-olds but it is to more mature viewers.

Reasons to watch: If you need a monster movie

Reasons to avoid: very little character exploration

Laughs: None

Jumps: None

Vomit: None

Nudity: None

Overall rating: 5/10

Did you know? The Monster Hunter Hunting Card debuted in 2008 and is still a Japanese exclusive series. 

The final word. Paul W.S. Anderson: "This really is a long-term passion project of mine and I’m approaching it not just as a filmmaker but also as a kind of long-term player and fan of it." Polygon

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