bruce-leroy
Outstanding Member
To say Paul WS Anderson has had more misses than hits is an understatement. His earlier films showed a bit more ambition but he’s now obviously content to stay within the video-game adaptation genre (they must do really well internationally). Whilst I really liked Resident Evil and Apocalypse, the rest of them epitomised the law of diminishing returns (just rinse and repeat with a cliffhanger bridge to the next one). Surprisingly, I really enjoyed Monster Hunter. You must know what you’re getting yourself in for with the title of the movie, and yet again based on a Capcom classic game. I got what I came for, and actually a little bit more. It wastes no time with ridiculous notions like building a narrative - this is no Wandavision slow burner - and gets right into the action within the first 5 minutes. And then its just monsters and Milla and Tony Jaa avoiding to become tonight’s specials. This it does very effectively with some genuinely tense and exciting set pieces (and decent CGI creatures). Milla’s Army Ranger and Jaa’s native hunter make an unlikely (but appealing) pairing, and there’s a nice moment in between the action when Jovovich shows Jaa one of the culinary joys that her world has to offer. For creature thrills and exciting set pieces, Monster Hunter is a cut above recent genre entries such as Kong: Skull Island and Godzilla: King of the Monsters. If Ronseal made movies, Monster Hunter would be a best seller. I’m also up for a sequel until the inevitable drop off by the time we get to Part 7. I’m hoping the buff cat features more prominently.
3/5
3/5