Monster Hunter (2020)
Director: Paul WS Anderson
Starring: Milla Jovovich, Tony Jaa, Ron Perlman, T.I, Diego Boneta
Primary genre: Monster
Secondary genre: Fantasy
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You have to hand it to Paul WS Anderson. He really does not give a damn about user reviews or critical lengthy essays that dissect his work. Continuing a successful career that is comprised (mostly) by videogame adaptations, he seeks to bring on the big screen the "Monster Hunter" phenomenon.
Containing exactly what the film’s title suggests, look no further that people fighting huge monsters. There is no explanation of why things happen besides some clues that bring together the main protagonistic duo. The dialogue can be guessed by a twelve year old, and Anderson who also wrote the screenplay clearly does not care. For all its faults though, “Monster Hunter“ minimizing the dialogue is the fastest way to get to the good stuff; monsters and carnage.
Feeling more confident (and maybe more inspired) after the disappointing "Resident Evil: The Final Chapter" (2016), “Monster Hunter“ is an excuse for Anderson to create a new and exciting canvas to play. Still one of the most fascinating visually directors out there and clearly in love with this world, he captures fascinating landscapes (of Namibia) in some truly spectacular shots, uses minimal green screen, great production design and employs superbly loud sound design for the behemoths that come alive to devour (gruesomely) stock characters. Displaying a sense of staging clear geographical action, he crafts several monster skirmishes that are characterized as destructive forces of nature; a sight to behold and deserving the price of admission alone. A sequence involving spider-like creatures are the stuff that nightmares are made off captured by top notch cinematography.
Yet annoying elements that continue to plague the later-career Anderson are present: the hyper-edit that almost destroyed the last “Resident Evil” film is extremely distracting from the on-screen events depriving any fun to be had for example, in a well-choreographed fight between Milla Jovovich and Tony Jaa while the remaining characters wait to be killed in creative ways by the Babylonian monstrosities which makes you wonder why his script bother to give them any attributes at all.
Speaking of the cast, Milla is officially an action icon slipping comfortably in the role of an army ranger. Despite being a non challenging role, she is doing her best to make Artemis (e.g., goddess of the hunt in ancient Greek mythology - get it?) relatable with a great sense of humor that feels refreshing contradicting today’s majority of dull and moody heroes. Sharing unexpectedly good chemistry with (an underused) Tony Jaa, their scenes together are the heart of the movie making that ridiculous and painfully boring arch-premise borderline interesting. Ron Perlman does appear in a rather extended cameo doing what Ron Perlman is always doing and yes there is even a pirate cat sushi chef for good measure and your own pleasure.
"Monster Hunter" is an excellent B-movie, packed with action and requiring only the minimum of brain power to process it. It keeps the set pieces coming, showcasing a wonderfully crafted new world with some truly amazing landscapes and excellent special effects. Milla continues her legacy as one of the cinema's long lasting action heroes starring in a film that does not demand anything from you offering in return a bloody good time. Sometimes that is all you need really.
Brainless B-movie greatness
+ Special effects
+ Locations and monsters
+ Sound and production design
+ Humor
+ Milla & Tony
+ Monster skirmishes
- ADHD editing
- No plot
- Stock characters