(Image source: Sony Pictures)
After nearly twenty years of dating and just welcoming their third child, Paul W.S. Anderson and Milla Jovovich have a happy family life, yet they have still been unable to produce a good movie together. 'Monster Hunter' does not change this fact, but rather reinforces it. I should mention that I am not a fan of the original video game; I entered the cinema purely with the mindset of enjoying junk food on an IMAX screen. It's predictable what kind of mess a couple that has worked together on the 'Resident Evil' series would create, and the final product completely met expectations. Anderson continues to apply his logic from 'Resident Evil' to 'Monster Hunter,' while Jovovich continues to be the cool female action star.
'Monster Hunter' reminds me in many ways of Anderson's first 'Resident Evil'; the plot is straightforward and quickly tosses the protagonist into unfamiliar peril. The changes in scenery are minimal, likely to save budget; aside from Milla and Tony Jaa, everyone else is just faceless cannon fodder—I’m referring to Milla’s subordinates. The driving force behind the story remains a simplistic survival instinct, only this time they are hunting monsters instead of zombies, with the main difference being that the accompanying cannon fodder dies off faster this time. You can probably grasp that Anderson has been continuously attempting to create a linear 'gameplay experience,' but what he delivers to us are consistently shabby and rough experiences.
(Image source: Sony Pictures)
'Monster Hunter' is even worse than the first six 'Resident Evil' films; it is a more regressive 'Resident Evil' movie. The supporting characters in 'Resident Evil,' no matter how thinly drawn, are still more engaging than the cannon fodder in 'Monster Hunter.' In the past, Anderson at least spent some time highlighting their personalities, but in 'Monster Hunter,' he completely disregards them. Milla's group of subordinates barely exchange a few cold jokes before being thrown into the monster's mouth. Perhaps Anderson believes that the moments of 'cold jokes' are the same as 'character development' moments, but after the cold jokes, I still don't recognize them. Moreover, Anderson's camera work is shaky and fragmented, making it difficult to clearly see these characters' faces. I also feel compelled to speak up for Josh Herman, a good actor who can play important villains like Colonel Striker in the 'X-Men' prequel series, but here, it's a luxury to see him take off his goggles and show his face.
Michael Bay loves explosions and slow motion, J.J. Abrams loves flashy lens flares, and Anderson's most notorious preference is his unique 'stylized fragmentation.' As soon as someone scales a wall or throws a punch, no matter whether your eyes can keep up or not, he insists on rapidly switching angles to give you a 'comprehensive view.' This editing style might be somewhat tolerable in the dizzying gunfights and chase scenes in 'Resident Evil' because many events are happening concurrently in a spatially diverse environment, but applying it to a barren desert scene, where there's often only two people fighting a monster, the unnecessary flamboyance only leads to exhaustion and nausea. It begs the question to Anderson: what exactly is this inexplicable, unwavering aesthetic belief?
(Image source: Sony Pictures)
Anderson's fragmented editing not only makes viewing frustrating but also severely hampers the narrative's fluency; many transitions and action sequences are filled with a weird sense of abruptness. The content of the movie is already pale enough; can we at least finish it smoothly? Even this modest request, Anderson fails to meet, does the editing make the film more impressive? In addition, the closing features from each 'Resident Evil' have also been inherited along with Anderson's various old habits; he always likes to arrange for a 'we'll kill again' cliffhanger, forcing Milla to be left in a state of unconsciousness at the end, only to wake up and continue fighting new levels. If 'Monster Hunter' has a sequel, and Anderson is at the helm, it's easy to imagine this way of ending will continue to become a tradition for the 'Monster Hunter' films.
What makes me roll my eyes the most about 'Monster Hunter' is that it should be produced with the standards akin to 'The Lord of the Rings' but is instead carelessly filmed like a cheap promotional video for a tired IP, slapped with the Hollywood formula we've already seen a million times, resulting in a pile of garbage that even players want to spit on. An ancient technology teleports the protagonist to another world, where they not only need to return to their original world but also find a way to close the portal connecting both worlds—classic Hollywood bullshit. Chocolate is used as a diplomatic tool for the protagonist to gain the trust of local inhabitants—classic Hollywood bullshit. When encountering military characters, there is an excessive emphasis on their desire to return home, a warrior’s journey home—classic Hollywood bullshit. Clichés aren't necessarily bad; the truly awful part is the poor handling, making Milla whip out her wedding ring from time to time to express her longing for home—who is genuinely going to feel that deep desire to return home from just this?
(Image source: Sony Pictures)
With a production budget of sixty million dollars, given the subject matter of 'Monster Hunter,' it is really not considered high. The scenes are set in a desert, possibly for similar reasons as Akira Toriyama often choosing to have 'Dragon Ball' fight scenes in open spaces to save time and effort when drawing complex backgrounds with collapsing buildings, saving money and hassle. I strongly suspect that another cost-cutting measure used by the crew is making Milla and Tony Jaa beat each other up for a long time to stretch the film's length. Aside from the thrill of seeing the monsters, the best part of the movie is Ron Perlman; he is always playing characters who are good at fighting, delivering witty lines and exuding a cool demeanor. I really like him like that.
Written by: Joker
}