Monster Hunter: Legends of the Guild

Bad editing, rushed.

The sound mix it's awful.

The animation is mediocre.

The plot is ok.

The monster hunter ingredients are the best of the movie.

I would recommend it if only you are a fan of the VG and you are curious.

I've been a long time Monster Hunter fan and it's clear that some love went into this movie, the script is full of references to the game and in-jokes. The models all look great but the animation is janky and weirdly bouncy at times.

My main complaint is the story, things are just constantly happening and the pacing is way too fast. This leads to what should be emotional moments just falling flat and those moments themselves just being brushed aside because there's no time to linger on them.

If this was a series it might have had the time it needed to develop these characters more and get you to care for them. Not offensively bad, just mediocre.

Had me laughing the entire time because it's just so extremely awful in every way imaginable.

Another animated video game adaptation, it is a lazy film that is barely an hour long and looks Chinese. You know, 3D animated with that fake hair and primary colors and an unnatural movement. I was genuinely surprised to see that the animation studio is American, probably they used some game engine to make it. Worse, the editing is bad. It's feels like someone took the "footage" and cut it haphazardly in a weekend.

I have not played the games, but it was pretty clear what kind of games they would be from the first minutes of the film: there are monsters and you are hunting them. Therefore, naturally, you have to introduce a wannabe young hunter with whom teens can identify with, who starts like a noob and grows into a hero. Only it doesn't happen like that. The main character is annoying, careless and stupid. His poorly animated face makes one think he's a psychopath, as he only seems to feel enjoyment when putting everyone in needless danger and he doesn't seem to care when other people get hurt or even die. And the "battle" at the end is awful. The "elder dragon" is actually quite small and the two methods used to defeat it could have been used directly, without anyone having to fight or get hurt.

Bottom line: a hair short of being one of those comedic films that you can enjoy only completely wasted and laughing at its stupidity, it is a lazy, soulless, mindless corporate enterprise that has no artistic merit whatsoever. At least the Monster Hunter movie starred Milla Jovovich and it started well before turning to crap, but this one feels like one of those "don't let the license expire" films.

Not a great story here. Just a newbie learning the ropes and instantly becoming an uber hunter... which is basically how the games work, so I can't complain.

Overall it's a decent short movie with some great animation for the monsters (who show off attacks from the games) and mostly decent animation for the people, except for the odd plastic looking faces.

If you're a fan of Monster Hunter, you'll enjoy this. If not, you will probably just be confused.