Monster Hunter

Ranger Artemis (Milla Jovovich) leads her soldiers on a mission to find a missing squad. They are hit by a mysterious lightning sandstorm and get transported to another world. It's a world of monsters and monster hunters like a nameless local hunter (Tony Jaa).

Apparently, this is based on a video game. I'm not familiar with it. Quite frankly, I'm not familiar with most newer video games but I am familiar with filmmaker Paul W.S. Anderson and his wife Milla Jovovich. Expectations are low and this movie barely clears them. Jovovich is fine. She's familiar with this type of action fantasy but I really wish they didn't have a sing along. Compared with other video game inspired movies, this is fine but that's not saying much. I would like for Artemis to start with better chemistry with Tony Jaa's character. It may be better to keep T.I. for a little longer. I don't know if The Admiral is a character from the game but he really shouldn't speak English. At first, I thought that he came from our world. That would have been better or else, he should just not speak English. All in all, I have no need to watch this again. Once is more than enough.

Monster Hunter is a new fantasy action film directed, written, and produced in part by Paul W.S. Anderson, the director of Resident Evil and Event Horizon.

In the film, Captain Artemis (Milla Jovovich) and her military unit are transported to another world thanks to a strange storm. In this world they are attacked by dangerous, gigantic monsters, which they find difficult to stop with their military weapons. When Artemis meets the mysterious Hunter, she learns that every monster can be defeated in some way. Artemis decides to team up with Hunter to defeat the monsters and hopefully find a way back to her own world.

Paul W.S. Anderson closed the film adaptations of the Resident Evil video game series in 2016. With this film he seems to have started a new video game series filming. Most video game adaptations turn out badly and are often more entertaining for those familiar with the video game the movie is based on. Unfortunately, this is also the case for this film, because the film lacks a real story and clear explanation of what exactly happened in the film. People familiar with the video game or playing it themselves can probably understand this movie a little better.

Paul W.S. Anderson has put this film together with editor Doobie White in a messy way, just like he did with his last Resident Evil film. The film jumps from short, moving action scene to the next. This only makes the movie more difficult to follow and because the movie is in 3D this can lead to headaches for some people. They also use a lot of unnecessary slow motion effects, to convey the movie more exciting, but unfortunately the slow motion only makes the movie unnecessarily long-winded. The monsters in the film look good, but you can see that they were placed in the film with CGI, so they do not all come across as credible.

The acting is not very prominent either, because no character gets a clear background story, structure or further development in the film. When a monster attacks the group and there are victims, you don't know exactly who they were.

The film has good visual effects, but that's about it. The story is non existent, and nothing is explained. It is a brainless monster film that may entertain, but it's ultimately forgettable.

It looked incredibly good, but it bounced around leaving extremely large gaps in the story. I've never played, or had even heard of, the video game. So I am guessing that is why I felt like the movie made no sense and was nothing more than Mila Jovovich flying around killing monsters that had killed dozens of other soldiers and warriors with ease. The action was colossally over the top, even for an action movie of its nature and style. Every single battle with Mila Jovovich against a monster had a "nick of time" scene. It was so repetitive that it became cliché before half of the movie was done. I gave it 5 stars because it looked so good and Mila Jovovich is always fun to watch, no matter how ludicrous her character is. This movie is definitely only for people who enjoy watching Mila Jovovich be a fabulously over the top action hero.

But I found this far more entertaining than Wonder Women 1984. Non-stop action and there are some surprisingly funny moments in the film too. Certainly recommend it!