Humanity has finally escaped the era of awful video game movies. Terrible examples still see theaters, but it’s no longer a foregone conclusion. Netflix has discovered animated series as the best venue for the genre, but the movies will still come. Audiences are prepared to give video game movies the benefit of the doubt, but they’ll still see rough examples.Monster Hunterwon’t tarnish the idea because it disappeared from minds almost instantly.
Paul W. S. Anderson should receive an award for video game cinema. He has produced a long line of awful entries in the genre but is more committed to it than anyone else. His opus is stillthe 1995Mortal Kombatmovie, which excised elements of the games but still had fun with the idea. Anderson directed sevenResident Evilmovies, each less intelligent than the last.Monster Hunteris his latest video game adaptation, but it’s not likely to be his last.
What is theMonster Hunterseries of games?
Monster Hunteris an action franchise rapidly approaching its 20th anniversary. The first game launched on the PS2 in 2004 with mild critical appeal and significant financial success. Capcom has released five mainline sequels and a dozen spin-offs.Monster Hunteris Capcom’s second-highest-selling series afterResident Evil. It defeatedMega Man,Street Fighter,Devil May Cry, andDead Risingfor the title. The franchise has a strong cult following that evolved into massively mainstream appeal with the release ofMonster Hunter Worldin 2018. The games aren’t well-known for their story. Their unique gameplay secures their legacy.
Monster Hunterrevolves around the player as a mighty warrior given great importance by their culture and tasked with defeating powerful beasts.It’s a simple loopin which the player hunts monsters, claims their parts, and fashions them into armor or weapons to hunt more monsters. While some missions require helping locals or capturing specific animals, the meat of the experience is the simple joy of carving horns off dragons and using them to kill mightier dragons. It’s a pure and honest franchise, the kind of game kids in movies would play. It’s one of the more challenging video games to adapt because it’s nothing without the interactive aspect.Paul W. S. Andersonupdated the material by adding a squad of soldiers to the mix as POV characters and letting them experience the world as the audience does.
What is theMonster Huntermovie about?
TheMonster Hunterfranchise is set in the “New World,” where societies live in rough settlements and fight mighty animals. The film imagines the New World as an alternate dimension accessible only through hidden portals.Milla Jovovich stars asNatalie Artemis, a U.S. Army Ranger Captain leading a small detachment of U.N. soldiers. While looking for missing soldiers, they find a portal that drops them into the New World. Martial arts legend Tony Jaa portrays a nameless Hunter, the role players would take in the game. The Hunter saves Artemis and her soldiers, but they discover that their guns and bombs can’t harm the local monsters. They find that the portal home can only be accessed by crossing a long desert. They must fight the horned wyvern Diablos to cross the sands and travel back to Earth. It’s a simple premise, a fish-out-of-water action piece that pits modern military might against monsters.
Why did theMonster Huntermovie fail?
As video game movies go,Monster Hunteris miles from the worst. It’s a brainless action romp with a few striking visuals and almost no story worth addressing. It received a 44% positive score from critics on Rotten Tomatoes, higher than most entries in the genre. Critics have a unified voice on this one, generally describing it as a paper-thin excuse for some CGI fight scenes. It’s a positive for some and a negative for others. Paul W. S. Anderson cuts refreshingly to the quick with a tight 100-minute action movie with a few solid monster action scenes. Ultimately, the film’s quality had little to do with its financial returns. It dropped in December 2020, deep into the COVID-19 pandemic.Monster Huntergrossed $44.5 millionagainst a $60 million budget. It was a disappointment to all involved. People weren’t willing to brave the possibility of illness to seeMonster Hunter. Holding it back a few months or even a year might have helped it perform better.
Monster Hunteris almost exactly what one should expect from a moviebased on the games. On one hand, trying to adapt a franchise sold entirely on its gameplay loop was always a bad idea. On the other, the franchise has a striking visual style that would be a joy to see played out with appropriate special effects.Monster Huntermay never get another shot at the big screen, but it doesn’t need one. Some franchises belong to the medium they were designed for.Monster Hunterknows what it is and what it’s meant to be.
