The premise of video game adaptations has always been a double-edged sword, as exemplified by the long string of failed ventures from Justin Kurzel’s joyless take on Assasin's Creed to the absolutely abysmal Mortal Kombat: Annihilation. While Hollywood has managed to belt out some near-decent game adaptations, such as the likes of Rampage and the original 2002 Resident Evil, the overwhelming majority has been a mix of questionable narrative choices, troubled productions, and the inherent untranslatability of video game immersive-ness to the big screen. Writer/director Paul W. S Anderson imbued the game adaptation genre with hope via 1995’s Mortal Kombat, and he now has attempted to breathe life into the wildly popular Monster Hunter franchise, which was especially reinvigorated by the success of 2018’s Monster Hunter: World. Anderson’s Monster Hunter is based on the game’s promising premise, in which monsters like Ratholos and Diablos reside in a pre-industrial world, wherein players take on the role of Hunter to kill a plethora of menacing beasts. Lacking narrative direction and even pacing, Monster Hunter is yet another soulless video game adaptation that drowns in its own inadequacy.
Monster Hunter positions Captain Artemis (Milla Jovovich), an Army Ranger, at dead center, who, along with her unit, is searching for missing soldiers amid a desert territory. As the group engages in vapid banter, a rapidly approaching dust storm looms menacingly over them, transporting them to a desert region that appears to be a whole other dimension. Remnants of massive bone structures cause confusion among the group, who also find the severely charred bodies of their lost comrades, caused by something so infernally hot that it has turned sand to glass shards. Just when things could not get more incomprehensible, they are pursued by a giant, sand-traveling beast, a black Diablos, against whom military weapons are rendered useless. Making matters worse are a swarm of giant crab-like spiders named Nerscylla, who emerge out of nowhere.
Monster Hunter takes its time to offer frenetic glimpses of the unnamed Hunter (Tony Jaa), who has also been stranded on this wasteland and seems to know a thing or two about slaying these vicious beasts. When the Hunter sees Artemis, he inexplicably attacks her viciously, which leads to a long, senseless fight sequence that is neither terrible nor impressive to behold. Eventually, the two team up, gradually bonding through signs, grunts, and a peace offering of chocolate by Artemis, as the Hunter does not speak a word of English. The absence of dialogue is not necessarily detrimental to a cinematic narrative, when done well, such as in Kim Ki-duk’s Moebius and the Robert Redford-starrer, All is Lost. However, the absence of dialogue or the presence of entirely pointless ones in Monster Hunter steers the already-bungled premise towards a major narrative misstep.
Diablos, the apex monster of the Wildspire Waste, makes several appearances throughout the first-half of Monster Hunter, without being helmed by the labyrinthine mythos that enriches the video game, which ultimately spurred players to invest their time in slaying the beast. After a certain point, the narrative seems especially rushed, marked by the introduction of Hunter’s bilingual shipmate, The Admiral (Ron Perlman), who essentially bombards Artemis with heavy exposition, completely unsupported by worldbuilding or compelling visual cues. The result is a mangled mess of monster mythos and rules that emerge way too late in the narrative, which eventually leads to a final showdown rife with too many quick-cuts and CGI-inconsistencies. Anderson decides to end Monster Hunter mid-battle, clearly with the intention of a sequel that is to be a cog within yet another soulless, money-churning franchise.
The interactions between the Hunter and Artemis end up being the most interesting parts of Monster Hunter, although it is clear that the film is not interested in imbuing Jaa’s character with depth, motivation, or meaning. The Hunter essentially becomes a narrative catalyst for Artemis to take on the role of Monster Hunter, which, despite Jovovich’s impressive action chops, comes off as heavily orchestrated. Even when the characters are face-to-face with Ratholos, the “King of the Skies” who resides in the Ancient Forest, the sequences fail to provide thrill, ending on an inconclusive cliffhanger offering no excitement or catharsis. In essence, Monster Hunter does grave injustice to its source material, acting as the first of many films in the franchise that are devoid of wit or wonder.
Monster Hunter releases in U.S. theaters on Friday, December 18th. It is 103 minutes long and is rated PG-13 for sequences of creature action and violence throughout.
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