Monster hunter

After having signed the adaptations of Mortal Kombet (1995), several Resident Evil (Resident Evil (2002), Resident Evil: Afterlife (2010), Resident Evil: Retribution (2011), Resident Evil: The Final Chapter (2016), the director and screenwriter Paul W. S. Anderson makes his new film Monster Hunter a successful adaptation of a series of video games but here he simply signs his best film. Not only does his script succeed in capturing the essence of the Monster Hunter universe but also benefits from a successful casting (Milla Jovovich, Tony Jaa, Ron Perlman) but above all impressive special effects and numerous perfectly choreographed fight scenes.

Monster Hunter is basically a series of video games developed and published by Capcom. From the first game soberly entitled Monster Hunter (PlayStation 2) (2004) the player had to play as a hunter in a fantasy environment and complete quests such as hunting or capturing monsters but also collect minerals, fish or small monsters. The series continued with critical and public success on PlayStation Portable, Wii, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Nintendo 3DS, Wii U, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One. It is easy to understand the desire of director and screenwriter Paul W. S. Anderson to propose a cinematic adaptation featuring giant monsters but also titanic battles. Far from being a simple adaptation, however, and containing himself to give life to this playful saga, the director transplants the action on our earth but also on another planet in which many monsters stand like giant dinosaurs escaped from Jurassic Park.

From the beginning of the film the action is put forward and we discover a boat sailing on the sand and having to face one of the giant monsters on a hostile desert planet. As a vortex has opened up connecting this world to the earth, Lieutenant Natalie Artemis (Milla Jovovich) and her loyal soldiers are transported from our world to this one... In a desperate fight for survival against enormous enemies with incredible powers and terrifying, unstoppable attacks, Artemis teams up with a mysterious nameless hunter (Tony Jaa) who has armed himself with his courage and the weapons he has built to fight his giant monsters alone.

After the success of the Resident Evil film saga, Capcom's willingness to collaborate again with director Paul W. S. Anderson is understandable, as he proves to be an excellent storyteller and is able to grasp the essence of a video game universe and to sign a film adaptation of it, albeit with varying degrees of success. It is also no coincidence to find his half Milla Jovovich in the female lead role after having played Alice in the Resident Evil saga. Once again she finds herself perfect in her role as a warrior woman capable of surpassing herself to face colossal enemies. Lacking military weapons, her character will have to learn to fight with other weapons and will be able to benefit from the help of an experienced hunter played by Tony Jaa (saga Ong Bak (2003-2010), Fast and Furious 7 (2015)).

Even if most of the action takes place on a planet marked by a huge desert but also where danger is found in it as well as at the extremities bordered by the equally dangerous sea with its monsters of all kinds, Monster Hunter compensates for its lack of a very large cast to give a real psychology to its few main characters but above all pays special attention to constantly take care of the photography and make the action scenes clear and neat. It also brings out a vast bestiary of monsters of all kinds, be it those horned underground monsters (the diablos), those giant spider packs (the Nerscyllas), a powerful dragon (a Rathalos) and other equally dangerous creatures like the black wyvern (Gore Magala). We will also appreciate the presence of a feline creature, Palico, who is as skillful in a kitchen as he is in hunting monsters (we advise you to stay until the middle of the end credits).

One also suspects that the Sky Tower, this giant structure located across the desert and which allows to open an inter-dimensional bridge between the earth and this planet has not delivered all its secrets and inevitably opens to an even more spectacular sequel and one always hopes for it with the same casting and always directed by Paul W. S. Anderson. In the meantime, this film released on February 16th on VOD in the United States and which will be available in France from April 28th is a successful and impressive blockbuster that we can only advise you.

Monster Hunter
Written and directed by Paul W. S. Anderson
Produced by Jeremy Bolt, Paul W. S. Anderson, Dennis Berardi, Robert Kulzer, Martin Moszkowicz
Based on Monster Hunter by Capcom
Starring Milla Jovovich, Tony Jaa, Tip "T. I." Harris, Meagan Good, Diego Boneta, Josh Helman, Jin Au-Yeung, Ron Perlman
Music by Paul Haslinger
Cinematography: Glen MacPherson
Edited by Doobie White
Production company: Screen Gems, Constantin Film, Tencent Pictures, Toho, Impact Pictures
Distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing (Worldwide), Constantin Film Verleih (Germany), Tencent Pictures, (China)
Toho-Towa (Japan)
Release date: December 3, 2020 (The Netherlands), December 4, 2020 (China), December 18, 2020 (United States), January 29, 2021 (United Kingdom)
Running time: 103 minutes

Seen on February 16, 2021