Why Monster Hunter is not worth wasting time

On January 28, the film "Monster Hunter" by Paul W. S. Anderson will start in Russian cinemas. This director is best known for the Resident Evil franchise. And the author decided to again use the concept that once brought him considerable success: he took a series of games as a basis, gave the main role to his wife Milla Jovovich and made a bet on action.

It's just not in vain that many criticized the last parts of "Resident Evil" for the vague plot and lack of logic. Things got worse in Monster Hunter. As a result, the new film will certainly not appeal to game fans or untrained viewers.

A plot without meaning and dialogue

A group of military men led by Lieutenant Artemis (Milla Jovovich) is trying to find their colleagues who have disappeared without a trace. The team is caught in a sandstorm and is suddenly transported to another world inhabited by creepy monsters. Only Artemis survives. To return home, she has to team up with the mysterious Hunter (Tony Jaa), who knows how to defeat monsters.

Already from the description, one can guess that the picture has a very indirect relationship to the plot of the games. To make it easier to serve, Anderson added banal "hitters" to the story. Of course, many directors and writers use this technique: a person from our world finds himself in an unusual situation, and the audience or readers will understand what is happening with him.

But in the case of "Monster Hunter", there will be exactly the same amount of information by the end of the story as there was at the beginning of the plot. Moreover, it cannot be said that the authors miss the opportunity to tell about another world. They just don't even try to do it.

It seems that the structure of the tie is somewhat reminiscent of the first (and most successful) part of "Resident Evil": there is a detachment of special forces who die so that the viewer feels the danger of this world: even the most prepared cannot escape here. But then Anderson tried to prescribe at least some characters of minor characters to which one can become attached. In "Monster Hunter" the military sings a song for a couple of minutes, speaks with clichéd phrases from old militants, then they run and shoot a little - and then they die. It is unlikely that many will have time to even remember their names.

But when the character Tony Jaa appears, it gets even worse. After all, about half of the film, Anderson shows only two characters who speak different languages and do not understand each other. All their dialogues consist of fragmentary phrases and chaotic gestures.

Somehow explaining themselves, Artemis and the Hunter decide to destroy the main monster. Fortunately, for this there is a weapon that has come from nowhere with incomprehensible powers. This will allow the heroes to get to some other place, about which they also say absolutely nothing.

As if remembering to the finale that it is necessary to give the viewer at least a little information, a few more characters are introduced from nowhere. One of them (performed by Ron Perlman) tells how Artemis got to another world. It takes about the same amount of time as in the beginning the military sang the song.

No disclosure of the world

All this looks as strange as possible. After all, the authors already initially have a well-thought-out and elaborate world of Monster Hunter games. All that was needed was to adapt it to the big screen, and then at least fans of the original would love the film. But Anderson limited himself to only short and most unnecessary references.

Most of the action takes place just in the desert. The endless sandy landscapes captured in South Africa certainly look beautiful. But, unlike Star Wars or Dunes, here they are as uninformative as possible. Often this is literally an empty open space that will give the viewer nothing but aesthetic pleasure.

Perhaps the Hunter should tell about the origin and powers of the monsters. But, as mentioned above, the heroine does not understand his language, so the monsters remain just a danger that can appear at any moment. To be fair, some of them are very well worked out. Apparently, the 60 millionth budget was spent exclusively on the schedule.

But trying to keep the canon weapon from the games seems completely unnecessary. For fantasy projects, bows and swords that are too bulky and strange are quite acceptable. But next to realistic weapons from the ordinary world, they seem ridiculous props.

The creators of "Monster Hunter" simply abandoned the large-scale world of the original games, and did not offer anything in return. A couple of beautiful locations, creepy monsters and strange weapons are unlikely to allow you to believe in the credibility of what is happening.

Chaotic action

But, of course, the creators of such pictures always have the last chance to correct all the chaos and illogicality of the plot. The film can simply be turned into an adrenaline thriller, stuffed to overflowing with action. Here are just a strange way "Monster Hunter" and here manages to look pale.

Some of the scenes are hidden in inadequate darkness. It is clear that this approach simplifies the work on graphics. But sometimes it is literally difficult to make out what is happening on the screen. And to this is also added too fast and chaotic editing, from which the head can simply spin, and unnecessary slow motion.

It's amazing that even Tony Jaa's talent is not properly revealed. To understand how good this actor is in martial arts, it is enough to remember at least 15 minutes of fight in fight club in "Ong Bak", at least 8 minutes of action in "Honor of the Dragon", filmed in one long frame without editing.

Here, too, he is rarely allowed to show his skills, relying more on graphics. Although the first fights of his hero with the character of Milla Jovovich look exciting.

And if there are pluses in "Monster Hunter", it is only thanks to the performers of the main roles. Jovovich is still emotional and charming in action. And with the hero Jaa, they sometimes give out excellent chemistry even without words.

It's a pity, they forgot to add a normal script to this. After all, each dynamic scene is interspersed with too long and almost meaningless hikes, indistinct attempts at dialogue and flat jokes.

Moreover, the film lasts too short for a high-budget blockbuster, not even reaching 2 hours (this usually means that the unsuccessful material was severely cut during editing). But due to the uneven tempo and a huge number of empty scenes, it seems too long. And for an action-packed action movie with monsters it is disastrous.

It is completely unclear who, according to the authors' idea, should like this film. For fans of games, it has too little connection with the original. For those unfamiliar with the world of Monster Hunter, there is no explanation. You can really enjoy large-scale effects only on a big screen and preferably in a good cinema. But the film is so boring that it is simply a pity to spend money on it.

The only salvation for "Monster Hunter" is the constant transfers of other blockbusters. Those who miss the special effects and action will surely watch it. But, alas, this does not make the picture itself better. After watching, she leaves neither memories nor emotions, as if the viewer was looking at the wall for all 2 hours.

The ending of "Monster Hunter" clearly hints at a sequel, if not an entire franchise. But it is unlikely that many will want to see a sequel. To do this, you need to somehow become attached to history and heroes.