Monster Hunter

Films based on computer games tend to fall into two categories. Absolute crap or forgettable fun. Super Mario Bros? Crap. Tomb Raider? Forgettable fun. Assassin's Creed? Crap. Rampage? Forgettable fun. Far Cry & Max Payne? Craaaaaaaaap. Doom & Sonic The Hedgehog..... you can see where this is going. There's just something about the brilliance computer games are capable of that hasn't yet translated across to the silver screen. Which side will Paul W.S. Anderson's latest game to film adaption fall on? His previous Resident Evil films were all on the fun side which is always a good sign.

In the universe of Monster Hunter reality is split between the New World and the Real World. In the New World humans spend their time fighting and running from giant hungry beasts and in the Real World we pay taxes, eat cauliflower rice and have zoom quizzes. Which is more horrifying I hear you ask? Well the denizens of the New World can deal with their problems by shooting arrows at them at least. One such person is Hunter (Tony Jaa) who's been separated from his gang during a battle with the monsters roaming his land. While wandering the desert he sees a team of US army rangers led by Natalie Artemis (Milla Jovovich) emerging from a tear in the fabric between realities and instantly they are attacked and decimated by another monster. Now survivors from both sides have to team up to survive. Will that dark and stormy tower in the distance have any answers?

Yep. I know. It sounds thick as pigshit doesn't it. It's not a storyline that bears much thinking about but it's fun. And fun is what we need now. Big dollops of it. You don't come to a film called Monster Hunter looking for depth or subtlety do you? You come to see big monsters fucking people up and here you'll get your money's worth.  Fancy a dragon taking on a helicopter? Look no further. Ever wanted to see yer man from Ong Bak jumping off a climb with a giant sword to kill a massive spider? You're in luck today. There's no Spielbergian hiding in the shadows here. No late reveals for budgetary reasons. From the off we we get gigantic monster after gigantic monster and it will have your inner child bouncing around you during it's well shot action scenes. Unless you're arachnophobic. In that case you're goosed, especially during a sweaty palmed cavern encounter that will leave you whimpering as you peep over the back of your couch.

But it's called Monster Hunter isn't it? What about the hunting? There's plenty of it and that's where things fall down. There's loads of fun to be had as Hunter and Natalie go through the tropes of first fighting and then bonding but at around the 70 minute mark a whole bunch of new hunters (yes game fans, Palico is there), led by Ron Perlman looking like a cross between his characters in A Quest For Fire & Beauty and the Beast, are introduced along with a big new lump of plot and everything threatens to go off the rails. It's too much story, all flying by in the blink of an eye in an attempt to give the film a franchise worthy ending. And when that ending comes it's hilariously blatant. The days of releasing a movie and seeing will it do well before announcing a follow up are well over.

This mash up of Kaiju action and The Dark Tower (with a fun nod to Two Mules For Sister Sara) is at it's best in it's first hour where it feels surprisingly faithful to the game series that spawned it before it wraps things up with a cynical and unmemorable ending. So it's fun & forgettable. Now we know which category Monster Hunter falls into.

Monster Hunter is streaming on US sites now. It may get a cinema release later in the year.