Paul W.S Anderson’s Monster Hunter Gets First Proper Trailer – Might Be Fun to Watch
I will admit, that videogame based movies have been getting a lot better these days, with the likes of Detective Pikachu and Sonic getting a surprising amount of praise from movie-goers and gamers alike. Not to mention, with stuff like the Last of Us TV show coming up from the minds of both Neil Druckmann and Craig Mazin (who directed the excellent Chernobyl mini-series), the future for videogame films is looking a bit more bright.
That said, do I think the new Monster Hunter film will be just as great? No, probably not, not with W.S. Anderson involved, and with what I have seen from the trailer. However, will it be a fun blockbuster experience? Most likely, yes! You see whilst Anderson might be no Nolan or Spielberg, he does understand stylised action, which was a lot of fun to watch with the first few Resident Evil films.
The RE series of films easily has some iconic action sequences that get referenced quite a bit for their ingenuity, as well as hilarity. Monster Hunter looks to be no different, featuring an odd take on the game’s setting, where we see a modern military unit get transported to a world full of monsters.
Whilst I can understand that Anderson wants to ground the world of Monster Hunter universe by having us follow a modern military unit, who discover the world right alongside the audience, slowly learning about it, I am a bit wary. Something like this might have been necessary when a lot of fantastical stuff wasn’t being shown in films in the early age of cinema, the audience today is much more knowledgable due to a vast abundance of fantasy and sci-fi media.
They don’t need a lot of help getting engaged with high-fantasy media, and the popularity of Game of Thrones is an excellent example of that! It was the most-watched show with a very different setting than what we are used to, which is why I think Anderson could have just trusted the audience a bit more and give us a more authentic setting.
Whilst Monster Hunter isn’t exactly known for its storytelling, Monster Hunter World had a great campaign and narrative. It dealt with themes of harmony with nature and its inhabitants, each monster’s relation to the world around it and how they are just as important as us when it comes to the survival of our world. That, in my opinion, is what a great Monster Hunter movie will need too! I’d love Cameron to take a shot, as he handled a lot of similar themes in Avatar.
Still, the action at least looks cool and more Tony Jaa is always great. Not to mention, it’s a treat to see the Monster Hunter World recreated in live-action with some iconic armour, weapons and monsters. So, I will most likely be checking this out when it releases for home viewing.