Monster Hunter (2021) Review

There are plenty of films out at the moment and today I managed to find the time to go and see Monster Hunter and here is my review for it. The premise of the film sees a group of soldiers transported to a new world where monsters have taken over. 

Main Character

Mila Jovovich plays the lead character and she is fine. Once she starts to get into the role she shows a bit of personality and has a fun dynamic with one of the other characters. She sells the action scenes well and comes across as a legit action star for sure. But the issue is that her character is so boring and dull, the first act in particular she is unlikeable and it is difficult to turn that around for sure and the film can't do that enough to make this a really good character. 

Supporting Characters

Tony Jaa plays the main supporting character and he does a good job despite the fact that he barely speaks any English at all. He gives a very physical performance and does a really good job of being our introduction to this world and it is fun watching him on display and the dynamic between him and Jovovich is one of the more entertaining parts of the film. Ron Perlman plays a role here and he just doesn't get much to do apart from being the exposition dump and that is disappointing as he is pretty fun in his role. There are some other decent actors like TI and Meagan Goode and they are completely wasted and are actually annoying characters. 

Story 

The story is easily the weakest element of the film with very little placed on it. The characters aren't really given the time to make the audience care and there isn't much given to what is exactly going on and the depth that is needed. The ending is also really infuriating, it sequel baits so hard and it doesn't have the right to do that and it comes across as more annoying then exciting for future films in this world. 

Script

The script started off poor, but actually some humour came into it and I did chuckle quite a bit and it helped build the relationship between Jovovich and Jaa which was one of the highlights of the film. But the drama is poor and the film doesn't make the plot interesting enough, it just felt like the actual script wasn't a priority here. 

Style

This is easily the best part of the film, it looks gorgeous with the backdrops being jaw dropping. The creature design is great with all the CGI holding up really nicely. If you are looking for a film that sees people fighting huge monsters then this film achieves that very well. I love how the weapon and costume design is so over the top and absurd which more films should copy and embrace. The film also has a really intense pacing to it and with the other weaknesses at least it is entertaining to watch. 

Overall

Overall, Monster Hunter is a very average film. It does monster fight scenes really well and if the amount of care that was put into the style was put into everything else then this could have been something special but it is only worth a watch for people who like large scale fight scenes.

Rating - 5/10