by Samantha Shuma
Stepping into the unknown can be a difficult task and sometimes impossible for people to overcome. What happens when you do not have a choice, or even a single notice as to when your life will change forever? The main crew of characters in Monster Hunter (Paul W.S. Anderson, 2021) find out as they are thrust into a terrifying new landscape, and audiences watch as they adapt or perish. The action sequences are entertaining, presenting an engaging balance between a monster being easy to kill and overpowering. Although the monsters feel like a real challenge for the characters, they do not seem impossible to beat. This allows the audience to be hopeful for the characters’ success while still making their victories worthwhile. When it comes to the fighting, characters earn their victories, dying if they don’t meet up to the challenge. There is a sort of authenticity in these fight scenes that makes the characters and their situations compelling. However, this authenticity is tarnished by the use of verbal and non-verbal communication throughout the film. This is a blockbuster whose potential for character relationships is not fully realized. Overall, the film is an entertaining watch, but when it comes to engaging story elements there is much to be desired.
The rest of this review contains spoilers for Monster Hunter, reader’s discretion advised.
While trying to recover another unit, Natalie and her unit are transported to a different world. These worlds overlap each other, the only door between them being the Sky Tower, an ancient building protected by horrific beasts. We get to know the unit and their relationship. They sing songs about the army and pick on each other. Other than Natalie, the members of the unit don’t get much screen time. Instead of getting to really know each character, we get a sense of how they have worked together in the past. It is a good attempt at making the audience care about these characters, but none of the characters or their performances are memorable. They cross over in the new world early on in the film. Even with excessive weapons, the monsters that inhabit the new world kill most of the unit, leaving Natalie as the only survivor. The lack of character depth for most of the unit comes down to lack of time the film allows for these characters to live, making the bulk of the cast forgettable and underwhelming.
The rest of this review contains spoilers for Monster Hunter, reader’s discretion advised.
While trying to recover another unit, Natalie and her unit are transported to a different world. These worlds overlap each other, the only door between them being the Sky Tower, an ancient building protected by horrific beasts. We get to know the unit and their relationship. They sing songs about the army and pick on each other. Other than Natalie, the members of the unit don’t get much screen time. Instead of getting to really know each character, we get a sense of how they have worked together in the past. It is a good attempt at making the audience care about these characters, but none of the characters or their performances are memorable. They cross over in the new world early on in the film. Even with excessive weapons, the monsters that inhabit the new world kill most of the unit, leaving Natalie as the only survivor. The lack of character depth for most of the unit comes down to lack of time the film allows for these characters to live, making the bulk of the cast forgettable and underwhelming.
The characters we spend the most time with are Natalie and the Hunter. The Hunter is a native to the new world, having cultural norms and language that are alien to Natalie. Monster Hunter missed a great opportunity to implement non-verbal communication. For most of the film, Natalie works with Hunter to get to the Sky Tower. There is a language barrier between them, their character interactions often foster confusion as they try to figure each other out. At first, non-verbal communication is used. Natalie introduces a hand signal for food and water. But that is the scope of their non-verbal communication. Most times, they are speaking to each other in their own language, which the other does not understand. Towards the end of the film, they meet the Hunter’s crew-mates, and one of them just happens to speak English, removing the chance for interesting communication from happening at all. This makes the film slow in pace and makes their coordinated actions less believable. Monster Hunter has an excuse to use moving images to convey non-verbal communication. Having each character be interested in creating their own visual language would have shown their willingness to cooperate to strengthen their personal relationship. Natalie’s stay in the new world could’ve taken months or years in the movie’s universe, possibly having Natalie and Hunter understand each other completely through signals and cues. Natalie’s character development would have been more impactful while enforcing the message of adapting to overcome obstacles.
The depth of Monster Hunter’s characters and themes do not go beyond generic action movie conventions. There are some missed opportunities when it comes to uniquely portraying the story through visuals. The character focus of the film was the relationship between Natalie and the Hunter. Having them learn unique ways of communicating would have strengthened their relationship while reinforcing the themes of adapting and the power that comes with multicultural communication. To just turn your brain off and watch some warriors fighting monsters can be an enjoyable experience. But if you are looking for something beyond that, there is a lot to be desired when it comes to character development and thematic depth.
The depth of Monster Hunter’s characters and themes do not go beyond generic action movie conventions. There are some missed opportunities when it comes to uniquely portraying the story through visuals. The character focus of the film was the relationship between Natalie and the Hunter. Having them learn unique ways of communicating would have strengthened their relationship while reinforcing the themes of adapting and the power that comes with multicultural communication. To just turn your brain off and watch some warriors fighting monsters can be an enjoyable experience. But if you are looking for something beyond that, there is a lot to be desired when it comes to character development and thematic depth.
