Jovovich and Jaa are ready for battle in official Monster Hunter image

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

I have never played a game in the MONSTER HUNTER franchise, so I didn't know what sort of visuals fans of the games would expect to see from a live action feature based on them – and didn't realize that the pictures shared by the cast showed things that aren't found in the games. Images of modern-looking soldiers toting modern weapons of war. I didn't know this until my nephew, who has played some MONSTER HUNTER, brought it up to me and showed me some footage from the most recent game.

Judging by the synopsis and the imagery, writer/director Paul W.S. Anderson is doing some Wizard of Oz or Alice in Wonderland stuff in here, taking characters from our world and dropping them into another place full of weird creatures. In this case, the MONSTER HUNTER world. (The first comparison that came to my mind was to say it's a reverse of the MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE movie.)

Behind our world, there is another: a world of dangerous and powerful monsters that rule their domain with deadly ferocity. When Lt. Artemis and her loyal soldiers are transported from our world to the new world, the unflappable lieutenant receives the shock of her life. In her desperate battle for survival against enormous enemies with incredible powers and unstoppable, revolting attacks, Artemis will team up with a mysterious man who has found a way to fight back.

Milla Jovovich plays Lt. Natalie Artemis, and a newly released official image that shows Artemis with co-star Tony Jaa as a man called Hunter might get fans of the game feeling a little better about this movie. In this image, Artemis is wielding blades and something called a Slinger instead of modern guns, and Hunter is looking a lot like the character I saw fighting giant monsters in the game footage I watched, carrying a bow and a giant "jawblade".

Artemis's chest piece is directly inspired by the "Odogaron chest piece" in the game MONSTER HUNTER WORLD, and her outfit is mismatched because it's meant to reflect how a game character might look when a player customizes an outfit from different sets. The desert Artemis and Hunter are in is said to be reminiscent of the Wildspire Waste location from the games, and Anderson told IGN (who got the exclusive first look at the image) we'll be seeing the characters in all sorts of different locations throughout the film.

We’re going into a much more rocky landscapes as well, we’re getting out of the desert and going much more rocky. There’s a chunk of the movie that’s actually set underground as well, in terrifying caves. There’s a more lush part of the movie, which kind of reflects the kind of lush, more jungle-y look of the Monster Hunter world. And then the climax of the movie takes place around a piece of the Ancient Civilization that’s, it’s kind of referenced many times in the Monster Hunter games."

Jovovich and Jaa's co-stars include Tip "T.I." Harris, Ron Perlman, Diego Boneta, Josh Helman, and Meagan Good.

So, gamers, what do you think? Does the new image make you feel better about this movie?