When half of her team goes missing in the middle of nowhere, U.S. Army Ranger Capt. Artemis and her fellow soldiers go looking for them.
What they find shocks them—literally.
A lightning-filled sandstorm strikes and sucks them through a vortex to another world. Here, ships sail on sand dunes, dinosaurs still exist, and monsters eat people.
Artemis is told that if the Skytower (a mysterious structure that caused the lightning sandstorm that transported her team there) isn’t shut down, a permanent wormhole will be created, allowing monsters to roam freely in both worlds. So, with the help of local monster hunters, Artemis makes it her mission to stop the supernatural beasties, shut down the Skytower and return home.
Artemis and Hunter (a monster hunter who simultaneously tries to rescue her from a beast and tries to capture her) start out as enemies. However, after Artemis saves him from monsters and helps heal his injuries, they agree to work together. There is still a bit of a power struggle as they use each other as bait against the monsters, but in the end, they find a mutual respect and bond over their battles.
A man sacrifices his life to save his comrades. A woman inspires her troops to fight for survival despite insurmountable odds.
The Skytower is a strange structure which uses lightning to create vortices that transport people from our world to the monster world (and vice versa). Strange symbols on rocks surrounding the Skytower suggest magical power but are left unexplained.
A man seemingly prays to small statuettes and gets scared when someone threatens to smash them. However, it’s later revealed that these are effigies of his family, making it unclear who or what exactly he’s praying to.
A woman removes her overshirt (she is wearing a slightly revealing tank top underneath) to check her body for injuries.
Characters battle against a variety of monsters, including dragons, giant spiders and a shark-like creature with arms and legs that swims through sand dunes.
During these encounters, humans use guns, swords, fire and explosives to trap, kill and escape their prey (and sometimes split their skulls). However, they are often unsuccessful with multiple people getting eaten, impaled by the sharp extremities of the creatures, or simply thrown around. (One man is crushed beneath a truck when this happens, and others are thrown roughly into rocks.)
A man wakes up to discover that spider eggs were laid in his skin. The eggs burst open and the baby spiders eat him alive. We see several other people tied up in the spiders’ webs, some dead from being poisoned. Artemis listens to a recording of her comrades radioing for backup, and we hear gunshots in the background. Later, her team finds their burnt remains, and we see their corpses.
Artemis and Hunter fight several times, punching, kicking and attempting to stab one another. A woman cauterizes a wound using gunpowder. Two vehicles fall off a cliff after getting sucked through a lightning vortex, though nobody is permanently injured.
A man ties his dog tags around his leg in case his head “gets blown off.” Dozens of creatures stampede off a cliff after they are frightened by fire (and one is set on fire). We see the skeletons of several animals and humans in a spider cave. A man punches a woman in the face, knocking her out.
We hear two uses of the s-word. We also hear 10 uses of “h—” and one use of “d–mit.” God’s name is misused three times (once followed by “d–mit”) and Jesus’ name is misused once.
Two people drink from a flask. People drink alcohol from mugs during a meal.
One character purposely gargles water in front of a thirsty prisoner. We learn that Hunter’s family is dead. Artemis carries a tin with a man’s wedding ring and dog tags, suggesting that she is a widow. Artemis calls her team of mostly men “ladies.” One guy pulls a slimy hairball out of his mug before drinking from it.
Monster Hunter is based on the popular video game franchise by Capcom. In the series, players assume the role of a Hunter, taking on jobs from locals to slay and trap monsters.
The premise here is much the same. And it’s also Monster Hunter’s biggest issue. As they battle against these behemoths, Artemis’s team takes multiple casualties. They are barely able to process their losses from one fight before they’re forced into another—resulting in even more deaths.
Now, obviously, the creatures we see here are fictional. But their demonic red eyes and those killer predatory instincts can inspire real fear. Language will also be a barrier for some viewers.
Overall, Monster Hunter has just enough gore and brutish fiends to cause a few nightmares in young or sensitive viewers, making it an easy pass for some families.
Emily studied film and writing when she was in college. And when she isn’t being way too competitive while playing board games, she enjoys food, sleep, and geeking out with her husband indulging in their “nerdoms,” which is the collective fan cultures of everything they love, such as Star Wars, Star Trek, Stargate and Lord of the Rings.
