‘Monster Hunter’ live-action film dropping on Netflix this July
Fans of Capcom’s Monster Hunter hack-and-slash video game can finally check out the live-action adaptation of the franchise on Netflix this coming July 9.
Monster Hunter is directed and produced by Paul W. S. Anderson, and stars Milla Jovovich, known for her role in another Capcom hit, the Resident Evil live-action franchise, Tony Jaa, Ron Perlman, Meagan Good, and Jin Au-Yeng.
Here is the synopsis:
“A sandstorm transports Captain Artemis and her unit to a hostile new world, where they discover enormous monsters that are immune to firepower.”
The film received mixed reviews from several critics. Rotten Tomatoes gave it a 45 percent rotten rating, while Metacritic issued a weighted average score of 47 out of 100, and a “mixed to negative” review rating according to Screen Rant.
Previously, the film has received backlash for a certain line that Jin Au-Yeung’s character said. “Look at my knees! What kind of knees are these? Chi-nese!”
It was interpreted as an old racist playground rhyme that was used to target Asian people. This led to Chinese cinemas removing the film from their roster last December 2020 on its release date.
Nevertheless, the dialogue in question has been taken out of the film.
Jun Au-Yeung issued an apology on Instagram, stating that “It’s unfortunate that it has escalated to this level, especially since the line was intended to be uplifting.”
On the other hand, Jovovich expressed her regrets in an interview with NME. “None of us, including him, had ever heard this World War II rhyme. I feel horrible that it… did strike a nerve with some people who remember being made fun of.”
She further added that they should have done their research regarding this.