By Chris Kavan - 02/04/20 at 08:12 PM CT
Here we are, for the second week in a row I have to deal with but a single new wide release to talk about. I guess the winter doldrums have hit the MPAA Ratings Board - or whoever is in charge of submitting the movies for them to rate. In any case, I'm happy to report the one movie this week is a video game adaptation! I just love those! Actually, things have been getting better recently, so maybe the genre will finally get the respect it deserves - or at last finally shrug off the shame of Super Mario Bros. once and for all.
So, video game movies... yeah - those guys, just... yeah. Sigh. As a huge fan of video games, for the longest time Hollywood could just not get things right. And while there was the occasional bright spot, for the most part adapting games into big screen success was fraught with failure. But recently, things have been looking up. From Angry Birds to Detective Pikachu to maybe even the upcoming Sonic - video games are finally having some good luck. Which brings us to Monster Hunter, which, if you couldn't tell by the title is about hunting monsters. So is the game series on which it is based and not just any monsters, either, we're talking hulking, dangerous beasts. I never got into this series - too much grinding and crafting for me - but people seem to like it well enough. And we have a video game adaptation veteran on board as Milla Jovovich (of Resident Evil fame) is starring, along with the likes of Meagan Good, Ron Perlman, Diego Boneta, Tony Jaa, Josh Helman and T.I. That's a solid enough lineup so hopefully they manage to craft a decent plot out of fighting big, bad creatures. Popularity-wise, this isn't going to hold up to the likes of Pokemon or Sonic, but it could find some success, especially if it can cross over to general action audiences. Rated PG-13 for sequences of creature action and violence throughout.
And thus another MPAA Ratings Bulletin has passed... but if you are so inclined the full list can be found below:
AGENT TOBY BARKS
Rated G
CUT THROAT CITY
Rated R for violence, pervasive language, drug content, some sexual material and nudity.
DREAMKATCHER
Rated R for disturbing violent content, and language.
ELEPHANT
Rated G
MONSTER HUNTER
Rated PG-13 for sequences of creature action and violence throughout.
SURVIVE THE NIGHT
Rated R for violence, bloody images and language throughout.
WHEELS OF FORTUNE
Rated R for language and sexual material throughout.
