English Dub Review: Monster Hunter: Legends of the Guild

Overview: Set in the fantastical world of Capcom’s global video game sensation, Monster Hunter: Legends of the Guild centers on the young spirited boy, Aiden (Dante Basco). He along with veteran monster hunters, Julius (Brando Eaton), Nadia (G.K. Bowes) form a team to take down a legendary dragon to save his village from utter destruction. 

Our Take: Even with it’s shorter run time, Guild manages to make the most of its screen time throughout with an enjoyable fantasy adventure. It is strongly reminiscent of a Saturday morning cartoon in that it is a decent jack of all trades and a good gateway for newcomers like myself. 

The story’s main character is that of the inexperienced, naïve would-be hunter, Aiden. With a knack for monsteriously bad puns and equally befuddling ignorance, he acts a good character for audiences to latch onto. It is because of his fish out of water nature that makes him an accessible way for both he and the folks at home to learn about the world of monster hunting as a whole. Not to mention, there’s a certain charm that affords him in both his embarrassing shortcomings and victories no matter how minor that is empowered by actor Dante Basco especially. 

He is joined by quite a cast of colorful characters such as Julius, Nadia, Mae, Ravi and Vox. All in all, they all differ quite a bit from one another and bounce off each other well because of it. The Geralt look alike, Julius, is a strong and composed mentor figure for Aiden. It’s this stoicism that plays into the jokes as well while Nadia, Julius’s fellow hunter and friend, acts as a strong, reliable backup and moral support for him. Academic hunter Mae is a corky bug and beast data collecting nut with plenty of charm and exuberance Ravi, although has a small amount of screen time, is a very grounded character driven by guilt. 

But behind their unique personalities was something I was not expecting to find: Meaningful and personal backstories. With that being said, some get more mileage than others. Ravi’s character, while impactful, has a very short lived arc that doesn’t get as much development as that of Aiden, Julius and Mae. 

Vox, a cat looking creature known as a Melynx, mostly acts as a comedic relief but is rarely a humorous one with him feeling like a childish Secret Life of Pets side character. However, at the very least the comedy of the film as a whole isn’t reliant on the furry thief with Aiden’s puns and spirit along with other characters own traits making for some funny banter. 

The film is rendered entirely in CG and overall it works well enough. There are times when the monster animations are noticeably choppy and awkward. But the character models and overall battles are detailed and fast paced enough with exciting camera movements and depth that it’s forgivable. As someone not familiar with the franchise, there were a lot of references to other creatures and probably characters that most certainly went over my head that long time fans will no doubt appreciate. With that being said, they never alienated me though as they nicely fit into the self-contained story in how relevant they are to it. Lastly, the ending of the film is much more weighty, heartbreaking than I had expected, showing that director Steve Yamamoto very much wanted to show the real world implications of the dangers of nature and humanity in the fantasy universe, which is an aspect I deeply appreciated for its rawness. 

Netflix’s Monster Hunter: Legends of the Guild makes for a thoroughly entertaining ride that delivers a more encompassing experience than expected. However, it could have been so much more had it had a longer run time that would allow for more development evenly across the board. While the film’s visuals could have used more time to bake in the oven and the quality of comedy isn’t the most consistent, it does not take away from surprisingly well developed characters and large scale battles that are thrilling and satisfying from start to finish.