Netflix's new Monster Hunter film gives a popular NPC the spotlight

Netflix is releasing an animated Monster Hunter movie next month, focusing on a young Ace Cadet.

Monster Hunter: Legends of the Guild is Steven F. Yamamoto's directorial debut, having previously racked up credits for his visual effects work on Transformers, World War Z and the rebooted Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film. The 3D animated film follows a young Ace Cadet from Monster Hunter Ultimate 4 (you may also recognise him as Exciteable A-Lister from Monster Hunter: World) as he plans to take on an elder dragon due to attack his village. Fellow MH4U hunter Julius is also here, along with some iconic Monster Hunter baddies and beloved Palico companions.

It's a pretty short film, only sitting at 58 minutes long. It's also leaning pretty heavily on the 'old-school console cutscene' aesthetic, which feels a little flat to me personally. Other fans seem to be digging it, though, with most of the YouTube comments for the trailer dripping with hype for the movie. It also probably helps that last year's live-action Monster Hunter movie wasn't particularly well-received by fans—as further evidenced by the YouTube comments—though our own Rich ended up enjoying it. 

Despite my reservations about the animation style, I'm quite excited to check the movie out. Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate is a damn popular game in the series, with Ace Cadet arguably being one of the more interesting NPCs we've seen in the games. It definitely feels more like Monster Hunter than last year's Hollywood attempt, at least. Monster Hunter: Legends of the Guild hits Netflix on August 12.