New Monster Hunter movie trailer is way more fun than the first one

The Monster Hunter movie has put out a trailer for Chinese audiences, but a) the dialogue is in English and b) it's a lot more fun than the first, especially if you're a MonHun fan.

The early moments of the trailer include a rundown of the featured monsters, with quick teases of their new cinematic adaptations: Diablos, Nerscylla, Apceros, and Rathalos all get callouts, like the trailer is introducing the members of a hot new boy band one by one. The post-title stinger reveals one more fearsome creature, the Palico - specifically, it looks like the very same Meowscular Chef who creates gustatorial delights for all of Astera in Monster Hunter World.

By comparison, the first trailer looks more like a sci-fi horror movie. This new trailer spends less time dwelling on the circumstances that bring Milla Jovovich to the world of Monster Hunter and more time appreciating the things that make its world unique (namely, the giant monsters and the hunting thereof) and the trailer's much stronger for it, in my opinion. It also makes the case for Monster Hunter being a more natural fit for high-flying action than the Resident Evil series, which was director Paul W.S. Anderson's last video game adaptation.

The Monster Hunter movie is still set to debut in theaters on December 30. There's a strong chance the film will make that date in China, at least, but surging pandemic concerns elsewhere in the world make its international theatrical debut a whole lot less certain.

Anderson already has ideas for a Monster Hunter movie sequel - see what else is on the way with our guide to upcoming movies.