Monster Hunter

I thought my nephew, an avid gamer, would want to see Monster Hunter with me since it is based on a popular video game but, apparently, he thinks the game is really stupid so he declined my offer.  He gave me a very detailed explanation of why he doesn't like it but, frankly, I didn't understand most of what he told me and I thought the movie sounded interesting so I saw it last night.  I should have listened to him.  A group of U.S. Army Rangers led by Captain Artemis (Milla Jovovich) go in search of a missing unit in the desert.  A sand and lightening storm transports them to another world where they find what is left of the missing unit and then what killed them.  After an intense battle with a giant monster, Artemis is the only member of her unit to survive.  Soon she encounters a mysterious Hunter (Tony Jaa) and, after they realize that they are allies rather then enemies, they join together to fight one of the biggest monsters.  Up to this point, I was willing to suspend my disbelief and just go with what was happening even though there was very little exposition, character development, or plot because I liked the goofy camaraderie between the Ranger and the Hunter (who do not speak the same language) and I liked the fact that it takes both her advanced weapons and his more primitive ones to defeat the monster.  I also liked the design of the monsters and the action sequences are a lot of fun even if the editing is a bit choppy.  However, in the third act everything goes off the rails when the two of them meet the Admiral (Ron Perlman) and his band of pirates (and a cat that acts like a human!) who were also transported to this alternate world in the prologue.  He provides a bit of an explanation and then they all embark on a mission to get Artemis back home which necessitates fighting another terrifying monster.  The tone is so wacky in this act that it seems like an entirely different movie (I rolled my eyes when the cat made an appearance because it seems so out of place).  The final action sequence (with the coolest monster in the movie) ends so abruptly that it is obvious the filmmakers are trying to set up a possible sequel but let's hope it doesn't come to that!  I can definitely enjoy an escapist action movie as much as the next person but this is just so bad (people in my screening were laughing out loud by the end of it).  I will never doubt my nephew again!