If you look at the Tomatometer scores for Paul W.S. Anderson’s work, you’d think that this guy makes disaster after disaster. And yet the action auteur of movies like Mortal Kombat, Event Horizon, Resident Evil (along with three of its sequels), and the new Monster Hunter has, over the years, built up a devout critical following and a reputation as the king of violent, relentless, go-for-broke thrillers. His films are filled with tight visual storytelling and excellent, intricate locationwork. They’re unpredictable and kind of ruthless in their willingness to kill off characters, often quite brutally. And, sure enough, movies that were once dismissed by critics — such as his 1994 debut feature, Shopping, which also happened to introduce the world to a young actor by the name of Jude Law — have retroactively gained respect. When I last spoke to Anderson, back during the release of 2014’s Pompeii, we went down a fun rabbit hole of how to shoot a good explosion, and a good beheading, and a good jump scare. This time around, I asked him about how to handle several other classic action scenarios. We also talked about discovering Law, the importance of locations in his work, and what makes a good video-game movie. Oh, and that time he and his wife, Milla Jovovich, accidentally wandered onto the set of The Great British Bake Off.
