The highest grossing local film in China’s history is making its way state side this weekend when it releases in both 2D and 3D AMC theaters around the country. Making his feature length directorial debut, Raman Hui’s Monster Hunt is a comedic, Live-action/CGI hybrid fantasy adventure that ends up being a much different film than I anticipated.
Set in a world where monsters and humans each rule their own domains, a pregnant monster queen escapes death and passes her egg over to a human man named Song Tianyin (Boran Jing). At the same time, a young monster hunter named Huo Xiaolan (Baihe Bai) decides to protect him so that she can bring him to a monster trader to collect the big bounty on the baby. When Wuba is born, a powerful human enlists the help of monster hunters to track down the baby while, at the same time, evil monsters are searching for it so that they become the leaders of their kingdom. This movie is all about keeping Wuba in good hands.
I watched Monster Hunt in its original language with English subs rather than an English dub because, as an adult, I feel less gets lost in translation. That being said, this film was so much more of a kids movie than I anticipated that most people with kids will opt for the dubbed version. But even then, I can’t see many people other than Asians, particularly Chinese people, searching this one out. It is very much a Chinese film in its style and storytelling approach that it’s almost off-putting for anyone that doesn’t relate to that heritage. I can appreciate the various elements as a fan of the culture and Asian cinema in general, but I’m just too old to be watching a movie like this. The acting was over-the-top, the comedy was bottom-of-the-barrel slapstick and the main villain, when you realized what he wanted, was cliché and boring.
Everything about this screamed b-movie cheese that it was hard for me to get into the film. Part of my issue was I thought the animation/live action combo wasn’t very seamless, particularly when we got close-up profile shots of the monsters. The mean monster that was hunting the baby the entire film was not very threatening in its appearance and maybe that’s why I really couldn’t get into the film, I just wasn’t a fan of the creature designs.
The movie itself is perfect for kids, I can’t deny that and it helps me understand why it did so well at home. It’ll keep the kids occupied and mesmerized for just under two hours and that’s about the extent of it. There isn’t really any adult humor or intelligent plot to keep the adults engaged; something which has become a staple of most animated films and their storytelling approach these days.
Overall, from an adult’s perspective, Monster Hunt isn’t really worth your time even if you like fantasy adventures like myself. This is a kids movie made for kids with animation that doesn’t always work and creature designs that are too bubbly for anyone over the age of 11 to take seriously. If you’re Chinese and have kids this is a solid choice, but for everyone else, I’d look elsewhere for something better.
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