Monster Hunt (2015)

Its great to see an east asian movie which has sth to say, it is somehow comedy, which brings smile, but not laughing. Very cute monsters so i said creative, with interesting story, so screenplay is acceptable. They try hard to make this, so I appreciate it, and hope to see more movies from this team. The story was same like few other ones. Itis important to be creative, always give sth new to viewers. Here we see it, even we had these kind of movie, but i did not feel it is old or repeated. I suggest everyone see this, specially childrens. Like to dream and dream... nice work.

"Monster Hunt" (aka "Zhuo yao ji") was sort of a movie that was entertaining in a strange way, especially since it was a combination of animation and live action. Normally that mixture does work well enough, but it was the odd cute and cuddly appearance of the monsters in the movie that just made it weird.The story in "Monster Hunt" was actually surprisingly good, as it is a story which is suitable for both children and adults alike. And the movie itself is also suitable for children to watch."Monster Hunt" is about ancient China where humans and monsters live simultaneously, although the monsters are banished. The queen of the monster world is pregnant, but is being chased relentlessly. With her dying breath she passes on her egg to a human named Song Tianyin (played by Boran Jing). He is traveling with monster hunter Huo Xiaolan (played by Baihe Bai) and they are being chased by monster hunters set out to capture the royal monster child.With a captivating story, then "Monster Hunt" is already well on the way for being a good movie. But it is really helped along by some great acting performances by Huo Xiaolan, Boran Jing, Wu Jiang, Sandra Kwan Yue Ng and Eric Tsang. And it was a nice treat to have the talented Wei Tang make a short appearance in this movie.The CGI were good, although the design of the monsters was at first somewhat of a difficult pill to swallow for me. They were simply just too cute in their design to be taken seriously. So I guess you will either outright fall in love with them right away (which my wife did), or you will have problems with taking them seriously (as I did)."Monster Hunt" is a fast-paced movie that has both a good storyline, but also has enough action and martial arts to keep the average fan of the Asian cinema more than happy.While it is somewhat of an offbeat movie, compared to the myriad of Hong Kong movies released every year, then "Monster Hunt" certainly is well-worth watching. It turned out to be a very nice surprise and a very entertaining movie, and I can warmly recommend this movie, both if you are a fan of the Asian cinema, but also if you are looking for a good movie for the entire family."Monster Hunt" scores a rock-solid seven out of ten stars rating from me.

It is exciting to finally watch a domestic Chinese animated film. "Monster Hunt" is a combination of advanced animated technology with Chinese Culture such as Kung fu, ancient Chinese myth and magic. "Yao", nickname for mystery monsters in China, owns a long history since ancient time and plays an important role in traditional Chinese mythology. Compared to Hollywood Animation Films, although "Monster Hunt" is by no means any superior with some obvious shortcomings such as loosely written script and insufficient character modeling, it marks a brand-new start for Chinese animation industry. In fact, it already stands out in all the Chinese movies that was released this summer and it is also well-received in the market with a total box-office revenues of 2.44 billion. According to the plot, a lot more stories can be developed with regard to "Huba", the main animated character, it remains a pretty good chance that there will be a sequel to this film. The audience will be curious about what will happen to "Huba", the main animated character after it departed its father "Song Tianyin", what will become of Song Tianyin since he decided to be a professional monster hunter. Some will also wonder what Song Tianyin's father is like since he is repeatedly mentioned in the film but never actually showed up. I think everything will be explained in the sequel.Although "Monster Hunt" is pretty good compared to certain standards, the overall Chinese domestic films are still primitive, and excellent projects are scarce in number and low in quality. Only a couple of high quality films can be produced due to China's strict censorship policy. It has a long way to go for Chinese domestic film industry, but we shouldn't give up our hope. Roma is built in one day, I believe positive changes will happen to Chinese domestic film industry in the near future.

If I have one compliant about this movie, it is the misleading title, specifically the use of the word "monster". Right at the beginning, voice-over narration spares no pain in making the point that members of this other race, regardless of how strange they may look, are in every way human's equal. Just like humans, there are good guys and bad guy, and that is all there is to it. And yet, using the word "monster" to denote them completely sabotages the all-too-obvious subtext of racial harmony. Why can't a special, neutral-sounding name be invented? Laziness? The guess I would venture is marketing considerations.Despite the big opening about conspiracy and power conflict at high places in the monster's realm, the plot line surprisingly oozes domesticity. There is no colossal clash of two kingdoms/races as you might be led to expect at the beginning. This is how it works. The obviously pregnant queen in the monster kingdom finds herself on the losing side of a power struggle and escapes into the forbidden human kingdom, hotly pursued by her enemies from back home. We never see the monster kingdom again as the story takes on a culinary flavor. A monster baby of royal lineage, you see, is considered by humans to be multi-star Michelin fare. While there is no lacking in Asian movie stars, many in various degrees of cameos (including lovely TANG Wei), the story is essentially about a guy and a girl who kind of adopt the new born royal monster Bupa (name given only at the end of the movie). The girl is actually a professional bounty monster-hunter with a profit motive. Eventually, they end up saving him from the fate of being the ultimate highlight of a lavish "monster feast". The little twist is that Bupa is physically born by the innocent nerdish guy, having been implanted into him by the dying pregnant monster mother. The girl eventually gets emotionally attached to the guy and the monster baby, in that order.The two leads beautifully deliver their scenes with both outlandish tomfoolery and subtle nuances. BAI Baihe, arguably China's current princess of rom-com, is in equal measures coquettish and cocky, a sheer delight. JING Boran is about the most lovable nerd you can find today for any Asian cast. There are exciting action sequences aplenty, offered up by a pageantry of celebrity stars, with superbly delivered animation blending so seamlessly that sometimes you totally forget that you are watching animation.While not a major part of the movie, the background music contributes. In particular, the songs, whether a tender love duet, an uplifting spirit-raiser or outright comedy, are pitch-perfect (no pun intended), enhancing the moods of the movie at just the right moments. There is a good reason for this success: they came from the pens of a pair that can deservedly be called Hong Kong's Lerner and Lowe (or Rodgers and Hammerstein, if you prefer), Leon Ko and Chris Shum.