Monster Hunt (2015)

A Masterpiece!

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

Whether you're into monsters or not, this adorable film will appeal to a wide audience. Whether you love it for the action, the stunts, the visual effects, or the cuteness of the baby character, there's something here for everyone to adore. I just loved everything about it. I found it incredibly cute and delightful and a pleasure to watch. Some scenes were jaw dropping incredible!!

The movie starts with explaining how Monsters and Humans once lived together but things soured and Humans and Monsters split to live apart. Monsters that escaped back into the Human realm were captured by the Monster Hunters and forced to live as disguised Humans or suffer a far worse fate.Tianyin is the mayor of a small village, where no one respects him, especially his grandma who has some serious short term memory issues. His life changes when he encounters Monster (disguised as humans)on the run from Monster Hunters. He is marked by The Queen of the Monsters and held as bait by one of the Hunters so she can capture the Queen and get the reward. Things don't go as planned and The Queen dies after making Song her surrogate to ensure the Prince of Monsters will be born.Tianyin's pregnancy is short lived - I'm sure he's thankful for that. He does have quite the appetite for a while. Much to the chagrin of the Monster Hunter who wants to take the Prince from him and sell the baby for a profit.The animation is impressive. I like how the live action mixes with the animation. I watched it with subtitles. It is great with the actors' actual voices so you can get their emotional responses to their situations.The relationship between Tianyin, Xiaolan (The Monster Hunter who won't admit she really likes Tianyin and the Prince) and WUBA aka Prince of Monsters, gets you in the feels. Xiaolan wants to focus on WUBA simply being a Monster while Tianyin sees him as a child in need of parenting.Problems rise as the trio make their way to the City. They are confronted by higher ranking Monster Hunters who want WUBA for the reward. Monsters are also looking for WUBA, for their own reasons.This is a movie along the lines of Shrek, in that it has double entendres all through it. The Kung Fu is mixed with magic, so there's a bit more of the theatrics to it. Even the monsters get in on the Kung Fu fights. The best fights occur during the grand dinner.The journey reveals some truths about Tianyin's family that have him rethinking life with WUBA in it. This movie doesn't hesitate to have you laughing with Tianyin one moment an feeling sad for him the next. I like movies that can drag you in so deep.When Tianyin's true heritage is revealed, he has to let WUBA go to protect him. It's a heart wrenching moment. Poor WUBA doesn't understand since he's only a child. Tianyin knows WUBA will be safe with other Monsters to protect him.I cannot wait for Monster Hunt 2 in February, 2018. I am hoping for a happy reunion between WUBA and his Human dad. I give it a 9 because it's just one of those movies that keeps you involved from the the beginning to the final credits.

"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.

Chinese animation has been through a rough time, it missed the mark so many times when used to create epic legend. However, it seems that the eccentric animation just found its niche with the blend of humor, drama and action fantasy that is Monster Hunt. It shockingly deals with a few eerie themes yet presented in family friendly light humorous way, almost like MIB in ancient China.In a world where monster and human live in inharmonious way, an ordinary man finds himself in a struggle between the monster kingdom and human hunters. It opens up with typical fantasy troupe, then escalates with good comedic tone as well as healthy dose of martial art stunts. The cast works fine, especially with famous names as supporting characters or cameos, some of them are added for comedy relief.The tone might feel awkward, it's often playful but then it displays incredibly creepy prejudice against the monster, even down to eating and torturing them. Granted, some of them look like radish or salad, although the abrupt change of pace can be startling. There are definitely some odd twists here. Fortunately enough, the core drama is light humor, with endearing family value thrown into the mix. It mostly deals with platonic funny theme, and fans of Chinese cinema should find the humor familiar.For a movie that uses animation and action choreography at the same time, Monster Hunt looks amazing, especially in the second half with gorgeous setting. It's one of the best animations Chinese has produced, it's much smoother than the rest and these silly designs are well integrated into the world. The feel of uncanny valley actually works in their favor since the monsters only partially resemble human yet they look harmless enough to be friendly.Monster Hunt has all the elements of Chinese fantasy movie, the visual effect and also the soundtracks enhance the flamboyantly cheesy premise. It's a well-produced action comedy and definitely a crowd pleaser.