Monster Hunt
Released By: Manga Entertainment
Rating: 12
Running Time: 112 Mins
Audio: Chinese 2.0 Dolby & Chinese 5.0 Dolby w/ English subs
Due Out: Out Now!
Reviewed By: Sandra Scholes
Monsters and humans used to live in harmony, but the humans became greedy wanting the world for their own banishing the monsters to the mountains where they survived rather than lived. Unknown to humans, the monster world was changing too as the former monster king had been murdered to make way for another who had designs on killing anyone who was a supporter of the former king.
An inept mayor (Tianyin) gets a visitor he didn't expect in a female monster hunter (Xiaolan). She stays with him keeping him her captive when some monsters decide they have a different idea of how the day will go. Pour the monster queen into the mix to rescue the mayor from the clutches of the demon huntress and see her seal her unborn child inside him for safekeeping.
There are many reasons to like this movie. It has some memorable scenes in it, it is part musical with well choreographed aerial combat scenes where human and CGI blend in really well. In Monster Hunt humans are the real bad guys while the good monsters are easily recognisable as cute and stout bodied, though it is their meaningful eyes that endear you to the characters.
We get to see the former monster queen being taken to safety by her supporters while a huge enemy monster tries to kill her. Already pregnant with the future monster king, it is believed her baby will restore the monster world to right. This can only happen as long as she lives though and the current monster king isn't the only one out to capture her - the human king wants her unborn son so he can destroy the monster world.
I do like my anime and manga but this felt like watching a movie that was meant to be and worthwhile viewing as far as I was concerned. It felt easy to watch and get into the minds of the characters given that the monster side of things was strange in a Dr. Who way (Adipose), but with the actors working well interacting with them, the movie somehow feels natural as Tianyin has to protect the monster world's future from destruction by two sources, evil demos and human hunters. Tianyin might be a bit dim, but his heart is in the right place, so Xiaolan is the one who does most of the work fending off the demons and cruel humans.
Having been a Chinese blockbuster on its first opening night broke box office records and it isn't hard to see why as there are no painful explanations of events, just humour, fantasy violence and some tongue-in-cheek drama that would generally go over kids' heads. If you want to see a movie with your kids you don't want to be disappointed with, go see this one.
Bonus Material: Making of Trailer with English subs.
Verdict: We haven't had this fun a release since Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.
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