This movie is sometimes serious. Sometimes action. Sometimes outright hilarious. Sometimes even a musical, for absolutely no reason. This movie tries to hit every genre, and fails pretty much at doing so, and instead leaves the critical viewer with a confused and forgettable impression.
The story is simple. Man meets woman meets monster. Then there's some in-your-face standard romance, an evil protagonist and a sword. That about seems to be it. Oh, and the man inexplicably becomes pregnant with a monster. But not really in a woman-empowering way, but more like in a he-has-a-fat-tummy way. And this inexplicable event carries most of the narrative.
Then there's the animation. There's nothing wrong with it, per se. Thankfully, it doesn't look like sock puppets, but it doesn't fit into the traditional Chinese narrative at all. The monsters don't really add much to the story. They look like green and blue blobs with big eyes, and they don't make much sense. There's not really any explanation of why they're there, why people want to get rid of them, or anything else about them really. They're not shrouded in mystery for the viewer to figure out. They're just there. Let's not forget that "monster" is half of the movie's title.
All in all, it mostly felt like a meat-and-potatoes mass-produced Disney production shoehorned into Chinese lore. The kids will surely have a laugh, but more mature audiences (read: 5+ years) should probably look elsewhere.
It should be mentioned that this is a milestone in Chinese animation and technical prowess, as lackluster as it may be in other departments. However, since Chinese moviegoers also have access to Transformers, Avengers and other blockbusters, it makes Monster Hunt seem lackluster in the technical department as well, and the only thing that seems to keep this movie afloat is some sort of patriotism for homegrown material. It can't possibly be because of the Chinese people's genuine appreciation of such a terrible flick, can it? For the sake of China's future entertainment industry, I hope not.
The story is simple. Man meets woman meets monster. Then there's some in-your-face standard romance, an evil protagonist and a sword. That about seems to be it. Oh, and the man inexplicably becomes pregnant with a monster. But not really in a woman-empowering way, but more like in a he-has-a-fat-tummy way. And this inexplicable event carries most of the narrative.
Then there's the animation. There's nothing wrong with it, per se. Thankfully, it doesn't look like sock puppets, but it doesn't fit into the traditional Chinese narrative at all. The monsters don't really add much to the story. They look like green and blue blobs with big eyes, and they don't make much sense. There's not really any explanation of why they're there, why people want to get rid of them, or anything else about them really. They're not shrouded in mystery for the viewer to figure out. They're just there. Let's not forget that "monster" is half of the movie's title.
All in all, it mostly felt like a meat-and-potatoes mass-produced Disney production shoehorned into Chinese lore. The kids will surely have a laugh, but more mature audiences (read: 5+ years) should probably look elsewhere.
It should be mentioned that this is a milestone in Chinese animation and technical prowess, as lackluster as it may be in other departments. However, since Chinese moviegoers also have access to Transformers, Avengers and other blockbusters, it makes Monster Hunt seem lackluster in the technical department as well, and the only thing that seems to keep this movie afloat is some sort of patriotism for homegrown material. It can't possibly be because of the Chinese people's genuine appreciation of such a terrible flick, can it? For the sake of China's future entertainment industry, I hope not.