Director: Raman Hui
Writer: Alan Yuen (Screenplay)
Starring: Baihe Bai, Boran Jing, Wu Jiang, Elaine Jin, Wallace Chung, Eric Tsang
Plot: In an ancient world where monsters rule the land while humans keep to their own kingdom, a baby monster, Wuba, is born to a human father and monster queen. When mortals and creatures alike set out to capture the newborn, Wuba’s adventure begins. The cute baby monster Huba is the child of a human man and a monster queen, threatened by both monster-hating humans and monsters attempting to capture the new-born in an ancient world based on medieval China.
Tagline – The monsters just got bigger
Runtime: 1 Hour 57 Minutes
There may be spoilers the rest of the review
Verdict: Fun, But Doesn’t Translate Well
Story: Monster Hunt starts as we enter the ancient world where monsters rule and are now in the middle of a civil war, the Queen in on the run to save her baby which lands her to the path of humans, Song Tianyin (Jing) and Huo Xiaolan (Bai), she passes her baby to Song to protect from the people who are hunting it.
The two set off on their adventure to keep the young baby monster Wubu safe in an attempt to return him to his father when both monsters and humans are chasing them down.
Thoughts on Monster Hunt
Characters – Huo Xiaolan is one of the two people given the responsibility to look after the new royal baby, she takes it with her traveling partner, she does seem to be the brains between the two and equally capable in combat. Song Tianyin is the other traveling partner, he is impregnated by the queen and takes responsibility for the baby, comes off as the butt of the jokes more often than not. Along the way we do meet a host of colourful characters which are after the prince for their own reasons.
Performances – The performances from the whole cast are good throughout, Baihe Bai and Boran Jing work very well together and have wonderful chemistry between the pair.
Story – The story brings us into the world of monsters and humans where the next generation of one species is being bought into the world that is being hunted down only to be guarded by a couple of humans. This does everything you would come to expect when it comes to returning a lost child to their family, it does show us how the people need to learn to overcome their own problems to become the person they were meant to be.
Action/Adventure/Fantasy – The action is good throughout the film with a mix of combats going on, the adventure takes our characters on out of their comfort zone to achieve the mission, with the fantasy elements of the film being used to show us monsters and humans together.
Settings – The film takes place in ancient China which works but also hinders this for the world cinema.
Special Effects – The effects are good in the film and concept behind the creations can be seen working in the real world.
Scene of the Movie – Th final fight.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – It did get confusing at times.
Final Thoughts – This is one for the fans of the monster hunter idea, it does show character developments on the journey and the adventure feels like a must for the peace of the world.
Overall: Simple and fun throughout even if it can be hard to keep up with.
Rating
