Unless one is familiar with the book it's hard to get a handle on how this world works, because they simply did not spend the time needed to build it for us. The leads bonded together faster than Wolverine and Rogue with a similar relationship dynamic. The gruff, world weary, reluctant hero and the abandoned young woman with a power that frightens people.
It felt like the FL's one acting note she was given was to stand there and look pretty and forlorn. Not a lot of depth to the performance. The ML spent most of his time running and jumping which to his credit, he did well.
The CGI was very good and creative. The problem for me was that the story overly-relied on it and over-estimated how interesting it is without an emotional story to propel the characters through the monsters and labyrinths.
It's a shame they didn't spend a few more minutes developing these characters because there is an interesting story behind the wall of CGI.
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Light & Fun
This film came out of nowhere - I got a notification from Netflix saying they think I would enjoy it, so I put it on last night and it did not disappoint. Given, I didn't have high expectations of it, but I still had a good time watching it.It has a basic and simple plot, with an adventure twist with monsters. Both the mains were mediocre people - a small-time monster hunter, trying to live up to his famous monster-hunting brother's name and a girl who was thought to be insane for being the only person who could see monsters but ended up being super powerful and the next gatekeeper. Together, they try to survive the next 3 days until Ji Wei's powers settle into her body and she takes on her new role.
The film was only an hour and 45 minutes, so I didn't expect a lot of world-building and expected the relationship between the two mains to be instant through a quick montage. But I will say those were my two favorite things about this film. For as much world-building that they did give us, it was pretty. I applaud whoever decided on how to build the sets - especially the labyrinth tunnel. The colors were all super vibrant, and I was pulled in. I also really enjoyed the relationship between Meng Ge and Ji Wei, even though it seemed more like an older brother looking out for a younger sister relationship. I was a little disappointed as I wanted more emotion from Ji Wei because I didn't know how she would have acted in certain situations. I would like to think that she is a brave soul and fights for the people she trusts, but she gave up super quickly when she was "given" the chance to have a normal life. It kind of made it come off like Ji Wei was very young and was put in an adult situation, but in what Ji Wei lacked, Meng Ge made up for, which is why I really liked his character. Even though everything was against him, he wanted to protect Ji Wei the way his older brother protected him. He was honestly the real hero of this film.
Everything with the plot was super generic and nothing special, but sometimes it is really nice watching a film that you know how it going to play out. I also really liked how it wasn't a story about normal people doing extravagant things to save the world - it was a story about 2 normal to mediocre people who even though might not have been the strongest physically, but had common sense and one another (and heart because that is always important).
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This review may contain spoilers
Boring…
Anyone who tells you this is a good movie was on drugs while watching it. Too much CGI, the main protagonists are unlikeable and the movies’ biggest sin? Wasting the amazing actor Kara Wai!A warning: there will be some big spoilers here, but these will be needed to reveal some details of the movie so you can understand my issues with the movie. It mainly follows this girl played by Jessie Li who could see monsters since she was a child so her mother abandoned her at a mental hospital. I know we are meant to feel sorry for her but I really didn’t care because the actor really couldn’t carry it off. It felt like she was trying to act *gasp!* and lacked authenticity.
And then we have the male lead Shawn Yue as Meng who is a monster hunter. Everybody in the movie calls him rubbish and a second rate hunter and this is true, he really is useless. Near the end of the movie, while still being useless, he loses his left arm so he gets a new one from a side character called Uncle Ping who puts all his power into it. Even with his new arm he still sucks, and only wins his fight against a top hunter because of some dirty tricks and all the while was as graceful as a drunk horse. The final battle was poorly choreographed and there was way too much cgi and shakey cam it was almost impossible to follow.
There is this super crystal that can grant hunters immeasurable strength. Our main male lead gets this crystal and yet is unable to defeat out main big bad played by Kara Wai. Instead, the final battle is ended in 15 seconds as Jessie suddenly pulls a Yugioh and understands the heart of the cards and does one move… hold her hand out and then twist it like Aaron Kwok in his Never Ending Love MV. This defeats Kara somehow without any dramatic build up or awesome final confrontational struggle. Kara just stands and screams and boom done. Lame.
I just hate how they wasted Kara because she is a fantastic actor that just oozes charisma and malice. In this movie she just talks a bit and gets around with loads of cgi around her. It was one really lazy part for her and doesn’t allow her to show off her other acting chops. There is one scene she leans into a sculpture and basically rubs her chest over it during an exposition bit. Was that necessary?
And a massive plothole here is that that super crystal could be absorbed to power up anyone, why didn’t Kara Wai use it to power up? Instead she leaves it floating around her domain… that makes no sense. When Shawn appears in front if her near the end and she says “you have absorbed the power of the crystal?” No shit, what were you expecting to happen by leaving it there?
The best part of the movie? Paper. A character that can origami himself into any shape and is the comedy sidekick to Shawn. But again, it is CGI. The CGI is very good, but it cannot carry a movie that is poorly executed. Avoid this movie
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This review may contain spoilers
Very Promising Premises But They Decided to Cramped It Up?
I always knew that China & Japan are the leading countries when it came to fantastic production of fantasy movies & dramas. This movie is no exception. You'll get :●Unique plot ideas
●Badass CGIs
●Cute and funny monsters design
●Some suspenseful action scenes
●Promising characters & chemistry between the mainleads
●All entertainment you can get in a fantasy movie
But! Here are some reasons why I think the movie isn't 'complete' (Spoiler Alert!) :
1. The movie literally spent little time for the viewers to grow accustomed with the world that the characters live in & to get to know the characters. Honestly it really felt soo rushed out, I still have many questions regarding the character's background. Why is there even a character like Charlene that clearly had connections with Meng but her character was not explored, or who is exactly Uncle Ping is? Damn during the last minutes, there are more questions flew inside my head.
2. The movie's storyline pacing is clearly the biggest problem here. Why spent so much screen time with the mainleads doing nothing important in his house rather than focusing on the main conflict. The production team was clearly trying to cramped all of the ideas into the movie and it resulted in 'rough' cut scenes from one scene to another scene. The contrast between the scenes was too visible, the pacing was not smooth at all.
3. Uncountable plot holes here and there are unbearable for people who really counted detail things. Like how was it exactly Ji Mo's mother was admitted to a hospital in the first place, is she sick bcs of monster sent by Lotus? How's her mother doing after her accepting her fate? What about the paper character, will he always be the left hand for Meng (I'm gonna miss him so much..)? Are there no monster hunter in China besides those characters? If that so then it's just too pathetic..Why only two monsters were shown up? The production team literally tried their best to create HEA ending, but all I can catch up is cliffhangers at its finest, smh..
Like I said before, this movie is actually very promising, well yeah it kinda will be like 'hit or miss' type of movie with people who watch it. It's a miss for me for the lack of many elements, but if you're a fantasy movies/dramas lover that don't really matter with details and just strive for pure entertainment, this movie might be for you..
Well, I think that I will enjoy the story line more IF they decided to make this into a drama. Just like K-Dramas with short episodes (8-20 episodes), I believe that this story line will be executed more perfectly. I'd like to watch it again if they decided to make this movie into a drama tho! With cute monsters design and all drama surrounding the capture and the return, relationship development between the mainleads, more screen time & backgorund for the supporting characters.
Anyway, just watch it guys. If you're a fan of fantasy/adventure/action/comedy movies, this movie might be your cup of tea. A movie worth to spent your spare time. Keep your mind open and enjoy the ride!! Would rate it : 7,5/10❤
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The special effects were amazing, but...
...unfortunately not much else was. The story itself was unremarkable and very commonplace for fantasy lovers, especially if you watch anime and/or read manga. Girl told she was crazy her entire life because she claimed monsters were real meets someone who can see them, too. blah blah Evil person. blah blah wise one with the answers. blah blah roll credits.I'm a monster lover from waaay back so I decided to give Monster Run a go. It barely kept my attention. It's boring. How do you write, produce, direct, edit..etc a movie with CG monsters and make it boring?? The only light, the only saving grace are the effects. From the monsters to the fight scenes they were superb. Paper and Yeti were my favorite characters and Yeti doesn't speak. He's just so cute...when he's not trying to freeze you.
So, behind the camera was eh, what about in front of the camera? They were double eh. Well, I didn't say boring. The actors seemed bored. Their boredom comes through the screen. I have no desire to see either of the 2 leads ever again. Admittedly, Shawn Yue was much better than his female counterpart. If the Academy had an award staring, she'd win that golden statute hands down!
The music was pretty good except one song. It is quite probably a good song, but it's use just added to the monotony of the movie. Re-watch is 10 out of 10. JUST PLAYIN'!! You'd have to pay me to watch Monster Run again.
I know I over used the word boring/bored, but I wanted to save calling it an exercise in tedium until the end.
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