Monster Run

Even though it was the typical "girl needs saving, boy needs self-confidence" movie, I enjoyed the monsters and the different take on this type of story. I thought that the monsters were pretty imaginative. Worth a one-time watch, even at 3am. 5.5/10

I had the opportunity to sit down and watch the 2020 Chinese action fantasy movie "Guai Wu Xian Sheng" (aka "Monster Run") here in 2022. I hadn't heard about the movie prior to watching it, so I really didn't have much of any expectations to director Henri Wong's movie.

Writers Wenwen Fan, Yahe Wang, Henri Wong, Alex Zhang and Disa Zhang managed to put together an adequate enough storyline and script here. The plot in the movie was actually not that bad, but could have benefitted from a bit of trimming around the edges. The storyline in the movie made for an enjoyable enough movie experience.

The acting performances in the movie were good, though I was a bit surprised to see the likes of Shawn Yue in a movie such as this. I was not familiar with leading actress Jessie Li, but she was actually carrying the movie quite well.

Visually then I will say that this was a good movie. They definitely had great CGI effects on the screen to bring the world alive. It looked good and worked well in favor of the movie. I also liked the creature design, to an extend that is. While the creature designs were interesting and had good CGI, the movie sort of fluxed between it being a kids movie and a movie for a more mature audience. Why? Well, because in some scenes the creatures were cartoonish and looked comical, while in others they were fierce and hellbent on devouring the character Ji Mo (played by Jessie Li).

This was a movie that made for an easy viewing experience; you just simply unhook your brain, lean back and munch on the snacks, and enjoy the fast-paced monster action on the screen. However, this is hardly a movie that warrants more than a single viewing.

My rating of "Guai Wu Xian Sheng" lands on a five out of ten stars.

The monsters look great, the CGI is great, the rest is unlikable. There are too many scenes that just go on too long, some scenes that have nothing to do with the plot, what there is of that. Kara Wai as the villain, chews a bit of scenery, but I think that's the director's fault. Then there is the bad guy who we have no idea why he is the bad guy. Or why he and our hero guy want the mcguffin. I is hard to know what this movie is about, this movie has some good action scenes but little else going for it. This could have been a much better movie.

This is an enjoyable movie with great CGI. The story is a little weak and the ending even weaker. There are parts of it that stretch out too long and some parts that aren't fleshed out, but it's a decent romp. There are worse action films out there.

Or Ghostbusters as some might call it - tried to find the chinese translation for that, but it had certain letters or rather signs that Imdb has issues with and won't allow. But it would only be for fun - one can write about this without that extra note - which I still wanted to share with you.

Having said that, the movie is simple and fun. So you see there is nothing wrong with watching something light and entertaining ... if you know what to expect. And watching this you will know what to expect. CGI is good or at least decent - and the fantasy/mind of the makers seem to have some interesting ideas and concepts. Not all work out - but enough do to make this enjoyable.