【電影簡介】

宋天蔭（井柏然飾）意外懷孕生下萌妖胡巴后，為保護“兒子”，與天師霍小嵐（白百何飾）一起對抗妖界的故事。很久以前，人與萬物共存，當中也包括妖。但人想獨占天下，于是人向妖宣戰，把他們趕進了深山大澤，從此人和妖劃界而治。一天，一對裝人樣的情侶妖竹高（曾志偉飾）和胖瑩（吳君如飾），為了保護懷有小妖王的妖后逃避血妖的追殺，來到了永寧村，遇上了善良的天蔭（井柏然飾）、降妖少女二錢天師小嵐（白百何飾）以及跟小嵐對著干的四錢天師羅鋼（姜武飾）。

天蔭目睹人妖大戰，才驚覺有妖的存在。妖后為了保住小妖王，決定將其托付給天蔭，二話不說把肚里的蛋塞到天蔭的嘴里，男子漢大丈夫的天蔭從此就懷著妖胎成為“孕夫”。葛老板（鐘漢良飾）重金懸賞小妖王。小嵐為了得到賞金，硬拉著從沒有離開過永寧村的天蔭，躲避羅干的爭奪，離開永寧村展開了一段奇幻的旅程，途中遭遇大押店老板娘（湯唯飾）、廚子天師（姚晨飾）、一對萌妖（張悅軒和田雨橙飾）等各路人物。可愛的小妖王胡巴出生，令天蔭和小嵐的關系起了奇妙的變化，同時也揭穿了一個重大的秘密。

【音頻文本】

The box office success of "Monster Hunt" suggests China's young female population have gained the weight to sway public opinion and market decisions. And despite an excess of cuteness-mongering some may find too much for their taste, the effort by Chinese filmmakers to move past the phase of borrowing is encouraging.

In less than five days, the Chinese fantasy adventure film scored a total of 669 million yuan, or 108 million US dollars. It also set new records for opening day and single day earnings for a domestic film, plus new landmarks for IMAX screenings and opening weekend grossing.

Some attribute the windfall to the magical charm of the film's female lead Bai Baihe, who also starred in 2011 box office dark horse "Love is not Blind." That's an allegation without ground. For all her amicable manners and attractive looks, Ms. Bai does not appear to offer the best of her performance. But we should blame the editors rather than the actress. When the screens are constantly switching between the closeups of Bai and the male lead Jing Boran, it is impossible to get a good look on the actress's sexy lips, let alone to interpret the feelings she may or may not be trying to convey.

So now it is safe to say, young male audience members are not responsible for the explosion in the box office figures. The real culprit, as a matter of fact, is what could have driven the male moviegoers even further away. Imagine a big fat moving turnip with a pair of big eyes, a petty nose, a tinier mouth and octopus-like tentacles, I think most guys would find the picture disturbing. But apparently young women between the age of 19 and 33 find the fantastic elf extremely cute.

Before "Monster Hunt" was ever released in Chinese cinemas, the filmmakers had organised several screening events, whose repercussions rippled throughout the social network. I remember reading about quite a few positive comments all coming from female acquaintances, and all pointing to the cuteness of the little oc-turnip-us monster named Huba.

The cuteness campaign yielded positive results. On the first Saturday night after the film's release, I tried to book a ticket for Sunday morning, only to find nearly 90 percent of the seats at a nearby cinema had been sold. The precisely targeted production and promotion gimmicks demonstrated both Chinese women's purchase power and their ability to influence people around them.

Despite my disapproval of the grotesque creatures, "Monster Hunt" has also made commendable achievements. Director Xu Chengyi is a Hollywood veteran, whose works include Dreamworks animation "Shrek 3." His skills shaped the critters that have caused so much commotion in Chinese cinemas. Even more remarkable is how he makes the interaction between human and computer generated characters seem natural, particularly during intensive action scenes. Lastly, traditional Chinese elements are more than just a selling point.

In some shots showing natural scenery in the background, viewers have to actually turn their heads to look for the small human characters. This reminds us of traditional Chinese paintings that highlight the insignificance and humility of humans vis-a-vis nature. Viewers could have felt more strongly about that if only the filmmakers had taken it easy on the cuteness campaign.

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