Monster Hunt was China's highest grossing film until Mermaid knocked it off it's pedestal last year. I had watched Mermaid and was a bit surprised that of all the titles China was cranking out it had amassed so much recognition. Well after watching Monster Hunt I've kind of come to the conclusion that it's like any Box Office anywhere. The movie doesn't have to be great to make the money, it just has to have catchy gimmicks. Monster Hunt isn't just gimmicks, I'll give it that. In fact, I have to point out that it actually swaps gender stereotypes. The lead girl is the brave and fierce monster hunter. While the male lead sews, cooks, and is treated like how the female leads are treated by the male leads. Basically like inferior crap. It was hilarious. At one point the male lead is even pregnant! Holy, cow! The reality is that Monster Haven has a lot of great ideas, but then they writers/directors just over did it. There's musical number, odd plot changes, over the top side stories. Sure it's a lot of fun and most of the movie I spent smiling and laughing. It was still too much and I think it could have been a bit more polished. However, I think any movie fan--especially of foreign works--should see this one. It's fun and you'll laugh. Sometimes that's all you need and in that retrospect I can see why this was such a huge success. The end clearly leaves an opening for a sequel, which I see they're planning for 2018. I'm excited and will definitely tune in. On that note I loved how this movie explores the concept of picking your own family, and what makes a family. Many times I was moved. It brings up big questions about different race and the misconceptions one might have to make their side "right".