Monster Hunt 2 movie: Review, Cast, Director

Film: Monster Hunt 2

Cast: Tony Leung, Bai Baihe, Jing Boran, Li Yuchun, Tony Yang

Director: Raman Hui

Rating: * * *

Hong Kong animator turned director Raman Hui’s sequel to 2015’s blockbuster hybrid of live action and CGI animation is as enjoyable as the original about a cuddly-wuddly little radish thatched “monster” princeling named Wuba.

This time around, Wuba is on the run, eco-friendly knapsack on his back, trying to evade monstrous forces which are at cross purposes with the humans of ancient China. Can the two ever co-exist peacefully? For the answer to this oft-posed question, do not look to Kashmir or Israel-Palestine in the real world, gentle viewer.

Rather, look at tubby-wubby Wuba and his gambling man-friend Tu Sigu (Tony Leung, mesmerising). Also, Wuba’s human parents, the feisty Xiaolan (Bai Baihe) and meek Tianyin (Jing Boran who regret their decision at the end of the original film to send him off to be with his own kind. Now, they too set off on a quest for their little one. Are they reunited in the end?

No prizes for guessing the eventual outcome of Hui’s family-friendly fantasy adventure action comedy. Monster Hunt 2 is visually splendid and despite the lack of an original plotline, well worth a watch for the gorgeous-looking human cast and adorable Wuba but of course.