Monsters lack the local touch

Monsters are typically Westernized like the one portrayed in the 2015 Chinese fantasy film Chronicles of the Ghostly Tribe. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Over the years, filmgoers in China have griped that monsters portrayed in Chinese films look like those seen in Western movies. But things could be about to change. Deng Zhangyu reports. 

After watching Zhang Yimou's film The Great Wall last week, Gu Meng was impressed by the army of Tao Tie monsters from Chinese mythology. However, he complained that the Tao Tie in Zhang's film were not "Chinese" monsters.

"They looks like Western ones with Chinese names. They have more in common with monsters from Hollywood films, such as Godzilla," says Gu, a programmer in Beijing who loves monster movies.

Gu is not the only one to feel this way. Many Chinese netizens say that as the Tao Tie is seen as one of the four evil creatures－and is believed to be the offspring of a dragon, according Chinese mythology－it should have been portrayed as a single beast, instead of hoards of ant-like beasts in the film.

But the complaints are not only about Tao Tie.

Chinese have long complained that monsters portrayed in domestic movies look like those in Western films. That's not surprising, since many were created by Western companies.

The Tao Tie in Zhang's film, which is based on the Chinese literary work, Classic of Mountains and Seas, has been created by the New Zealand company Weta Workshop.