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.