Monk Comes Down the Mountain

I couldn't disagree more with the first two reviews. I give it 7/10. I mean I liked it and I watched it 3 times, there is no shame in that and I'm truthful with myself. There is a lot of wisdom in the movie. Of course it's a Chinese movie and there is a lot of beautiful choreography, but if you listen carefully and you practice martial art, you may like it. The movie is about Kung fu, it's an art but it's also about life about philosophy. Of course, I don't agree with all that said in the movie, but most of the time I agree. But again, it'a Chinese movie, if you don't like IPman, Jet li, Jackie Chan or Bruce Lee don't watch it. Nevertheless, if you don't like them but you like philosophy and wisdom, you may love it anyway.

A benevolent monk is sent to the world of saints and sinners.

While trying to survive, he meets different people with different motives. It's up to him to perceive whom to trust.

Black is sometimes white and white is sometimes black: there's no person completely good or completely bad. Behind the weird circumstances there's always a good reason why someone's on your way.

Anyway, great intro, was really promising. The flow was kinda confusing and sometimes seemed excessive but at the end it made sense.

A heart of a saint will find its way to survive in the world of sinners.

It's neither fish nor fowl. The combination of Conan's aura of death, Brokeback Mountain's friendship and a generation of master's pretense and coercion made this wonderful work possible. What does the first 30 minutes have to do with the rest? Daoist monks go to the monk temple every day to ask for people to be enlightened. You simply have to convert to it.

Director Chen is prominent in the business in greater China and not a total stranger in Western film buffs circle. He is somewhat like the legendary Tsui Hark of Hong Kong. Both used to have great moments in the early stage of their career but followed up with commercial-oriented lousy stuff, to the point that both critics and audience know there shouldn't be any expectation before watching their new works.

If "preaching too hard (say, 3 or 4 in a scale of 10)" is considered a flaw of a movie, MONK COMES DOWN THE MOUNTAIN (2015) easily reaches 9 on that scale. What makes it even worse is that such preaching is a weird mixture of Taoism, Buddhism and self-asserting doctrine/mentality of Kung Fu world. Our protagonist, the one who comes down the mountain, is absolutely a Taoism practitioner. Yet this movie title ridiculously calls him a (Buddhism) monk. Would you label a victim of plane crash has died of car accident? Or, describe a dog-walker is having a good time with kitten?

There are too many laughable (not because of the humor) plot, arrangement, performance and dialogue. MCDTM is poorly rendered into something you simply cannot take it seriously. During the long 123 minutes I almost felt like watching a Monty Python flick from 1970s - despite some modern cinematography, choreography and editing.

Heck, I read all the reviews and thought I really needed to see this one.

Everyone waiting for a typical Kung Fu movie isn't going to get one. If that's what you want, go home.

However, if you think Kung Fu + Fairytale + The Matrix sounds good, this is one for you.

In almost each review all I read was whiny, whingey, unimaginative dross. Lighten up folks, indulge in that wonderful whimsy called imagination and you might come to truly love and appreciate superlative brilliance for a change, instead of the usual crap that comes of movie theatres.

One thing that even the unimaginative will enjoy is the incredible beauty and the stunning cinematography.

Totally captivating. Even ape strike, which I think I actually understood!