The New Legends of Monkey

I thought it was wrong not to cast Chinese actors but it's a new re-telling of an ancient legend, and isn't that what always happens with old tales, they change with the re-telling. In today's cultural diversity, the mix of different actors from different countries, the accents and the humour is quite good. Don't compare it to the old series, which I loved, it's a new idea and I quite liked it.

After watching 3 episodes so far thanks to ABC iView "The New Legends of Monkey" pretty much confirms what I thought from the trailers - it would be more in the style of Hercules or Xena in that not so serious, campy sort of way that isn't afraid to poke fun at itself with the cliches.

Chai Hansen as the titular anti-hero plays Monkey as a confident, brash character, if not overly confident in his skills and powers. Luciane Buchanan as Tripitaka is simply making the most of a bad situation by being the priest you don't expect but the one you need - being the only one who seems to care about what's going on in general.

They are quickly joined by Emilie Cocquerel as Sandy, a fellow god who plays as a more ethereal spiritual style character and Josh Thomson as Pigsy who also has decided to throw his lot in with the good guys after a stroke of conscience. They're clearly going to be constantly menaced by demons who are keen to see them not recover the holy scriptures and save the day by balancing things out again.

I can't say the cast are whitewashed given there's enough different ethnicities to avoid any obvious over utilisation of any one ethnicity even among minor cast - the average US show would do a lot worse and to be honest I think it's making the most of ANZ actors/actresses that are available without getting too typecast with styles, mannerisms or accents (which can hold a good show back in some cases).

The first eps definitely feels like a pilot that probably could have done with a few scenes having reshoots after getting the groove in later eps, however it is clear from set pieces that care, effort and attention to detail have been involved to have a historical Chinese styling. The CG sticks out as being obviously CG but is usually relegated to wide scenery shots or where appropriate - surprisingly enough a lot of practical smoke effects are used. Music is all computer generated in a '80-ish synthesiser style but seems to fit in fine.

Bottom line - nowhere near as bad as naysayers were making it out to be. If you go in with hard expectations from the 1978 show you will probably be disappointed - this seems to be a recurring theme with shows and movies nowadays. If you keep an open mind and know it's not to be taken seriously at all you'll probably do just fine.

Ignore the naysayers review, this is great, I'm 44 years old and loved the original so take that with a dose of salt. This reboot is classic and fun, binged the first 3 episodes and hanging out for the rest of the season

Thanks to Films NSW and Netflix for making this

Having grown up watching Monkey (or Monkey Magic as I call it) I have lots of fond memories running around singing the song as a child/ So when I saw this advertised I quickly went to abc iView and put up with the horrendous low quality and went to watch it.

At first I was disgusted with it. The series didn't match anything what I was expecting and all I could do was pick fault at all the differences. I kept thinking about how crappy it was and nothing like the original story line, where monkey hatched, but rather in this version he was imprisoned by other gods in a mountain.

Monkey isn't very monkey like, he doesn't have his playful / curious / cheeky personality, and whilst the actor isn't bad, the character doesn't embody what monkey is.

Sandy being a woman was a little different, and at first I didn't like it, but the actor does play the role well and she became one of the better parts of the TV series.

Pingsy... isn't very pigsy like, once again, I doubt this is the actors fault, as the character does really grow on you after a while and his acting is particularly good, but they miss out on all his vices (as they did with monkey) no womanising, greed...etc except in a very very mild downplayed way that would be easily missed if you didn't know to look for it.

Tripitaka was a good choice in actor and suits the role well, without her I doubt I would have liked the series as much as I ended up.

After getting through the first 3 episodes, which where honestly really bad, the story line improved and I found myself overlooking the differences and started to really enjoy it.

After watching episode 10, I was disappointed that it had ended, and wanted more episodes.

If you are from the generation who would watch Monkey after school every day like me, It will be really hard to get past the differences at the start, but if you do manage to get past the first 3 episodes I'm sure you will enjoy it.

Three last things,

1.) I wish I had not watched it on iveiw \ Australian free to air TV. The broadcasting quality is really bad. I would recommend people wait until its out on Netflix and available in at least 720p or higher, instead of that ever stupidly low resolution crap we Australians are given on free to air.

2.) The makers should have really come up with an iconic intro song, like the original.

3.) Being that it is a Chinese story, remade in japan in 79-80's and obviously with strong Asian theme's, It would have been nice to see a few more Australians / Kiwi's with Asian decent playing at least one of the leading roles.

Overall its really good if you can get past the first 3 episodes and realise it will never be the same show you loved as a child. It's an interesting interpretation and its good seeing Australian \ kiwi actors play roles very different to what you would usually see.

I started watching the first episode, and thought it was pretty terrible. Hollywood type brash nonsense (even though it's Australian-made), cliches, takes itself too seriously, one-dimensional etc.. For some reason, I kept watching. It gets much better. It's funny and camp, slightly pantomime, and is knowingly so.

The characters also develop and become more real and sympathetic. They develop relationships with one another. I suppose this is partly actors growing into their roles and also the director/writers seeing nuances.

Some of the story lines are also quite interesting and it touches on some dark themes, as well as ideas of friendship and love. The last episode I actually found very moving, and also convincing based on how the characters had grown together up to that point.

Watch past the first two episodes.