Inspired by an epic Chinese tale, translated into an action-packed comedy, a Monkey and his magical fighting Stick battle demons, dragons, gods and the greatest adversary of all - Monkey's e... Read allInspired by an epic Chinese tale, translated into an action-packed comedy, a Monkey and his magical fighting Stick battle demons, dragons, gods and the greatest adversary of all - Monkey's ego.Inspired by an epic Chinese tale, translated into an action-packed comedy, a Monkey and his magical fighting Stick battle demons, dragons, gods and the greatest adversary of all - Monkey's ego.
- Awards
- 1 win total
- Monkey King
- (voice)
- Dragon King
- (voice)
- Lin
- (voice)
- Mayor
- (voice)
- Mayor's Wife
- (voice)
- Child Monkey
- (voice)
- …
- Jade Emperor
- (voice)
- …
- Demon of Havoc
- (voice)
- …
- Palace Minister
- (voice)
- …
- Sandy
- (voice)
- (as David Jordan Chen)
- …
- Elder Monkey
- (voice)
- Cage Baby Monkey
- (voice)
Featured reviews
I am only familliar with the Monkey King concept through past games, anime, and movies. So really I can understand why this movie was positioned as more of a family friendly introduction to this kind of character.
We all know the Monkey King as a cocky, balls to the wall character who aim to achieve greatness alone and so on. Him being hated by the heavens, revered by the gods, the titels go on and on. Knowing that, this movie explained his character perfectly in the start. Mostly the reason why he is who he is and his origin for having this mindset.
Even so, the story of the movie is...kinda incomplete? Like they could of done so much more on a bigger scale. At times it was hard to tell was this a comedy or a cultural tale? This is one of those films that should of just stuck to one genre instead of appealing to several demographics.
Then again I'm not gonna judge a family friendly movie too hard, its okay but the flaws are there.
The wild monkey longs for the love of a mother and the acceptance of the monkey tribe. However, his attempts to belong backfire and he is shunned by the group. He learns to live alone and trains himself in martial arts. To help defend his tribe from demons, he searches for a weapon and finds a magic stick that has been waiting for a powerful rebel to use it. The monkey and weapon bond and become a powerful team. After getting rid of a demon that has been plaguing the monkey tribe, he is crowned the monkey king. He sets off on a mission to become immortal. Along the way, he meets a plucky and smart girl named Lin who joins his adventure.
This is highly entertaining and also somewhat informative for those not familiar with Chinese tales about immortals and demons. I, for one, didn't know that Buddha is considered higher in power and status than the immortal lord.
I normally get bored with movies/dramas that have a lot of action scenes, but this has other elements like defending weak mortals from demons and quest for immortality that held my interest. There is also something endearing about a powerful outsider who not only does not bear a grudge against those who shun him but even fights for them. This noble trait somehow makes his egocentricity bearable, though one can't help wondering whether he would gain humility thus become a real hero in every sense of the word. And that is a character development worth waiting for.
The humor is what I can only describe as being "Netflix Humor", the type of joke that tries too hard to make you laugh. By the third line spoken by Monkey King I was already sick of him. He's not funny. He's boring, one-note, and painfully egotistical, and not in a way that lends to him being any sort of three dimensional.
My only positive is the animation is fluid and clean, but even that is not without it's flaws. The character design is terrible, the texturing worse. I applaud Wukong's face design being a reference to his appearance on stage but he looks like he should not reasonably be able to exist with a lower body the circumfrence of a pole with the upper body resembling the shape of a curled dorito. His head is shaped somewhat like a dinosaur, the best example being something like a Parasaurolophus, complete with the most unreasonably pointy and long swoop of hair I have ever seen. Having to look at him during the run time of this movie was painful. As an artist myself, it was like having cardiac arrest. I'm not dissing stylized animation at all, in fact, I approve of it. A better example of a stylized, eye-pleasing design of a monkey is Monkey from Kubo and the Two Strings. In fact, that movie is just better. Go watch Kubo and the Two Strings instead.
If you're still looking for a Journey to the West themed show aimed at children, watch Lego Monkie Kid. It is beautifully animated and the fight scenes are WELL done. It's overall funnier, better-looking, and offers a more faithful yet still original adaptation of the original JTTW.
Storywise it's okay. Never read the original story so i can't compare that. Lots of flash fightscenes with a metal soundtrack. I'm guessing this movie is targeted toward kids/teens. The kids liked the movie. The adults hated it.
The Monkey King is a 2023 animated film for Netflix co-produced by Reel FX Animation and Pearl Studio. The film is an adaptation of the 16th century Chinese novel Journey to the West (in part anyway) which is no stranger to adaptations with many Chinese or Hong Kong productions having been produced in the past 10 years alone as well as having served as inspiration for other stories such as Dragonball Z. While The Monkey King doesn't stray to far from prior adaptations, but it is an impressive animated effort in its own right that does adequate justice to the story.
In terms of the central character, the movie does a solid job of establishing The Monkey King as an arrogant character who while powerful is lacking in wisdom or humility and is brought to life quite effectively be Jimmy O. Yang's performance. The medium of animation works very well for this story with a strong sense of freedom of movement among the characters and fantastical environments. While the Monkey King is positioned as an arrogant prideful character, the movie does a solid job of keeping him in check from becoming too grating by counterbalancing him with his Stick weapon (who despite not talking is also a character) and Lin who work well against him. While the movie sticks pretty closely to its source material, it also does feel like it plays up some parts of silliness up a little more than it should. While I have no problem with Bowen Yang's performance as the Dragon King who's the primary antagonist, the movie follows a trend of European and Asian animated productions where the overplay the comedic sides of their villains at the expense of treating them as threats.
The Monkey King is a decent animated film that isn't especially ground breaking in its rendition of this story, but it's an agreeable experience with some engaging setpieces and performances and assuming the producers decide to continue this incarnation with a follow-up I'd be interested.
Did you know
- TriviaThe Mayor's Wife character is an homage to Stephen Chow's Kung Fu Hustle, specifically echoing the landlady with curlers.
- Quotes
Lin: I couldn't be more dead. Fresh corpse here.
Demon of Havoc: How did you die?
Lin: Old age. No, I mean scurvy. Earthquake? A duel. Two duels. He're the story. I fell... off a cliff into a hole filled with sharks. Rabid sharks. And then a house fell on me, and I drowned. Yeah.
Demon of Havoc: Okay! You're in. Chamber of Ridiculous Deaths. Fifth floor down the hall.
- ConnectionsFeatured in AniMat's Crazy Cartoon Cast: The Nominees of the Big 50th (2023)
- How long is The Monkey King?Powered by Alexa
Details
- Runtime
- 1h 37m(97 min)
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.35 : 1