CrawlerChunky In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

Gurlyndrobb While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

Catangro After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

Edwin The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

David Chen Within the first 15 minutes, Hero is Back realizes its goal: bring older audiences on a nostalgia trip, and enrapture young moviegoers with Sun Wukong, one of the most fantastic characters in Chinese mythology. The director spent 7 years developing this movie to show his son (a Batman junkie) the wonders of Chinese superheroes.Serving as a "pre-sequel" bridge between his two most famous adventures, the flick gives us a VERY interesting take on Wukong's struggles with self-doubt 500 years after he wreaked havoc in heaven.I was so excited for this unique premise that I flew to China to catch the premiere. The theaters were PACKED, as the trailer generated a lot of hype for domestic audiences. Everyone left with a smile on their face, and some with tears in their eyes, having seen their childhood hero brought to life with 21st century technology. The vibe in the theater lobby was amazing, and we all had a great time afterwards.Hero is Back's main failure is to move WAY too fast. After being introduced to our main cast, we barely spend any time with them at all before being moved right to the finale. Indeed, Hero is Back does a good job of establishing character motivations, and develops good chemistry. But the audience needs a few slow scenes here and there to appreciate the gravity of their journey, and to reflect on Wukong's growth!!!Overall, definitely DO watch Hero is Back, especially if you're a Wukong fan. Although it may feel rushed, you will laugh and marvel at the animation, and the insights to Wukong's character make it a unique experience.

Chris Chong Chung Heng I truly recommend this movie for all! I have long been disappointed of Chinese animated pictures. But now they have got talents, great animators. Great "new thinking" plot on a well exploited story, great characters with real emotions as motivation for character development, great camera-work, great character design, great action and so on! But there is still one thing almost all Chinese animation lack, including this one, and that is good sound effects. The movie feels unintuitive and unnatural at times, because the sound doesn't match what's happening in the screen.In short, see this movie! If you want to see a great Chinese animated picture!

earl wayne I must warn you that this review may hold some nostalgic bias. After last year's Frankenstein's monster of a movie adaption ( Da Nao Tian Gong), 'Journey to the West' or 'The Monkey King' gets not the adaption we need, but the adaption we deserve. Though Sun Wukong's heaven-slaying conquests and prideful persona are skimmed over, 'The hero is back' requires prior knowledge of the original tale in order to have that emotional punch to the stomach we all want. Those who are new to the story though, can still enjoy it just fine.This is a nation's childhood re-imagined- the righteous monk (Tang Seng) is now an energetic young boy, while our hero is a lackluster ghost of his past self. The story delves into the toll of being imprisoned under a mountain for 500 years, as you know. Typically, this is a story of resurgence and finding oneself after having lost the way: a fun romp for children that resonates with adults too. Though rather clichéd, the story is a welcome departure from the traditional telling of Monkey King's adventures. What wins loyalties however, are the characters rather than the mostly one-dimensional story. The casting of the child actor for the role of Jiang Liu'er ( I watched it in mandarin dub) is something to be applauded- it really bought out a charming innocence that never once became annoying. Liu'er is a delight.The one that carries the movie is of course the Monkey King himself, who mainly went by his title, The Great Sage equal to Heaven. The voice acting is phenomenal here; with everything at a minimal, the Monkey King delivers his conflict to the audience brilliantly. Gone is the squeaky high-voice , gone is the corniness of line-delivering in previous incarnations, this Monkey King is genuine and ridiculously endearing through his relationship with the boy. When his voice breaks in high-stirring emotions, my heart breaks with it :)Animation wise, this is the best animation that has come out of china so far, period. All of those people who accepted that eastern animation would forever be inferior to the west need to re-evaluate their life choices-like the Monkey King. This movie looks about not far from big blockbusters out of dreamworks. Unlike the mostly easy-going tone between conflicts, the fight scenes elevated the movie to a whole new level- expect well choreographed, quick-fire action and an intensity that keeps both adolescents and adults invested. Beware the tear-jerker scenes, they sneak up on you unexpectedly.However, keep in mind that 'the hero is back' is first and foremost a children's fantasy story, and falls back on slap-stick humour most of the time; though in my screening it got quite a few good laughs too, just not me. Other than the two main leads, the secondary characters are a shambles.The villain did all the villainous things expected. It seems like Pigsy is purely here for cringe-worthy comic relief, though the kids seem to enjoy it. The pig is demoted here more than ever before. More glaringly is the fact that the third disciple Sandy ( Sha Wujing) is completely omitted, meanwhile, even the white horse-dragon has a happy cameo. But no matter I guess...The resolution, though satisfying, was somewhat lacking compared to what was an equally rash, but spectacular, build up. beware mild spoilers: The ending suffers from a deus ex machina feeling, though it made sense in terms of the Monkey King's emotional journey. The fight seemed to have ended just as audience blood pressures began to peak. In the end, removing the Monkey King's powers from the equation made perfect sense- all the fights would have lasted mere seconds had he had them from the get-go. Spoiler spoilers:The Monkey King's trauma would have been more impactful if he was imprisoned consciously, instead of being frozen in time as portrayed. It would have been nice to see him acknowledge that Jiang Liu'er was the one who freed him, but again, no matter. How much badassery can you shove into a single moment? This movie challenges this through the Monkey King's entrance in the last act, when the all-too-familiar theme song (from Stephen Chow's incarnation I believe) plays in the background.End Spoilers: Edit: Did you know the director Tian Xiao Peng also worked on the 1999 cartoon series of journey to the west? Clearly it shows.All in all, this is the resuscitation of a literary classic and, for me at least, a childhood (and adulthood!) hero that I will gladly follow re-envisaged again, and again.

jxz-12935 I don't know if it was because I'm too sentimental or what, but I was literally tearing when I was watching the trailer with the moving song by Kit Chan. I went to the cinema with hesitation actually,thinking that I might have too much expectation on it, and was kind of afraid that it would let me down. After watching it, I would say it absolutely deserves my expectation and infinite applause. It is probably the first Chinese animation for adolescent and adult audience, comparing to childish Pleasant Goat& Big Big Wolf and Bonnie Bears. The latter actually made nearly 300 million RMB in China. The plot of Monkey King is quite common, especially in western movies: the fallen hero's rebirth, but this kind of themes still attracts large portion of audience and wins lots of tears, including those of the two little boys who sat next to me during the movie. The animations and features are just impressive, maybe not as good as many of the western masterpieces, but definitely good enough to describe it as unprecedented in China's animation history. The bad thing is that, because they almost used up all their budget on the film's creation and modification, they literally didn't do anything on marketing and advertising. Something even worse is that, although I admire the crew's courage and resolution, they chose to compete with extremely fan-based Tiny Times 4.0 and Forever Young, which are acted by a bunch of idols with tons of fans in China. The two I mentioned already made more than 100 million RMB on their first day respectively, but only about 20 million for Monkey King due to the lack of exposure and coverage. However, I always believes that one cannot evaluate a movie only by looking at how much it makes, neither an actor nor a director.