Konterr Brilliant and touching

Bea Swanson This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

Rio Hayward All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Melanie Bouvet The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

gregsachoff We have watched this film 7 times now and it gets better every time. The Monkey King was heroic in this film and exactly the way Sun-Wukong should be portrayed as. Donnie Yen has incredible skills and has great action scenes throughout the film. My kids all now own Blu-Rays and the film has said to be a traditional watch every Chinese New Year. This film was very entertaining and was worth the wait. The special effects were fantastic and it pulls you in from the first scene of the movie. I have to say for an actor I definitely see this as a trademark performance in Donnie Yen's Career.I highly recommend this movie for all age groups.

OttoVonB Loudly heralded by flattering headlines and a record-setting budget (and box office in China, supposedly), The Monkey King crashes onto our screens and torrent servers in all its kitsch glory. Will the verdict be kind? Of course not.First, let's get back to basics: the legend of Sun Wukong, the Monkey King, is a cornerstone of Chinese folklore and literature, and deservedly so. It is one of the great written human myths, and a large part of its appeal is universal, which would make it an ideal flagship project for a transnational production effort. You could adapt only select bits and end up with a great crowd-pleaser, as was done to hilarious results by Stephen Chow's A Chinese Odyssey. The present effort aims to tell us the whole thing + prequel-style expansion in the form of a trilogy of 3D blockbusters. Ye shall be judged by the expectations ye set! Though the budget sets a record for China, the quality of the result in terms of effects (be they digital or makeup) is woefully sub-par, and the art direction is a mess, making this a frequently incoherent eyesore.Then, let's look at the talent involved: Chow Yun-Fat and Donnie Yen's charisma and comic sense (respectively) eclipse anything else thrown up on screen, and might have gobbled up most of the budget. Yen gets away with it, wisely playing it both ways and seemingly the only person involved who knows this is all a big joke. Another contributor who barely gets mention in the comments section is Christopher Young, who's marvelous score annihilates anything composed that year and is worth discovering on its own.It's worth pausing the sarcasm and shedding a regretful tear, for this whole enterprise could have amounted to something more tasteful - an animated feature could have been stupendous! - yet behold: the worst kind of fiasco, one that escapes financial disaster and thus runs the risk of spawning a whole host of similar horrors. But the real Monkey King is stronger than all that, and since filmmakers can't stay clear of his gravitational pull for long, one can hope in a few years time someone will do him justice.Avoid this garbage and read the source, preferably while listening to this film's unbelievably great score.

chino08260826 I liked the movie, would have been great if there was an English dub. Also, I hope they make several sequels, there needs to be more told from the book. Mind you, I have never read the book, but I like the story line of the movie and would like to see more. Of course with some Western movie company collaboration would polish off the book & animation I believe. Again, don't get me wrong though, very nice movie... I'm hoping the next release will be better though this one had me at the edge of my seat at times. Also, it would be interesting to extend the movie a bit more, to explore his character in more detail possibly love/affection etc etc.

dat quach Before starting my review, I would like to state that I grew up on old Hong Kong series. I have experienced many versions of Journey to the West, including the 1986 version(the one I enjoyed most).I have seen many bad reviews on this movie due to it's over-the-top cgi, bad translations, and poor plot. With the exception of bad translation, I have to disagree with the other two points.The CGI is a bit over exaggerated, but the viewer has to accept the movie's setting before they can actually enjoy the ride. It is not your every day thriller, but more of a mythology. Although there are a few scenes with 1-2 seconds flash of unpolished CGI, the CGI overall is not bad at all. Tying back to my experiences with Hong Kong series, most of them had aerial flights, small styrofoam explosions, and clunky lasers, but it did not deter me from how the series were overall great. As a recap, don't look at the CGI as a turn off, but enjoy it as an enhancement to your epic ride.The plot was a well condensed version of Journey to the West series. These series were often countless episodes, which is fine because they cater to a certain type of audience. However, The Monkey King(2014) is adapted and made for younger and foreign audiences. The film gives you the typical plot with the struggle of good and evil and eventually the good winning the fight.Yes, like other epics, the movie shows the up-and-coming of the hero(sun wu kong) that eventually triumphs evil, but the film has many underlying Chinese philosophies that can be realized with a little bit knowledge about Bhuddism, the dominant religion in Asia (where the movie was made). The end fight when Sun Wu Kong was hit on the head with his own weapon was literally a slap on the head for him to look back at his actions. That split of a second, which could be an indefinite amount of time for a deity, Chang'e taught him (with very bad translations) the costs of immortality.Enough of the philosophy talk and lets move on into the fun winks to the audience that have had the opportunity to watch the Journey to the West series. From the 72 tricks and 3 knocks on the head Sun Wu Kong received from his master to the released of the horses in heaven, there are many scenes where the movie stay true to the original series. Off course the film had to have it's own taste on the story, but it never deviates too far from the original. Events may be out of placed, but they were in the movies at specific time slots that would make sense to the new twist on a classic story.My tip before watching the movie is to just be open minded about the culture and have a fun time.