Xi You Ji: Sun Wukong san da Baigu Jing

Love the movie. Thought it was entertaining and my kids wanted to see it again. But we all agree Donnie Yen was a better choice for The Monkey King / Sun Wu Kong The Monkey King Havoc in Heaven's Palace was our first choice and favorite among the two so far. Havoc in Heaven's Palace seem to have more story structure and the kids liked the characters better and loved the historical fight scenes with Donnie Yen's Character. My wife seemed to like the most the musical score of the film and we purchased the soundtrack in which we listen to quite often.

My Kids also each wanted there own Blu-Ray in which I purchased for all three of them. With anything the first is always the better of the two but recommend both.

This is full length movie based on one of China's most famous legends, The Monkey King. It stars Aaron Kwok in the title role, tasked to escort a traveling monk, Tang Seng (Shaofeng Feng), to the west to fetch ancient Buddha scriptures while protecting him from the evil White-Bone Demon (Gong Li).

While the TV-series adaptation of the story has the Monkey King and his counterparts dealing a host of demons and monsters to protect the monk in each episode, this movie places emphasis on one demon, the White-Bone Demon, portrayed stunningly by Gong Li. She is a menacing force to be reckoned with, capable of spreading chaos and casualties to those dare to cross her - all the while maintaining her spellbinding beauty.

Kwok is excellent as the Monkey King, feisty and powerful in his own might. Xiao Shen-Yang did great as Zhu Bajie - a womanizer who provides much needed comic relief - and Chung Him Law gave an effective portrayal of Sha Seng - a character more on the sidelines but did a great battle with the skeleton monsters and showed the most concern for the master's well-being.

The movie was a little too high on the CGI in some parts, but it works well mostly, especially in the scenes involving the White Bone Demon as she floats around zapping her dark magic. The visual effects really captures the majesty of the kingdom and rich countryside, and the make-up and costumes brought the characters to life in very detail.

The plot was fast-paced from start to finish, full of suspense and adventure, and the dramatic elements of trust and second chances really make the film all the more interesting. An excellent adaptation of this epic journey!

Grade A

I really enjoyed it, it was a fun action fantasy romp, and I love the various Journey to the West stories. I didn't see the first Monkey King, it had such poor reviews so I didn't bother. Anyway, Monkey King 2 completely feels like its' own entity, it is a different story from the book and the Monkey King origin story has been told many times before.

Aaron Kwok is a delight to watch. I can't say how he compared to Donnie Yen but he's so lovable. It's FUN, often funny. Gong Li is very hammy, and couldn't chew the scenery more, but it's within the tone of the film. It really is a riveting family adventure from start to finish

It contains the usual overabundance of CG which all these Chinese blockbusters have, but the quality isn't awful this time! Much better than some of the video-game level effects I've seen recently in others. There is a lot of practical wire-work amidst the wash of particle effects and glowy things. Most importantly, the charisma of the stars shines through it.

I saw this on a trip to China, I don't know if it received, or will receive a release in the West, but it should. It will probably turn up in the Netflix graveyard at some point. It's better than most cookie- cutter American fantasy blockbusters, with, of course due to the nature of the source text, much better lessons and values sitting underneath the action than 'yet another Hero's Journey story' as Hollywood pumps out again and again.

I know the Monkey King is a huge thing in China. I herd about it before and have see the American adaption, the Forbidden Kingdom, with Jet Li as the Monkey king.

This movie was visually bad ass. I loved the design of the title character. All the CGI actually worked to make the movie feel very big and very epic. It makes me wish it was released in IMAX here in the States, not just in 3D. The final battle in the movie was mind blowing.

But I just did not get into the tale of the Monkey King. I don't know why this story is so popular and the movie did nothing to change this thought. It was suppose to be funny in certain places, but I did not get it and it just seem that a lot of things were happen just to produce a cool special effect for it, not to drive any story.

It was fun to look at but not the most compelling story, speaking as someone unfamiliar with the story being told

The plot is the same most probably with some modifications but the screenplay was different and all the new characters in this film make it slightly difficult for us to merge in with this film.

The visual presentation of the characters and the mischievous-ness they do are all watchable to a certain limit but we get bored after some time maybe it'd be good to watch for the kids and the twists & turns and the evil gameplay stuff was well made though we've seen them all in other films.

One of the visually appealing Chinese/foreign movies ever made

overall, it's a movie for kids and a must-watch for them.