Le roi singe

With director Soi Cheang delivering such dark thrillers like the amazing Dog Bite Dog and Shamo, etc, I was quite curious as to how this adaptation of the world famous story was brought to the big screen.

I mean, it hasn't been that long since the awesome Jackie Chan, Jet Li vehicle, The Forbidden Kingdom with Jet Li as the Monkey King.

And then there was the awesome Journey To The West: Conquering The Demons, from the fantastic Stephen Chow Sing Chi.

And now, The Monkey King with the incredible Donnie Yen as the titular hero...

First of, even at 2 hours long, The Monkey King feels somewhat longer. Saying that, it is a visual feast that sometimes wins with its CGI and quite often doesn't, reminding me of the fist attempts at Hong Kong effects-filled movies like, Storm Riders and A Man Called Hero.

Often slow burning, with average fantasy action scenes and wire-fu, The Monkey King is rife with amazing characters from Chinese mythology, including one of my favourites, little Nezha and his flamed wheels on his feet!

Cast wise, Chow Yun Fat looks as cool as always as the Jade Emperor, and the gorgeous Aaron Kwok plays the Bull King - although looks slightly bored in doing so. And then there is Donnie Yen.

I love Donnie. Always have, for about 30 years now, and feel that since his explosion in the US, critics have been harsh on him for his choice in roles - no matter how many he is dishing out.

As the Monkey King, I think Donnie pulls of an amazing job, making me sometimes wonder who I am looking at. His performance is pretty damn good, working through a host of emotions and physical roles alongside a bevvy of great characters.

Overall though, I think the film just falls short of amazing. I feel it is something that needs to be seen in 3D to be appreciated more, but also feel that it was an unneeded remake of sorts, that didn't offer anything exciting but the use of its visual flair.

Action fans will be disappointed, but I hope this film finds a place in the family friendly section of all film fans and can be seen at least once..!

First, I'd like to say I really enjoyed *most* of the special effects. There were moments where the CGI was worse than pre-2000 CGI, although to be fair, it was mostly in the background but they were awful. As an example, pay attention to the armies fighting in the beginning.

Second, the acting for the most part wasn't too bad.

Here's what bothers me and I haven't seen any reviewers address these. If you have to read the subtitles, you spent some time thinking "What??" due to their translations. It feels like they ran some of it through Google Translate. Some of it was good, while some sounded like they were purposefully trying to make it sound like broken English. Then there was the out of place use of modern English slang like "small potatoes" or the informal "wanna" in addition to other parts that just sounded downright childish. Did the person or people who did the English subtitle translations not speak English very well? I can't understand why you wouldn't at the very least pay some American college kids $100 a piece to proof read it. It wouldn't be that hard. I mean, the internet, right?! I'm pretty sure that given a few hours time, I could make the English translation sound 1000% better, while keeping to the spirit of the movie.

Then there is the portrayal of the Monkey King. For the most part it was pretty good but all the blinking and there was LOTS of blinking. So much so that it would have given an epileptic a seizure. Did he think monkeys have really bad eyes? Add the stupid surprised faces that got on my nerves and it gets really old. It didn't help that he even did the begging dog pose, which I'm SURE isn't actually a thing with monkeys of any type.

All said, it's a decent movie with some redeeming qualities that understandably isn't geared towards an English speaking audience. I just wish if they were going to bother with it, why they couldn't get it right.

Although it is true that the big part of the original (huge) book was about the Pilgrimage mentioned in the Synopsis, there are two things you should know: the pilgrimage was more an adventure full of battles, monsters, magic powers, and epic Characters, rather than just a pilgrimage; and this movie concentrates on the first part of the book, before the pilgrimage (actually the Monk does not even appear), on the genesis of the Monkey King. The book was written by a great Taoist monk and it is full of hidden knowledge which not everybody can consciously understand, but it is so well done, so full of adventure and action and funny things, so intriguing and entertaining, that in the centuries it became one of the (if not the) most important books in the popular Chinese culture. There are many layers in it and it was made in such a way that almost anybody can enjoy it. The Monkey King became an extremely popular character, and even Dragonball comes from that book! This film is a bit strange, the special effects are not the best, and some things in the realization will need a bit effort from the western audience, but it is OK, you must understand that as said this is a Chinese story and obviously not made with the western people as main target. But whether you are interested or not in the background of the story, the film is pleasant and entertaining and you can surely enjoy it :) Now I just hope there will be other movies with the rest of the book!

Okay, it's not exactly 'Lord of the Rings' but it's not as bad as the reviewers here say it is. People complaining about lack of depth and change in characters, most of them are deities so what do you expect. I thought the visuals, costumes, make-up etc were also excellent. It may appear as a kid's movie for some but thats a good thing, it can be enjoyed by all ages. I couldn't believe the guy that played Monkey King is the same guy who played IP MAN, wasn't an easy job but he pulled it off and other actors were also great. I'm actually looking forward to the sequel if it is in the making I would recommend it to anyone, don't believe the reviews they're just talking rubbish.

No spoilers... It is just a intro to Chinese folklore....I got It...for westerners this it is a fun fare. I know the history...but they left out so much...but I found it to be very entertaining.It was funny emotional and very captive, I thought that Donnie... like always...he delivers and goes thru all the way...listen don't put it down so much, put the bias a side and you will find it shorter that the long hour of watching the whole soap...I like it and I watched those long month of the soaps...enjoy...I did...I would like to see what the sequel hold for us...man I love it...they got me from beginning to end. Yet To me Donnie Yen could do no wrong...ass does Jet Li.