Xi You ji: Da Sheng gui lai

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.

So I just finished watching this on Netflix and have to say I am greatly disappointed. After doing a little research I can see why, obviously the version available on Netflix is the worse possible version to watch as it is neither the original or the US version. It is in fact an American dubbed version where not only is the script terrible for the dubbing but the voice acting is equally as bad. It's frustrating because the animation itself is impressive but honestly if you were thinking of giving this film a go don't watch it on Netflix you would be better off watching the original with English subtitles.

The animation is kind of clunky and the characterization leaves a lot to be desired, but the scenery and battles are epic, and there's something touching about the bond between the monkey king and the persistent boy monk. And it's interesting that the great jade king was cast down from heaven and became a great, corpulent, cowardly pig. My 6-year old son Sebastian particularly liked this movie.

I grow up watching Japanese anime and American cartoons in China; Chinese people seldom watched our own cartoons; we have never expected to enjoy a good animation directed and made by ourselves. We watched Evangelion; we watched Captain America, but we never have a Chinese hero in our hearts， but now we have one; There is an old word in China: Defects cannot belittle virtues; I have to admit that it impressed me, though it is worse than some Japanese anime,some American cartoons；most people in China read Journey to the West; the story is amended from the book; it has some faults, ambiguous ending for the rule of Chinese Cultural Affairs Bureau, but everyone finishing this movie says:It is the best Chinese 3-D animation I have ever watched; At least, it is a good start of Chinese animation.

Animated version, equally cute, but little attracted me as much as the two previous films, but it's cute, the little ones will like it, I'm just not in the vibe...